West Yorkshire Women and Girls’ League: Menston spring a surprise at Skipton

I’ve been rather unlucky over the past two weeks. Sundays have been put aside to cover women’s cricket – but frustratingly, there have been relatively few games scheduled, and the last one that I had planned to go to was postponed…which I only found out about when I turned up at the ground.

This week, I tried to ensure I had a ‘Plan A’ and ‘Plan B’, providing myself with enough time to get from one game to another – if needed.

So, Sunday saw me travelling back across the A59, past Bolton Abbey’s ground (I’d covered their 2nd XI playing Upper Wharfedale the previous day) and into Skipton. As I turned off the main road and headed down towards the town centre, there were a few road closed signs, warning me that there was a food festival on.

A quick detour around the backstreets and I was heading towards Sandylands, a sports centre on the edge of the town. Taking the second turning into the cricket club and a quick left between the cricket and rugby pitches, I headed to the large car park running down the edge of the complex.

The area is undergoing huge changes, with new housing being built close by, and the cricket club itself undergoing an upgrade with a new pavilion that is now in the latter stages of being constructed. I must say it looks rather impressive.

As with Ilkley Cricket Club, there is another cricket ground within a stones-throw of Skipton (it’s actually just over the car park hedge) – Skipton Church Institute Cricket Club. Their first team play in the Craven and District Cricket League Division Two, and their second team plays in Division Four.

It started me thinking – I haven’t covered that particular league in a few years and that is remiss of me. So, plans are already being made for next season!

Anyway, distractions aside, I looked around the ground to see if there were any signs of the game going ahead and I spotted a couple of people by the electronic scoreboard opening up one of the storage areas.

The game was on, and I could relax – relieved at not having to make a mad dash to Bradford and put ‘Plan B’ into action!

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Skipton Women were playing Menston in the West Yorkshire Women & Girls’ Cricket League Division One, with the Sandylands team at the top of the league and Menston sitting second from bottom.

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The past week has been sunny and hot, ensuring pitches are continuing to dry after a monumental wet start to the year. Having taken time to wander around various grounds over the past few weeks, I must admit that many are looking in fantastic condition, with most not showing the usual signs of wear and tear that you would expect in August.

Skipton’s pitch looked in great nick, and there was a strong suggestion that it would prove (as it did in yesterday’s game) to be a bowlers’ delight!

There was a heavy overcast sky and an intermittent cold breeze as the visitors’ opening batters strode to the centre. Having won the toss, Menston were looking to post a challenging total for Skipton to chase.

Sarah Woods settled the quickest, the Menston opening batter playing some wonderful cricket to guide the ball for boundaries and running singles where possible. Catherine Hannam, the other opener, was run out in the second over when there didn’t appear to be [and evidently wasn’t] time to complete the run.

Over the next 12 overs, Emily Burns and Sarah Woods formed a useful partnership that saw the visitors add 70 runs to the total; and by the time Emily was caught, Menston were on 80-2 after 14 overs.

Sarah was just shy of her 50, and it would take a couple more overs for her to run the few singles required. As with many players, having got over that half century barrier, Woods started to stroke the ball around the ground with renewed freedom.

Megan Batty had joined Sarah in the centre and the pair were determined to amass an impressive total.

By the penultimate over, Woods was on 87, but Megan was facing the bowler and impressing with her defensive play to frustrate the Skipton attack. Two runs scored…one apiece…meant that Sarah would have to hit a few boundaries if she was to reach her century.

Two dot balls and a wide from the first three deliveries, meant that reaching the 100 looked unlikely…but then Sarah ran two to reach 90 with two balls of the innings remaining. Next delivery, a no-ball, but Woods managed to send it to the rope, and she had moved on to 94.

The following ball and another two were run…with the tantalising prospect that a boundary from the last delivery would allow Sarah to reach her century. The final ball was superb and the Menston opener was unable to despatch it for the required four runs.

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Woods may not have reached her century, but she was deservedly applauded off the pitch by the teams and spectators. 96 not out – what a brilliant innings!

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The visitors had ended on 181 for two in their allotted 30 overs, a formidable total and it would take something special from Skipton to catch.

Skipton’s response was solid, but Menston’s bowling was fast and accurate, and it was evident from the opening few overs that they were stifling the home team’s ability to score runs.

Four wickets in the opening seven overs put pressure on Skipton, with Becca Gibbons, Charlotte Gibbons, Lauren Facey, and Hannah Lamb all being dismissed for less than ten runs each.

The home team needed a stable partnership, and that came from Gail Ellis and Lois Taylor-Jones. Over the next four overs, they defended the ball well and scored a few runs…but then disaster as Taylor-Jones was bowled by Annabel Rhodes.

Saffron Ellis formed a four-over partnership with Gail but was bowled for just six runs in the 16th over. Skipton needed to score runs but were being disrupted by wickets falling regularly. Isabelle Bolles came to the crease and with each delivery, it seemed like this new pairing would blunt the Menston attack.

And so it proved for nearly ten overs. The problem for the home team was that they were falling further and further behind the required run rate, and unless there was a radical change of fortune, they were heading for defeat.

Two wickets in the 25th over left the home team on the brink, and two overs later another two wickets fell, and the game was over. Skipton had scored 81 in just under 27 overs.

Gail Ellis had impressed with the bat for Skipton, scoring 22 runs from 64 deliveries. Emily Burns with five wickets from six overs, three maidens, four runs scored; and Annabel Rhodes with three wickets from 3.4 overs, and just eight runs scored – were the pick of the Menston attack.

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The result meant that Skipton were overtaken at the top of the table by Crossflatts CC who beat North Halifax to take top spot, and Bradford Park Avenue Ladies who beat St. Chad’s Broomfield to go second.

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The win for Menston saw them lift one place above North Halifax, but it was the nature of this win that will probably be the major take from this game. The visitors were impressive with both bat and ball, clearly suggesting that they should be much higher in the league.

The top two teams go head-to-head next week, Menston travel to Pudsey St. Lawrence, but Skipton have a week off. There’s still a lot to play for in this league, and I can’t wait to cover another game!

MATCH PHOTOS

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Thanks to Mark for capturing the highlights of Skipton vs Menston in the West Yorkshire Women and Girls’ Cricket League.

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.