Crakehall glide to victory at Burton Leonard Cricket Club

Friday’s Storm Lilian caused havoc around the county [and further afield watching the news]. The winds had seemingly come and gone in a blink of an eye, but in that time had left trees down, branches strewn across roads, roofs and other susceptible structures minus a tile here and a trampoline there.

Through my own stupidity, I’d forgotten to take down the heavy canvas cover from our garden gazebo, and I headed out on Friday afternoon to recover the now shredded sunshade. It will need a lot of TLC over the winter months to revive in time for next summer’s events.

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Saturday’s weather looked equally mixed, with the trailing edge of the storm still blowing across the country from Lands’ End to John O’Groats (or should that be Lizard Point to Dunnet Head?).

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Rain and blustery winds were forecast, and being totally honest, I was worried about any game I attended being postponed or abandoned due to unplayable conditions.

A few fixtures stood out as I tried to plan my day, but when I saw that Division Seven league leaders Crakehall were visiting Burton Leonard, my mind was made up, and I headed out on the road to Ripon.

I was accompanied by Aibhlínn, my 11-year-old daughter, as she has been bitten by the cricket bug and is seemingly enjoying the season immensely.

We arrived in the village over an hour before first ball and headed to the small shop to get a drink and a quick something to nibble on, as we were both hungry.

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The shop was filled with local produce and there was almost too much on offer to choose from!

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Suitably refreshed, we headed to the ground via a narrow road between two houses, down High Peter Lane, pulling into the small car park between the tennis courts and bowling club.

Over the past decade, I’ve been to this club many, many times and I know that the car park is within easy distance of the crease. I’ve seen plenty of sixes hit in that direction, arching high into the air while interested onlookers hold their breath, waiting to see if they lose the car in the car park gamble.

I reversed my car in pretty much as far away from the boundary rope as I could, knowing that there would be some small degree of protection from other vehicles parked after us.

As a few players turned up, they parked alongside the road, trying to use the high fence around the tennis courts as a barrier between them and a potential leather on metal meeting!

We introduced ourselves and during the conversation were told about the damage the cricket club had suffered from the storm. Looking across from the pavilion, just past the car park, were the remains of the mobile batting nets, a mangled mess of metal tubing and netting, balanced over the wooden fence and residing mainly in the bowling club.

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Apparently, the nets had been anchored the other side of the ground and had in a very short space of time unhitched itself, crossed the oval, and impaled itself on the fence, with the wheels now pointing to the heavens.

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We went for a wander around the ground, taking in the little details that make clubs what they are. A sturdy-looking brick-built scoreboard in one corner opposite the pavilion hides a small lane and the entrance to several large fields.

Horsing around

In the corner of the ground next to the pavilion, a couple of horses eyed us suspiciously over the fence as we walked by, and behind the pavilion is a large playground next to the tennis courts. Overall, it is a wonderfully compact ground that provides some great facilities for the village.

The home team won the toss and elected to field in the almost imperceptible drizzle and blustery winds that were starting to pick up a little. I had been told the first meeting between the two teams earlier in the season (see John’s Report) had been a little one-sided, with Crakehall having won that game easily.

I was unsure what to expect, as quite a few times that I’ve been to the ground, I’ve watched the home team play some fantastic cricket to win games, and one particular visit, I’d watched Dan Thirkell get a century for Burton Leonard with some huge hits into the car park, bowling club and tennis courts.

Quiet confidence

Crakehall batted well, but if I’m being honest, not as well as I thought they would. I know it is probably my own silly notion, but given that they were league leaders and above an impressive Starbeck side in the league, I was expecting huge hits to be despatched to the four corners of the ground.

Instead, the visitors went about their innings in a solid and methodical manner, initially seemingly happy to take singles. Captain Chris Wooding and Tris Ramsbottom, the opening batsmen for Crakehall, building the score with a quiet confidence.

