Joint match reports for all games played at the festival.
Yorkshire U13A Win Taunton Festival 2017
The Taunton Festival is always one of the highlights of a team’s season and, despite the wet weather which resulted in one game being completely washed out and all except one of the others being reduced overs, this was once again the case for Yorkshire U13As. The damp weather and rain affected wickets made life more difficult for batsmen than is usual at Taunton.
Leinster, who usually bring a very competitive side to the Festival, were the opposition for Day 1 in a 30 over game. Yorkshire batted well to reach 163-4 with Matthew Weston (43) and Harry Allinson (41) being top scorers. In reply, Leinster struggled to reach 56 all out against some very accurate bowling with Ben Walsh (3-4), Noah Priestley (3-11) and Joe Norbury (3-19) being the main wicket-takers.
Cornwall, who had beaten Kent on Day 1, was the next opposition on the only day where the full 50 overs were due to be played. Unfortunately, Yorkshire failed to take advantage of the extra overs, being bowled out for 150 in 41.2 overs. Rhys Ditta (39) and Olly Lamb (21) were top scorers. The 8 overs not used in the Yorkshire innings were made available to Cornwall which ultimately led to their downfall as they were bowled out in the 55th over for 124. All the bowlers bowled well with the main wicket-takers being George Horbury (3-23), Jack Young (3-24) and Joe Norbury (2-19).
Day 3 was completely washed out. The opposition was due to be Leicestershire who subsequently turned out to be the weakest team in the Festival, losing all the games they played.
The opposition on Day 4 was Cheshire who had given us a good game 10 days earlier in the Northern Counties Championship. Yorkshire openers Matthew Weston (32) and Olly Lamb (16) got the team off to a good start before James Chew took a hat-trick to reduce the team to 40-3 in the 16th over. A recovery was needed and that was provided by Noah Priestley (21*) and Jack Young (28*) who both batted superbly to take the team to 118-6 off 40 overs. In reply, Cheshire set off confidently and reached 79-2 in 24th over. The Yorkshire bowlers then turned the screw and the remaining 8 wickets fell for 16 runs leaving Cheshire on 95 all out in 32.3 overs. The wicket-takers were Clarke Doughney (3-7), Harry Watkinson (3-10) and George Horbury (3-18) and an excellent run out by Noah Priestley.
Kent were the opposition for the final day and they were lying second in the table 11 points behind Yorkshire. As it is possible to gain up to 20 points for a win, this became a Festival deciding match. Once again, the Yorkshire batting line up didn’t quite perform being bowled out for 125 in 37 overs. George Horbury (27*) and Olly Lamb (21) were the main run scorers. Kent had 45 overs to get their runs and felt confident that the game and the Festival was theirs but they failed to take into account the fighting spirit of the Yorkshire team. They reached 83-4 in 24 overs with Clarke Doughney (4-22) having taken all the wickets so far. As on the previous day the bowlers bowled superbly well and kept turning the screw, eventually bowling Kent out for 103 in 38.4 overs. The other wicket takers were Jack Young (3-19) and Harry Watkinson (2-23).
The boys all performed well, winning all their games and leading the Festival from Day 1. Special mention, however, should go to spinner Clarke Doughney and wicket-keeper Tom Ward. Clarke recently moved up to the A Team after some good performances in the Development Team. He was Yorkshire’s leading wicket-taker at the Festival with final figures of 24.3-11-40-8. Tom Ward came into the A Team from the Development Team at late notice due to the unavailability for the Festival of the usual keeper. Tom performed superbly taking 5 catches and 2 stumpings and only conceding 1 bye throughout the Festival.
All the boys were a credit to themselves, their parents and to Yorkshire both on and off the field.