Romany CC vs Yorkshire Gentlemen CC – Match Report

MATCH REPORT

YORKSHIRE GENTS VS ROMANY CC 22^ND JULY

ROMANY WON BY 30 RUNS

The game last year was a heavy loss for Romany, and neither us, nor YG enjoyed the day. So this year we selected a much stronger XI to have a much more competitive game and a possible chance of victory, so we had 4 new players to Romany who play good league cricket and kindly came along to help.

A special mention, and thanks to Keon who came along at the last minute after a drop out.

The weather was glorious, and hot, and after coffee at 11 and warm welcomes as ever from Paul, we won the toss and batted first.

Knight and Naylor opened the batting and it soon became clear that despite appearances it was not an easy batting wicket, also YG had some decent bowlers. The runs were spread around the batting order, Naylor 29, Watling 31, Carver 20, and notably Keon Williams 41, facing some very tight YG spin bowling. The YG team this year was very strong, with all XI playing very good club level cricket and it was a good contest from the start.

After 51 overs Romany were bowled out for 176 at about 3.15pm, so we had a good period of time to bowl at YGs, and, even though it was a very hot day, we had a good paced attack that we thought could cause problems on that wicket: and so it proved.  L Carver opened from the top end, and bowled their opener with his first ball. J Morley opened from the Pavilion End and kept it very tight: 5 overs, 2 maidens, 11 runs. The other YG opener, Harry Adair, is a very decent player, and he batted very well as we changed bowlers regularly in the heat. We took regular wickets and Adair kept on batting; he was losing partners but YG were definitely looking for victory, and could have done so, had Adair not tried one reverse sweep too many against Watling who knocked back his leg stump. Then Carver came in again at express pace to clear up the tail, with figures at 7 overs, 1 maiden, 28 runs and 4 wickets. Stuart Pierse also bowled superbly from the top end, taking 3 important wickets for 10 runs from 6 overs.

The Man of the Match award goes to Keon Williams for a superb all-round performance: his vital 41 runs, his bowling getting an important wicket, and a top-class diving catch at point to remove no 3 batsman, who plays for Yorks 1^st X1!!

It was a very competitive game, with some high-quality cricket played, all in the right spirit, and it was appreciated by YG’s who enjoyed the challenge.

All 22 players stayed for drinks afterwards in the evening sunshine and toasted our umpire Mike Bosomworth who did a fine job in the heat. All in all it was a fine cricketing day, and made even more so by the fact that we haven’t beaten YG for about 15 years!

– Matt Knight, Match Manager