Toby Roland-Jones

By Gary Watton
May 28 2013

Okay so it's 'only' the Yorkshire Bank forty-overs tournament, the cricketing equivalent of soccer's Capital One Cup, but any self-respecting Tyke cannot help but feel a bit exasperated at Yorkshire's latest defeat at the hands of high-flying Middlesex.

For the first time in four outings, Yorkshire batted first, but regrettably we were cruelly exposed again as being a bit limited at limited overs cricket. While the white rose has flourished in three of our last four tussles in the County Championship, the exact opposite has happened in the forty overs fare. It seems quite clear that our experiment with Gale and Pyrah as openers is not working. A semi-finals engagement is now a fleeting illusion as Middlesex made light work of the hapless Vikings. Only the impressive knock from Phil Jaques is exempt from my internet wrath, along with another decent effort from the ever-improving Adil Rashid. One hopes from a Yorkshire point of view that the county does a lot more looting and pillaging in our forthcoming County Championship engagement against Middlesex than was visited upon the people's independent republic of Radlett yesterday!

Oh by the way, I thought that Radlett was in Hertfordshire. Have Middlesex annexed this minor county? Shameful. Is there no venue within the confines of the sprawling metropolis to accommodate Middlesex? May I slightly recommend the idyllic setting of the cricket green at Kew, between the bridge and the gardens. No, wait, I think that's slurry Surrey when one crosses over the Thames. Well at least it's not Hertfordshire, you thieving Middlesex magpies. Anyhow, here follows the painful statistics:

Middlesex versus YORKSHIRE; 27th May 2013; at Radlett, HERTFORDSHIRE; YORKSHIRE won the toss.

YORKSHIRE: 236 for 8 (40 overs)

Gale c Morgan b Roland-Jones 11 (12-1)

Pyrah c Denly b Roland-Jones 6 (18-2)

Jaques c Morgan b Harris 81 (154-5)

Ballance c Stirling b Berg 40 (103-3)

Lyth c Rossington b Harris 14 (153-4)

Rashid not out 46

Hodd b Roland-Jones 21 (206-6)

Bresnan c Stirling b Harris 0 (207-7)

Rhodes c Dexter b Roland-Jones 10 (233-8)

Wardlaw not out 0

Extras: 7

MIDDLESEX: 237 for 4 (35.4 overs)

Stirling b Wardlaw 0 (0-1)

Malan c Hodd b Bresnan 96 (201-4)

Denly b Pyrah 38 (65-2)

Morgan lbw b Rashid 0 (66-3)

Rossington not out 79

Dexter not out 15

Extras: 9

HERTFORDSHIRE, er sorry, MIDDLESEX WIN BY SIX WICKETS