Nidderdale League: Rainton dodge showers to top the table at Harrogate

I’m not obsessed by the weather, but by the very nature of my job, I have to keep an eye on the forecast to ensure that I have the correct coats, boots and hats to hand…as well as ensuring I pick up the correct camera equipment and rain covers.

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These past two years have seemingly been one long look at the sky and shaking my head as I determine if it is raining, about to rain, or when the rain is on its way.

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Saturday was one of those days when there were no doubts.

I woke up around 5:30am and looked out of the window to see a steady drizzle falling and the road standing in puddles. Any plans to travel to a game evaporated as I sat with my first coffee of the day while looking at the radar map and Play-Cricket fixtures.

As a couple of hours ticked by, a few games that I was thinking of covering, were marked as cancelled and my attention changed from what I would like to do…to what, on the balance of probabilities, would be likely to go ahead given the amount of rain forecast throughout the day.

I’ll be honest, Harrogate Cricket Club had two games scheduled on Saturday with the first team on the main oval and the fourth team on the pitch behind the pavilion – and it seemed like the easiest set of games to go to.

Harrogate firsts were entertaining Driffield Town in the Yorkshire Premier League, with the home team looking to continue their recent good form to keep up with Clifton Alliance and Castleford at the top of the table.

A quick look back at the fixtures I’ve covered this season, and it turned out that I hadn’t seen either of the teams play, so it seemed a perfect game to risk the short trip and try and wait out the rain.

I also noted that Harrogate Fours were playing Rainton on the second pitch in the Theakston Nidderdale League Division Four – maybe an option as I hadn’t covered either of those teams this summer.

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Driving to the ground, the spots of rain were hitting the window screen at a rate that was casting huge doubts in my mind. As I headed down the long, car-lined West End Avenue, I was running through the options open to me if the games were postponed.

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Reaching the small roundabout just before the entrance to the Kirby’s Solicitors County Ground, I could see the covers across the pitch and solemn-looking people standing next to them, heads bowed down.

It didn’t look good.

Parking the car up on one of the grass banks overlooking the ground, I sat for a few minutes watching the rain hitting the glass in front of me and towards the various people milling around in the centre of the ground.

I decided to head across to ask what was going on, and the likelihood of the game going ahead. At that point, it was about 11:30am and the game was scheduled to start at midday.

“Can’t start in the rain!” the umpire informed me, “If it stops and dries for a little, then maybe we could get started around 2pm.”

Okay, so the game wasn’t off and there was a plan of action. I headed into the pavilion to get a drink and chat with Andy, the owner of The Balcony. As we talked, I could see the fourth team were preparing for their game, with the stumps already standing proud on the back pitch.

The umpires from the first team game were back in front of the pavilion, so I headed back out to see if there were any updates [to be honest, weighing up my options more in hope].

Gerard Binks, another local freelance photographer was there hoping to catch a few overs for the local paper and was also praying for some good news. We chatted for some time, noting that the rain was coming and going – but hadn’t stopped at any point.

Harrogate Firsts delayed but fourths crack on

As 1:30pm neared, Gerard made the decision that the first team’s game probably wouldn’t happen anytime soon and headed to his next job, and I popped back to my car to get a camera ready, as it appeared the Rainton game would be going ahead.

As the rain continued to fall, the skies grew a little gloomier, and the first team looked on…the fourth team won the toss and put the visitors into bat.

Rainton walked to the centre, accompanied by a loud 1980’s soundtrack fading in and out as the wind changed direction [from the Fake Festival being held just over a mile away on The Stray].

Rainton got off to a reasonable start, scoring eight from two boundaries in the first over, and followed that up with five in the second. Harrogate struck back in the third with a wicket-maiden.

Over the next seven overs, Rainton struggled to find a consistent rhythm, picking up the odd run and only a couple of boundaries. In the 11th over, the visitors lost their second wicket, with Anthony Addison caught by Mark Sowray.

As the drinks break approached, Rainton lost their third wicket for 76 runs and ‘Gate looked like they were in total control of the game. The score was relatively low for this small oval, and wickets were falling [along with the rain that still hadn’t quit].

Suitably refreshed, the batters came out swinging with Pink songs playing in the background, and boundaries suddenly seemingly easy to find.

Four overs batted and around 30 runs added to the total, Harrogate got the wicket of Simon Weaver [No – not the manager of Harrogate Town, he was busy elsewhere on the sideline of their first preseason game].

This stalled the run rate, with the next three overs only seeing three runs scored in each. Two wickets in the 30th over and the home team looked in total control, with only four wickets to get to bowl the visitors out.

