Wakefield Thornes lift K3 Dental Cup at Castleford

The K3 Dental Cup Final promised a bundle of opportunities from Premier League cricket involving two South Yorkshire rivals to an assured host in last year’s winners, Castleford.

Back on trains more often this season, I’ve had my ‘adventures’ but the Leeds to Knottingley service from platform 17b was quiet, on time and I was in Castleford before I knew it.

📸 With thanks for photos in this article: John Hobson Photography – https://johnhobsonphotographer.co.uk/

Castleford Cricket Club is a rarity in that it has absolutely loads of parking and by and large, you can find a berth where, because of the sheer size of the ground, your car is safe from incoming rockets with a seam.

On foot, I had no such qualms and while the pre-match photos happened with both captains and umpires Jonathan Corcoran & Neil Vaughan, I busied myself with the important business of the day: A bacon sarnie. I was even asked my preference by Colson’s dad Nick (crispy, obviously).

Bumping into Steve Ward (Secretary for the YCSPL, scorer for Sheffield Collegiate and England) was welcome (cheers for the brew, Wardy) as we generally catch up on Facebook. I get inundated with requests to visit clubs (absolutely not complaining) and where I can, it’s great to get out and meet those from clubs and leagues.

Castleford’s mahoosive ground was looking distinctly autumnal. The forecast was for afternoon rain (spoiler alert, the app got that wrong yet again) so for the 12.30pm start, it was sunny, warm and very breezy.

The giant poplars at the far end of Savile Park were being shaken by invisible forces while the outfield was coated in brown leaves with many trees having shed their plumage sooner this year.

Cas double-act Eddie and Luke were in charge of the microphone, music and sinking beers (in reverse order). The ‘pound-a-go’ / guess the first innings total was on the cautious side.

It’s about the biggest ground I can think of for club cricket and I optimistically settled on 240; too high as it turned out with both sides missing their overseas signings and I also forgot it was 40 overs, not 50 overs.

I like that volume for a cup competition and reckon that some clubs and leagues play too much in a day. Not a popular view I‘m sure but there you go. Some see a few more overs as ‘more serious’ which is nonsense of course.

For today, it was 40 overs, pink ball (tricky to see against the autumn foliage) and coloured clothing.

Before we dive into the match itself, a mention for Castleford’s media efforts. The hosts did pre-match interviews for Instagram and the quality of their content and socials is very good.

I tend to prefer to fly under the radar a bit and various injuries have curtailed sitting pitchside for hours with a zoom lens – but I also knew John Hobson would be there for those all-important images from the showpiece.

That said, a branded Cricket Yorkshire DJI mic might be on the wishlist for Santa to ponder. I’ve yet to nail my ‘tech stack’ (yes, that is a term, however ludicrous). Muffling audio for phone footage at games has been a bit trial and error but the millions of views on the Cricket Yorkshire Facebook page shows something is clearly working.

When it got underway, the game lacked a bit of momentum; paused several times due to first an injury to Doncaster Town keeper Jaden Fell while mum looked on anxiously on the sidelines next to me.

The gazebo where the scorers Leanne Clarke-Linney (Doncaster Town) & Andrew Tipple (Wakefield Thornes) were based blew away in the gusts (they stayed intact and grounded, you’ll be pleased to learn).

The early exchanges saw ball keep bat relatively quiet. It’s a reasonable distance straight (says the flailing number eleven) but square of the wicket, you’ll need to have had three Weetabix to blast frequent boundaries.

Wakefield Thornes found themselves 41-2 with Joe Billings walking back to the bouncing tunes of The Hundred’s DJ Playlist on Spotify. Curtis Free (1-46) & George Cowan (1-46) might have struck early but they leaked runs as Thornes consolidated through James Rhodes (42) & Jawad Akhtar (73).

Not that Doncaster Town hadn’t kicked the door half open. Dobson & Rajapaksha hauled the run rate down and at 86-4, there was a chance. But, Akhtar’s innings (photo, above) was low-risk, composed cricket and he found a perfect foil in skipper Matthew Taylor (29).

Thornes put their foot down when it mattered as Akhtar struck several booming sixes straight and cars next to the sightscreen became target practice. Finishing on 195-8 off 40 overs, that felt a bit light but equally something that could be enough.

At the break, I caught up with Martin who does the ground at Cas. He reckoned a total of 180 was defendable albeit with Castleford’s spin threat of Eddie Morrison and David Wainwright. My not-remotely-a-wager £1 was way off the mark.

