A Day at York

Brian Sanderson on cricket, contracts, and future prospects

The ACS’s latest publication, a lively history of cricket in Suffolk by Simon Sweetman, is available for purchase on our website. Buy it here.

I set off at 10:00 this morning to York for the second day of the match against Surrey Seconds. I arrived just as Surrey were bowled out for 196, with Matthew Fisher taking four wickets. Fisher is out of contract at the end of this season, and it remains to be seen if he will re-sign. I also noticed that Dom Bess was not playing today: Could he be saving himself for the first team tomorrow? After all, he’s in the final year of his contract…

There were no printed scorecards, so everyone had to rely on their computers to see the line-ups. I noticed that Tommy Ealham was playing for Surrey; of course, he is the son of Mark Ealham, the former Kent and England player. The bowling coach was Jack Brooks, who played for Yorkshire and is scheduled to visit Wombwell in November. A late addition to the Surrey squad was William Fraine, acting as twelfth man, since Surrey had brought only eleven players. William was released by Yorkshire last season, and is the brother of Tom Fraine, who opened the batting for Yorkshire.

Alongside Fraine at the top of the order was Noah Kelly. Both struggled against the Surrey attack led by Matt Dunn and Nathan Barnwell. When the third wicket fell, Yorkshire had only 83 on the board. Harry Duke, in at four, started brightly, though, and by lunchtime, after 39 overs, Yorkshire were 107 without further loss.

There must have been a crowd of about fifty people enjoying the sunshine, all hoping Yorkshire would improve in the afternoon. Soon after the break, however, Harry Duke and Will Bennison were caught by the wicketkeeper Josh Blake, who looks like an excellent prospect. It was left to Jawad Akhar and Matthew Fisher to take the score past Surrey’s total.

At this point the new ball was taken, and Yorkshire were out without further fuss for 292. Barnwell bowled exceptionally well, picking up five wickets for 53 runs. Yousef Majid bowled his left-arm spin all afternoon and was very unlucky not to get some wickets. He was also the top scorer for Surrey in their innings, with 49.

With two days to go, there should be a result here. I, however, will be back at Headingley to watch the first team against Middlesex, who are second in the league, in what should be an exciting match.

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.