Sizzling summer solstice as Yapham host Beverley Town

The Longest Day. Sounds like a good title for a movie…oh wait, it was!

A glance at the fixtures list over breakfast suggested a busy Sunday across Yorkshire. A second glance, after a succession of cancellations filtered through social media and club channels, painted a different picture.

Two of the games I had planned as backups had been marked as conceded, but the primary fixture I had in mind, York v Goole Town Women, appeared to still be on.

World Cup effect?

I assume that the Women’s World Cup is having an impact on the numbers of players being available.

After all, it’s not every day that you have the best of the world’s teams on your doorstep – and I totally understand that teams are struggling to field sides over these few weeks of this particular summer.

So, we headed early towards York’s ground in the growing heat. Arriving at the ground, even though well before the start time, there was a remarkable lack of cars.

Going into the bar, we asked if the game was still going ahead and were told it had been postponed. It seemed like no one had got around to telling Play-Cricket otherwise. 

Our other ‘Plan A’ had to be invoked and we left the car park quickly. Travelling east from York, there was a lingering suspicion that Yapham might be another victim of circumstance.

However, as we went to turn onto the country lane that the club was on, we allowed a car to take the turning in front of us…and I could see two cricket bat handles poking out of a bag in the rear window. With a big smile on my face, I drove closely behind them to the ground.

Under blue skies and the warm June sunshine, Yapham’s ground looked immaculate, its freshly installed white boundary rope gleaming in the sunlight as though it had been laid only moments before.

This is the second club in as many weeks that have had a brand new boundary rope laid around the ground – I was quite taken with the pristine condition.

For a sport that spends much of its life arguing with the weather, there was something fitting about finding cricket still being played on the summer solstice.

Few places feel more appropriate for a game steeped in tradition than Yapham itself. It is one of those Yorkshire villages that seems almost purpose-built for cricket.

Nestled within the rich agricultural landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds and the Vale of York, it is a place where the rhythms of rural life have remained remarkably consistent through the generations.

The village’s recorded history stretches back centuries, long before cricket arrived in England’s consciousness.

A lesson in history

Although a settlement of some sort had been on the site of the village beforehand, records show that the village’s small chapel was rebuilt in 1777.

That makes Yapham older than the ‘founding’ of the United States…which will be celebrating its 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 – in around two weeks’ time.

The cricket club was founded in 1909, and I must admit I love the fact that clubs like Yapham have such a rich tapestry of history to tell, with so many being well over a century old.

The home team won the toss, deciding to put the visitors into bat first, and it was Beverley Town who were to make confident use of the excellent conditions.

While Yapham’s bowlers worked hard to keep scoring opportunities under control, Beverley’s batting line-up looked to have strength in depth. 

Central to the innings was a magnificent century by Beverley’s captain Alice Acklam, whose performance combined patience, timing and real quality.

Throughout the innings, Alice displayed the sort of technique that immediately catches the eye, hitting boundaries regularly as she worked her way to 113 from just 100 deliveries.

As the innings progressed, the visitors steadily moved into territory that would challenge even the strongest batting sides. They effectively scored a run a ball in the growing heat of the afternoon.

Yapham continued to work hard in the field and never allowed the innings to run completely away from them, setting up an intriguing chase.

By the conclusion of their 30 overs, Beverley had reached 173-5, a total that felt substantial without being completely beyond reach.

Could Yapham generate early innings momentum to put their guests under some pressure?

During the interval, the teams retreated into the shade of the pavilion with plenty of cold drinks imbibed. I had a couple of very welcome 7-Ups straight from the club’s well-stocked fridge.

The target of 173 required positivity from the beginning of the reply. The home side started brightly enough with their openers trying to blunt the accurate Beverley Town bowling.

However, they found themselves drifting below the required run rate as the visitors’ bowlers sent fast deliveries down the 22, and took a wicket or two to slow the scoring.

The scoreboard continued to tick over, yet the number of runs scored each over struggled to top the one a ball needed. 

One pivotal moment arrived during the 14th over when Alice Johnson (above), who had looked capable of anchoring the chase, was bowled with the score at 44-2. The dismissal left Yapham needing a partnership to bed in and continue the fightback. 

To their credit, Yapham refused to allow the game to drift, and the new partnership between Charlie Dear and captain Robyn Dennington, started to move the run rate up above what was needed, and threatened to win the game for the home team.

A game-winning moment arrived as Robyn went to hit the ball over the infield; Beverley Town’s captain Alice Acklam jumped high, stretching her arm as far as it would go and somehow got her fingers around the ball.

There was a sound of the leather ball hitting the palm of her hand, and as she landed back on the grass. A shout of pure joy as she celebrated taking such a clean catch.

A wonderful moment of fielding to turn the tide. Don’t get me wrong, the game wasn’t over at that point – but it sure felt like a decisive moment.

By the end of the 30 overs, Yapham had reached 150-7, with Charlie agonisingly ending not out on 49 from 54 deliveries. The visitors had secured victory by 23 runs.

View from the boundary

As the evening sun began its slow descent on the longest day of the year, Beverley Town departed Yapham with a deserved victory and 32 points from an excellent all-round performance.

Yapham’s reward was 20 points and the knowledge that, despite defeat, they remain firmly established among the league’s leading sides.

The result leaves York Women at the summit of the YPLN Women’s Premier League, with Driffield Town in second place. Yapham retain third, while Beverley Town strengthen their challenge in fourth.

It’s all too easy to get mixed up in the excitement of the T20 Women’s World Cup, visiting the big county grounds hosting international games, and watching on in awe as the biggest names in women’s cricket compete for a place in the final and ultimately lifting the trophy.

However, grassroots cricket continues to be played and is every bit as important to showcase as the World Cup fixtures.

Actually, I think women’s grassroots cricket is far more important to showcase, and with the changes taking place right now, the next few years are going to be amazing to watch.

What to read more?

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.

Mark’s excellent blog called Leica Moments includes observations and imagery from days out at grounds around Yorkshire.

Here on Cricket Yorkshire, check out our latest opinion articles from club cricket. Our cricket grounds section features travelogues, as well as other related adventures.

Cricket Yorkshire’s women and girls cricket hub has interviews, news and match coverage.

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