Sunny Weetwood

by Brian Sanderson

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The sun was shining this morning—perfect weather for cricket. I set off early through the Headingley traffic to Weetwood, about a ten-minute drive. The match was Yorkshire Under-18s v. Leicestershire Under-18s—a three-day affair of 96 overs a day in the ECB U18 County Competition. Apart from the two teams already named, Group 1 also comprises Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Durham.

When I arrived, Yorkshire had won the toss and were already batting. Both team were in white—always a beautiful sight against the lush green grass. Leicester had a 6' 4'' opening bowler called Alex Green, who has lately been turning out for England Under-19s. I also recognised Yorkshire’s Tom Fraine, brother of Will, who was released by the county last year.

I noticed a somewhat older personage, too, walking round the boundary, clad in the visting colours, taking in every ball. This was Phil DeFeitas the ex-Leicestershire, -Lancashire, -Derbyshire and -England fast bowler. In the afternoon he was kind enough to sign some Test scorecards and photographs for me.

While the Yorkshire youngsters were batting, their seniors from the first team kept passing us with giant cases full of equipment. They saw a lot of action as they did so, for the Under-18s both scored their runs and lost their wickets quickly, and at lunchtime the score was 136 for six. After the interval, the position was salvaged somewhat by Joshua Hen-Boisen, the Wakefield-born lad of South African heritage. I saw him a few weeks ago taking loads of wickets, but today he dug in with the bat, contributing 54 to Yorkshire’s total of 220 after 57 overs. Liam Tew took three wickets for Leicestershire.

The visitors batted through a few overs before tea, reaching 29 (inflated significantly by extras) without loss, and after the break Jay Singh Malan kicked on to 77 not out. The day closed with the score 138 for four.

I will not be able to the see this match to a finish, as I’m very busy over the next three days, but let’s hope the weather is fine enough on Saturday to admit of some good league cricket.

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.