However, Rainton started to find boundaries once again, and where they had been scoring around three runs per over, they were suddenly hitting anything between five and ten. As the final few overs loomed, aggressive hitting saw one over go for 17 runs before a couple of wickets fell.

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The final two overs went for around 20 runs and Rainton had ended their innings on 210 for eight – a good total to defend. Captain Kenny Donaldson top scored with 57 from 57 balls, and Alfie Webster Gill hit an unbeaten 55 off 52.

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By now it was around 4pm and the first team were taking to the front pitch. I popped around the other side of the pavilion to take some photos [while the Theakston Nidderdale teams had their tea], knowing that Yorkshire Premier Division game had been reduced to 20 overs each.

I think we’d had about 30 minutes with essentially no rain (just the odd sporadic spit of water to remind you it hadn’t gone far), but the forecast was for heavier drizzle to appear sometime during the next hour.

I decided to finish covering the fourth’s game and come back another day to see the first team play.

First ball of ‘Gate’s reply and it was sent for four. What a great start in response to Rainton’s total, but a wicket with the second ball foretold of the helter-skelter of a ride we were in for.

Ten overs down and the fours had lost three wickets and scored 56, this was right on target to catch the visitors over the 40 overs, and being honest, was probably a little in front given Rainton had scored more heavily towards the end of their innings.

By drinks, Harrogate had scored over 100 and more importantly hadn’t lost any more wickets. It hadn’t been an explosive innings, just steady and very assured. The home team looked like they were happy with the way their response was going, and Rainton needed wickets to put pressure on their opponents.

As with the first innings, almost immediately following drinks, the bowling team made a breakthrough. A mistimed shot by George Lamb was gratefully held in the field and Harrogate had lost their fourth wicket.

Rainton turned the screws, as it was the home team’s turn to struggle to score runs. Wickets in the 24th, 26thand then 27th overs meant there was a huge amount of pressure building on Harrogate with them still around 80 runs short.

The fourths comprise of a mixture of seasoned older players and a crop of young players, and it was the young guns who were showing real steel in the lower-order batting for the home team.

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This was one of the first games I’ve covered at grassroots this season that going into the last ten overs, the result was still in the balance; with the visitors looking to claim the last few wickets to end the game or restrict the number of runs hit during the allotted 40 overs; and the home team still able to reach the target to claim the victory.

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As one of the few wickets remaining fell, the advantage seemed to lurch in Rainton’s favour; then a boundary or two and Harrogate looked like they could do it again. A maiden over swung the game back in favour of Rainton, then a wicket in the next and it seemed like curtains for ‘Gate.

With about five overs remaining and two wickets in hand, the fours tried to get on the front foot and swing the bat at each ball bowled.

At this point, they needed to score around ten an over to overtake the total set for them, and they were managing to get between six and nine runs per over to stay just about on target.

Rainton were bowling exceptionally well and backing that up with good fielding, protecting the boundary and allowing the home team to pick up any singles they could run.

A wicket with the penultimate ball of the 37th over and Harrogate were still 26 runs short with one wicket remaining. It was time to really push on, as they needed to get something from each delivery.

The first ball of the 38th over was hit into space between the fielders, and the shout to run was given. It would have been a comfortable single, but then came the shout to run the second and being honest, it was never on as any good throw would see a run-out, and so it was.

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Rainton had won a competitive, entertaining and pulsating fixture by 26 runs, earning themselves 20 points which lifted them to top spot in the table (on the same number of points as West Tanfield).

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George Lamb had put in a brilliant knock of 60 from 67 balls before being caught, with Stanley Crabtree (34 from 40), Lucas Hill (20 from 26), Harrish Mani (24 from 40), and Andy Scurr (10 from 9) also catching the eye.

Harrogate had lost narrowly for the second week running, but I think this is a case of the younger players getting a good grounding in senior cricket, and gaining valuable experience while showing how good they are [and will be in the coming years].

As the light dropped and the clouds threatened a heavier bout of rain, I wandered back to the car past the first team’s pitch that now had the covers in place.

I was hoping to catch the last few overs of that game, but the firsts had managed to chase down the total set for them within 20 overs and maintain their challenge at the top of the Yorkshire Premier Division.

Sunday’s fixtures? That’s a story for another time…but let’s just say it rained some more!

MATCH PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Thank you, Mark, for capturing the highlights of the Harrogate vs Rainton in Theakston Nidderdale League Division Four.

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 include days out at grounds around North Yorkshire.