An afternoon at the cricket—4 July 2024

Brian Sanderson flees the election

Today, in flagrant disregard of my civic obligations, I retired to Weetwood, where there were two T20 matches between Yorkshire Seconds and Nottinghamshire Seconds.

Weetwood is about two miles from by house, so I have spent many a happy hour there. The pavilion was built in the 1930s for the cricketers of Leeds University. It used to host a pre-season friendly for Yorkshire, and more recently has served as the base for Leeds and Bradford University, as well as the Yorkshire Academy.

I arrived just in time to catch the last rites of the first match, which Nottinghamshire, chasing 136, won by seven wickets. Sam King was the star, scoring 96. Yorkshire Seconds included Dawid Malan, whom you will remember from his England days.

The second T20 started at three o’clock, Yorkshire batting first. There was strong wind blowing across the ground, which made it unpleasantly cold—and not just for the players: A major shortcoming here is the lack of protection from the elements.

Shan Masood, captain of the Yorkshire firsts, and formerly of Pakistan, came in at number three, and with the help of Dom Bess (20), managed 43 in a good total of 146.

King was unable to replicate his first-match heroics in the Notts reply, falling early to an lbw shout, but complained on entering the pavilion that it was too high. (Of course, no batsman ever thinks he’s out leg-before.) Shorn of their ballast, Nottinghamshire slumped to 99 all out—a young spinner named Joshua Hen-Boisen, from Wakefield Thornes, taking five for fourteen. He has been involved with Yorkshire age-group teams for a few years, and could be a name to conjure with in the future. That’s one reason I like second-team cricket: the chance to spot fresh talent.

I hope the weekend is dry, so I can get out and see some more cricket, but the forecast, I fear, is poor.

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.