Cricket Mens 1sts
Time: Saturday 11.30
Location: 22 acres
Points: 4
On an afternoon that began gloomy and finished in glorious sunshine, the York Men’s 1st XI were clear victors in a game that began with much promise, but ended as a contest after eight deliveries of the Lancaster innings.
Having gained the “psychological advantage,” according to batsman Blake Portlock, by beating Lancaster in the indoor six-a-side match yesterday, York gained another boost by winning the toss. Electing to bat on a strip that looked flat and slow, the opening pair of Tom Hudson and Nick Vanner pressed home their advantage, racing to 54-0 after just eight overs, forcing Lancaster to drop their opening bowlers in favour of a more conservative pair. While York continued much as they had started, Vanner hitting four consecutive boundaries in the tenth over, the slow left arm of Alex Gledhill and the accurate pace bowling of Luke Stockhill soon stanched the flow of runs. The increased pressure soon told, as Vanner, after batting superbly to his half-century, played late to a yorker-length delivery from Stockhill, ending an excellent knock on 57, the opening partnership accounting for 102.
Left-hander Matt Belk soon had the scoring back on track, and by the twenty-fourth over had supported Hudson to a well-controlled fifty. Belk himself survived a couple of strong LBW appeals and a dropped catch before playing all round a slower delivery from Lancaster captain Mike Stephens, going for 32, with York on 148-2 after 28 overs. Hudson and Portlock then made a stand of 67 for the third wicket, the two batsmen seemingly on their way to a commanding target of 300-plus. In the space of ten balls, however, they were both dismissed, Portlock stumped after mistiming a big heave, Hudson ending a terrific innings of 90 with a weak chip to mid-wicket in the fortieth over. The lower order contributed its fair share to the total, with Dave Foster making 17, captain Jamie Varner 15, and cameo innings of eleven each for Nick Townson and wicketkeeper Tom Henry. Tail-ender Anthony Butterfield was bowled on the last ball of the innings to set a strong target of 280 for victory. The camp was confident, if slightly deflated. “It was okay,” shrugged Henry, “We lost our way a bit half-way through, but 280 is defendable. 300 would have been better.” Lancaster all-rounder Luke Stockhill was confident after posting impressive figures of 54-4 off his ten overs; “We’re not too worried. It was a little over-par, not too extreme. We’re confident.”
The visitors’ spirits were badly dented as opening bowlers Andy Exley and Jamie Vanner reduced the opposition to 2-2 after just eight balls. Quality in pace and accuracy from the pair struck a body blow from which Lancaster never truly recovered. Whiteman and Gledhill took too long to consolidate their position, and by the end of the fifteenth over, had crawled to 35-2, the target looking increasingly like wishful thinking. By the time the pair had been dispatched for 30 and 40 runs respectively, restrictive bowling and top-class fielding had kept the visitors to 86-4 at the drinks break, the visiting crowd losing interest as the contest became little more than damage control. Stockhill’s grafting 27 and Thompson’s 22 not out gave the scoreline some semblance of respectability, but the match had been over for some time, an outstanding team display in the field making the result safe.
York performed beautifully with bat, ball and in the field, Hudson’s innings of 90 and figures of 30-1 in particular, and well deserved their 135-run victory. On a day when Lancaster threatened to nullify York’s overnight lead in the Roses series, the cricketers pulled out an impressive display to consolidate the overall lead heading into the final day.
Analysis
After another great start from opening batsmen Nick Vanner and Tom Hudson, York put on a textbook performance to dispatch Lancaster in the highlight of the Roses cricket schedule. Following on from a dominating win during the week, the York Men’s first cricket team were in high spirits going into their Roses encounter, especially as their captain Jamie Vanner returned to full fitness after a mid-week absence through injury.
The attitude and teamwork of the York batsmen was to be crucial in the opening stages; firstyears Vanner and Hudson once again opened the batting order and got off to a great start – racking up a familiar partnership of 102 before Vanner was beaten by a Yorker in a delivery not too far removed from the full toss he was dismissed with in the mid-week.
Once the middle order batsmen came in, there was a definite slowing down of the running, possibly in part due to the dull weather. In the overs leading up to the 30th, the shot selection of the batsmen was occasionally dubious and combined with the casual running, Lancaster were rewarded with wickets - Hudson going for 90 and Portlock for 32. The Lancaster batsmen, on the other hand, looked far from comfortable.
By the mid-point of the innings it was just a matter of time before the York first team players celebrated their third win in three games, looking strong all the way to victory in this year’s Roses.