Doncaster Town’s Warren Graca (4-32) had shown the way with his spin and time would tell if Thrones could apply the same squeeze. These two sides know each other well with Doncaster Town having emerged victorious in the league’s T20 Blast final.

Not that form counts for anything in these one-off shootouts but Thornes had won by 102 runs in the league at home and by 30 runs in the earlier May fixture at Town Fields.

I was kindly invited to ‘take tea’ after the players and match officials. No doubt, a cunning PR move so that I could video the cakes and stick it on Facebook. As if that would happen…

I have scoffed, munched, chomped and slurped my way through many fine teas this season and the Castleford K3 Final effort was right up there. It took untold powers of persuasion not to lick the pavlova bowl.

It was good to talk cricket with Ollie Beukes of K3 Cosmetic Dental too; the sponsor of this cup competition that sees the Premier Division sides from Yorkshire Premier League North and the YCSPL face each other.

It is also known as the Yorkshire Leagues Knock Out Cup so that must be handy for the Barnsley business who look after your pearly whites. Insert your own feeble tooth-related gags here (and read to the end to get a few more).

In reply, Wakefield Thornes struck early and often. Matthew Taylor (2-17) and Charlie Bourne (3-19) challenged the edge, well backed up by agile fielding.

The dismissals of Jaden Fell (5), James Dobson (13), Taylor Fell (2) & Harsha Rajapaksha (7) saw Doncaster stagger to 31-4. Thornes kept the pressure on as the run rate mounted and it was over as a contest, if not the match.

Sam Wisniewski’s spin (3-27, photo above) and Dylan Hurst (2-15) wrapped things up as Doncaster Town were out for 95. None the wiser if Hurst bowled spin, his bio in the excellent programme read: ‘More fragile than a Rich Tea biscuit, used Leeds MCCU as a rehab clinic, hits the ball miles.’

League titles

So, there you go. Wakefield Thornes deserved winners. The talk, from their supporters at least, was of losing top spot in the YCSPL to Cleethorpes (190) where the latter got the win but Thornes (174) were held to 4pts with their abandoned game at Hallam.

The interpretation of conditions by umpires, beyond the regs in black and white, is always going to be scrutinised when titles are at stake. When do they come off for rain? How long before they deem it fit to go back on? So it ever was at all levels of the game.

Keep an eye out for the probable title-decider as Wakefield travel to Cleethorpes on Saturday 13 September.

Two games to play and with Cleethorpes at Sheffield Collegiate this Saturday (Thornes at home to Barnsley Woolley Miners), there is everything to play for.

Meanwhile, in the Yorkshire Premier League North, Castleford are top of the Premier Division (146) from Sheriff Hutton Bridge (138) & York (132). With a maximum of ten points per win and two games left, again, no-one is home and dry.

Castleford have Beverley Town (h) and Woodhouse Grange (a), Sheriff Hutton Bridge’s run-in reads: Harrogate (a) and Hull Zingari (h). Finally, York have Driffield (a) and Harrogate (h). Add in the variable of possible rain permutations and Play-Cricket will get some serious hammer.

Other than league titles, another topic of conversation was the White Rose Trophy (above) now that there are five Premier Leagues. It won’t be happening this season and we’ll have to see if there is a neat mathematical solution for its return in 2026.

Players want a fitting venue (that’s Headingley) which seems unlikely given fixture congestion and existing demand across grassroots cricket for slots. (Richard Robinson and his team at Yorkshire CCC already facilitate the recreational game whenever possible.)

Scarborough is an alternative for that sense of occasion (a long shlep for some travelling supporters). But more importantly than the venue (assuming The Hundred windfall won’t shell out for an overseas option like Abu Dhabi in year one), is the format.

Knockout or Champions League-style groups? When to play it? You either have two semi-finals to face the 2024 winners Richmondshire? Or more teams in a return of a Black Sheep-style competition?

It’s a bit of a mess and there are a number of other strong cup competitions like this K3 Dental Cup and the Heavy Woollen Cup that Premier League teams also rate.

Alongside leagues and the litany of cups, is there appetite to see an ultimate champion of Yorkshire Premier Leagues crowned?

I pondered all this and more while sprinting across Leeds railway station, bounding up stairs with the grace of an Olympic triple jumper, to collapse in a sweaty bundle inside the Skipton train.

That can all wait to work itself out in the fullness of time. The K3 Dental Cup had delivered a (composite bonded) smile for supporters. The season is ticking down to the end game. Brace(s) yourself. Who will be (wait for it….) crowned the winner?

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