Pick of the bowlers

By London Leprechaun
July 3 2016

London Leprechaun gives us a day at the seaside involving dogs, seaside walks, Scarborough guest house traditions, crazy golf (or the lack of it) fish and chips and even sunshine. And please don't ask about the overrate.

It all started so well.  A morning stroll along the sea front watching dogs playing in the sea, which in the context of all that has happened recently just seemed very right and comforting, and then a gentle walk back to the cricket ground.  It was less breezy then yesterday and under blue skies and warming sun, you could almost believe it was summer. 

Got to the ground to see that we were actually having a toss; a sign both sides wanted to bat. Once that was out of the way with Yorkshire winning it, we established that Dawid Malan could not be in two places at once and Paul Stirling was actually playing. 

As play started, I was thinking wouldn’t it be nice if we got a wicket first ball and Murts duly obliged, getting a nick of Lyth which Simmo took with a nice tumbling catch.  Yorkshire members said that was the fourth time this year that he had been dismissed before play should have officially started as the pavilion clock was showing not quite 11am. Yorkshire time and umpire time must need some form of synchronising.

The first hour then looked good, as we bowled tightly and fielded nicely.  But Yorkshire hung on and we were soon into a familiar pattern of worrying about the over rate.  Though that became a game of spot the overrate information – which we still could not find by the close.  Any know where it is hiding?
The wicket, though not quite of Lord’s proportions looked pretty good, though not completely dead, and the day became hard work for the bowlers. Murts, bowling mainly against the wind was the pick of the bowlers with most of any movement happening from his end.

Attacking fields most of the day.

TRJ was steady and Finny was unlucky, especially before and after lunch.  Edges did not carry, false shots went for runs and one huge lbw appeal was turned down.  With one very short boundary, relatively short straight boundaries and a fast outfield, Yorkshire accumulated throughout the day.  Positively, we had fairly attacking fields for most of the day, which meant that the relatively few early poor balls generally went for four.  And when Ollie came on for over rate reasons there was little for him. Lees reached a solid fifty just before lunch with an enormous straight six, which was very well caught by a spectator right at the back of the stand who got as much applause as Lees did for the 50.

Two wickets before lunch made that session even; two after lunch summed up the nature of this pitch. Wickets are hard to come by. This included the wicket of Lees on 111 – Nelson to give us our first bonus point -  and Gale after a scratchy innings.  But Bresnan – a forgotten man of English cricket – who is averaging 60+ this season, played the most positive innings of the day, while Ballance played watchful and solidly. After getting stuck in the 80s for a while, he certainly did not hang around in the nervous 90s, getting to his hundred with successive boundaries of Murts. he probbaly knew that if he left it too much later, half the ground would have emptied as, after 5pm there was a steady stream of people leaving the ground – many of them going back to the their B&Bs for the evening meal which seems to be served here between 5pm and 6pm. Scarborough is a very old fashioned seaside town in many ways with very old fashioned guest houses – although they do have free wifi which is why you are getting this report tonight! But it is also very slow so it is a bit late getting to you.

In the evening, the new ball did do for Bresnan, but otherwise had little impact and we are going to end up tomorrow wondering if there is enough time to get full bowling points, quite apart from anything the weather might do.  Speaking of the weather it was nice to go through the whole day without any threat of rain, though it was a day of constantly taking of and putting on layers as the breeze sent clouds scudding across all day.

But by the close – in the end not that late so we might be OK on the over rate – it was a glorious evening.  Just right for a seaside game of crazy golf – except that it was closed.  So we had to make do with fish and chips overlooking the pretty harbour and then a lovely walk back with the sun shining of the castle and a traditional lighthouse.  Cricket by the seaside can be a delight if the weather obliges.  So the day started well and finished well and in between there is a cricket match nicely poised. 

Beautiful end to the day