Chris was to go on to reach 43 from 84 balls faced, but it was Andy Nelson who was to top score for the visitors with 59 from 29 balls, hitting four-sixes and four fours in a wonderful spell of batting.

Connor catch

Burton Leonard’s Connor Caswell was to provide the highlight of the innings for the fielding team as he took a smart catch from his own bowling, diving to his left to hold on to a fiercely struck shot that would surely have gone for four if he hadn’t got his hand to it!

The visitors set a challenging total of 219 for six in their 40 overs; a score that looked difficult for most teams to reach.

Any half-baked notions that the home eleven would be dismissed quickly for a low total were dispelled as the first few batsmen for Burton Leonard doggedly defended their wickets, and although not scoring heavily, managed to put runs regularly on the board.

As drinks were about to be taken, there were a couple of things to note.

✈️ Unscheduled landing

Firstly, the run-rate was relatively low, and Burton Leonard were seemingly heading to defeat as they had around a third of the total needed and [obviously] half the overs gone.

Secondly, a glider seemed to be getting lower and lower, with the players and spectators watching as it dropped below the tree line a few fields away. Since there is no airfield near the village, this was an unscheduled landing, and luckily they were able to take advantage of an area of open farmland that has recently had the crops harvested.

Excitement over, the home team got back to the business of batting out the final 20 overs. Any thoughts that this would be a damp squib to the end of the innings were soon to be dispelled.

With the home team requiring around 11 runs per over, Crakehall were seemingly relaxed in the field and eyeing the 20 points to help them retain their top spot in the league.

Russel Waller had hit 15 from 25 balls before being bowled by George Petts; which was followed up by a herculean innings of 73 from 50 balls by Sam Sladen.

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With around five overs remaining, the visitors were starting to worry that the big-hitting home team could actually reach the total set and win the game!

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Julien Baker was adding to the visitor’s discomfort as he was joining in with the high scoring, and they were looking to try and stop boundaries being hit by pushing fielders out to the ropes…at the expense of allowing singles to be taken.

Plane to see

Then more excitement as a plane was now circling low over the ground, disappearing behind the trees on the car park side of the ground.

A few moments later and the sounds of the engine growled into life once more, and we watched as the plane reappeared from a couple of fields over with a glider in tow, climbing quickly and turning in a loop to gain height over the ground before heading back in the direction of York.

Attention once again turned back to the game and the final five overs. 13 runs scored in the 35th over and that total posted by Crakehall looked tantalisingly within reach for the home team. The visitors were now really worried.

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Then, disaster for Burton Leonard as Sam Sladen was bowled by Andy Nelson, and the in-form batsman trudged back to the pavilion.

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The main threat now came from Julien Baker…but two overs later, he was gone having scored 39 from 41 balls, also bowled by Andy Nelson.

Those two wickets were to prove vital in stemming the flow of runs, and the final wicket fell in the next over, with the visitors winning an enthralling game by just 24 runs in the end.

Crakehall took full points to remain top of Division Seven, but interestingly, Starbeck ‘stumbled’ in their chase for the top spot having ‘only’ taken 19 points from their win at home against Burnt Yates and dropping one place to third, with Ben Rhydding taking a full 20 points from their away win at Pannal Ash, to leapfrog into second spot in the table.

With a maximum of 80 points still available, and just 11 points separating the three sides – this is going to be an exciting run-in for the title.

The next round of fixtures sees Ben Rhydding at home to Starbeck, with Crakehall welcoming fourth placed Pannal Ash…in what could be a decisive weekend of results.

All I can say is, this division is going all the way to the final day!

✍️ Check out the match photos below and you can read about our visit to Crakehall, as well as exploring other Nidderdale Cricket League articles here.

MATCH PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Thanks to Mark for capturing the highlights of Burton Leonard 2nd XI v Crakehall 1st XI in the Theakston Nidderdale League Division Seven.

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments that includes days out at grounds around North Yorkshire.