A day at the cricket—29 June 2024
Brian Sanderson on Pool v. Burley
On Friday evening (as mentioned in my previous), I went to bed looking forward to a top-two clash in the Bradford League. When I woke up on Saturday morning, however, it was to some truly filthy weather, which did not abate until about 12:15. A glance at the internet confirmed that Woodlands had yet to begin their match with Jer Lane. Having spent far too much of my life staring at wet, empty cricket grounds, I have long since resolved to play it safe: I only go to a match when I know it is a certainty, or when it is already underway.
Faithful to this philosophy, I decided to alter my plans and go local, and quickly settled on a match at Pool in Wharfedale. The ground is situated on Arthington Road, only about five miles from my home in Headingley, and has been in use since 1939. Pool Cricket Club has spent the last quarter-century in the first division of the Airedale and Wharfedale League, which consists of 36 clubs spread across the Aire and Wharfe valleys. Their opponents, Burley-in-Wharfedale, are situated between Otley and Ilkley, and were established in the 1850s. This makes them one of the oldest clubs in Yorkshire. Their star player at the moment is Harry Brook of Yorkshire and England.
There was already a fair crowd when we arrived at the ground. Poole were batting, with second-wicket pair Logan Duval and captain Charlie Bell at the crease. Their partnership grew to the proportions of 146 runs before Bell, on 83, holed out to an excellent catch near the boundary. Duval went on to an excellent century, hitting twelve fours and three sixes. With further assistance from Krutik Patel (who contributed 68 before Mathew Hastings snaffled another fine catch in in the deep), Pool managed 310 in their fifty overs.
At this point the clouds became very dark, and I began to wonder if I had erred in ditching Woodlands, but the cricket gods were with me, and Burley at length came out to bat. At 63 for three, due to two more excellent catches, they must have been cursing the same gods I was thanking. They recovered to 205 in 44.3 overs before their final wicket tumbled. One of the Burley batters was Daniel Revis, younger brother of Matthew, who is an all-rounder for Yorkshire. His team-mate Charlie Bradbourne, who opened the bowling, would seem to have a great future.
I arrived back home in time to see India win the T20 World Cup with the help of a great catch on the boundary to get rid of David Miller and end South Africa’s hopes.
Today, incidentally, was Paul Jarvis’s fifty-ninth birthday. He was at one time, at sixteen years and two months, Yorkshire’s youngest-ever player. How the time flies!
Jer Lane, by the way, won by eight wickets in a truncated match, and so are still top of the Bradford League.
Subject to the weather, I’m off to Chesterfield tomorrow to watch Derbyshire and Yorkshire.
Brian Sanderson is an ACS member. He serves on the Yorkshire Cricket Archives Committee. If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please either respond to the email in which you received it, or leave a comment below.