Sheffield Uni Staff match goes to the wire.

Sheffield University staff visited Escrick Park in a game which went down to the final ball of the game. The Yorkshire Gentlemen managed by Jeremy Phillips were captained by Jason Dale on the field.

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David O'Kelly and new member Callum Puttock opened the batting together, Puttock hit a flat six in a short but sweet innings and David was ran out for the third time in 6 games as the gents got off to a sluggish start. It was a warm day but with the huge amount of rain from Saturday and cloudy overhead conditions runs were not easy to score quickly. Joe Biggs (39) and Jason Dale looked to rebuild, the captain fell with the score on 52. New man Oli Arikichenin struggled to rotate strike but was able to occupy the crease alongside Biggs to take the score to 85. This brought in Salman Syed (38) who similarly to the previous week brought some impetus the the innings and shared a useful 68 run partnership. The innings ended on 158 for 6. Match manager Jeremy Phillips was satisfied with the total but would have liked another 12 runs to feel confident his side could bring home victory.

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Tight opening spells from Bindloss and Holland ensured SUS got off to a slow start. Dale was immediately rewarded with his first bowling change as Pradeep struck in his first over and in his third bowled a wicket maiden. Puttock claimed his maiden wicket for the club and then another bowling changed paid off instantly with O'Kelly getting his first wicket of the season. Biggs one of the main stays of the Gents batting innings contributed well in the filed with a smart run out and SUS were struggling at 71-5. Opening batsman J. Chisholm was still at the crease however and was proving a thorn the the Gents side, he passed 50 and after finding some support from B. Kidner (25) looked to be leading his side to victory. O'Kelly finished his superb spell of 8-1-18-1 which could have been better if Chrisholm wasn't dropped in his final over.

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Holland returned and once again the bowling changes worked as he immediately removed the opener for a well made 63. Luckily for the Gents the drop catch wasn't costly, it was in fact a brilliant catch taken by Biggs this time around. This was a crucial wicket but it didn't halt SUS charge for victory, 42 required of the last 5 overs meant anything could happen. 3 wickets fell in 3 overs but a series of boundaries from no.8 C. Ramsay (24*) meant 14 was requited from the final over. Holland started with a dot ball but a single off the second brought Ramsay back on strike, he was able to connect well with all the balls he faced but couldn't find the boundary. This left 6 needed off the final ball to tie the match. Ramsay was unable to achieve this and the Gents claimed a 3 run victory in a thoroughly enjoyable tense game of cricket.

Man of the match: Joe Biggs

Alex Bindloss

YG's beaten in season opener

The Yorkshire Gentlemen started their 2021 season with a 40 over game against Woodhouse Grange Academy. The team featured many regular faces from the previous season and was captained by Phil Holland.

The toss was won by the visitors who chose to bat. The Gents started off well, reducing Woodhouse to 43-3 after 11 overs. This brought J.Basson and J.Atkinson (31) together, the pair shared a 75 partnership finding the boundary regularly and at one point looked like taking to the score well past 200. Captain Phil Holland brought himself on in the 28th over and took 3-28 turning the innings around by claiming the crucial wicket of J.Basson (74). Woodhouse eventually posted 180-8 from their allotted 40 overs. A good all round performance from the Gents - 6 of the 7 bowlers used taking wickets and only 35 runs coming from the final 10.

The YG’s side against Woodhouse Grange Academy

The YG’s side against Woodhouse Grange Academy

In reply the Gents two leading run scorers from last season, David O'Kelly and Jason Dale, opened up but sadly couldn't replicate that form. They passed 50 in the 18th over despite being only two down the pressure to score runs started to be felt by the batsmen, the home side went from 65-2 to 79-7 in the space of 7 overs, a collapse they couldn't recover from. Eventually ending the innings on 114-9, with David O'Kelly top scoring with 30. A disappointing 66 run loss to start the summer.

Match Report by

Alex Bindloss

Let’s hope the YG’s can get back to winning ways in this busy start to the season. The team have three more fixtures this week, including Scarborough College - away on the 28th, Leeds University on the 30th (Home) and York Wanderers (Home) on Sunday - 2nd May. Whilst supporters are not permitted at Scarborough CC it would be wonderful to see some members down at Escrick to support the team over the bank holiday weekend.

Important Notice - Match v Scarborough College 28th April

The Yorkshire Gentlemen are playing Scarborough College this Wednesday - 28th April. We have just learnt that Scarborough CC is classed as a stadium and therefore they cannot allow any spectators in the ground under current COVID regulations. Many apologies if you were hoping to come and support the team as you will not now be permitted to attend. Please do pass this information on to all who may have been contemplating a visit. It would be a real shame for anyone to make an unnecessary journey. Good luck to the team as we look to record our first win of the season. We will make sure we give a full match report from the game.

Graham Cowdrey and the YG's

Following the sad news of the death of Graham Cowdrey at just 56, there have been many warm tributes from the cricketing world. By consensus a gifted player who, whilst he had a good and lengthy career at Kent scoring 8,858 first class runs at an average of 34.73, perhaps always lived in the shadow of his brother Chris and of course his father - the great Colin Cowdrey.

For those who knew him his cricketing ability though was secondary to the many things that made him the man he was. He was natural, warm, charming and very funny. He was best man to Rory Bremner who thought him ‘the funniest man I’ve come across’.

Roger Alton (former editor of the Observer and Independent) wrote ‘Graham Cowdrey was king of the dressing room, and so charming that it didn’t feel like charm.’

The YG’s welcomed a young Cowdrey to the club during his days at Durham University and Roger Hinchcliffe has a wonderful tale to tell of the visit that seemed to typify Graham.

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“I was very saddened to read of the death of the younger Cowdrey and recall an amusing incident when he came down to play at Escrick for Durham University many years ago. 

He arrived in a car driven by a team mate with one foot heavily bandaged.  He got out of the car and hobbled on one leg to the Pavilion.  Where he was greeted by his team mates and the hugely popular Granville Holland who was the University senior Geology lecturer and President of the University Cricket Club.  Holland was the most delightful chap and always came down with the team to umpire.  

Cowdrey said that he had trodden on some broken glass before leaving and could not play but had turned up to explain himself...!!!  They all knew that they had only travelled with 11 players .  The only solution was for Granville to play and as the University were in the field, we provided an Umpire, Granville borrowed some kit and out he went.  So play started and after about half an hour,  they admitted that the whole thing was a set up to have some fun at “the expense” of the popular Granville Holland who retired from the field of play to be replaced by Graham Cowdrey...!!!”

Roger