Tense Finish on Final Visit to Whixley

The first half of the season drew to a close with a trip up the A1 to Whixley. This will be the last time we make this trip as next year they are joining the Nidderdale league. It was nice then that we got to try out their new pavilion. They have built it on the opposite corner to the old one and very impressive it is. Unlike many of the other new ones it is a wooden structure. Don’t go into the changing rooms if you are agoraphobic as they are huge, our team had to text each other as sound didn’t carry all the way to the other side.

It was pretty much the same team as last week which had collapsed against East Keswick with the exception of Stuart Morley in for Elmer Gee, Stuart also took over the role of captain for the day.

The weather was decidedly iffy and on the drive up got greyer and greyer, light drizzle was in the NW wind and it felt more like an early season April game than a mid-summer fixture. Stu won the toss and decided to bat, hoping the damp outfield would make the ball greasy and difficult for the bowlers.

His hunch proved to be correct and Whixley opening bowler, Ed Mason, struggled with his footing from the off. The evergreen Pat Greenwood at the other end was his usual reliable self but in his first spell of seven overs couldn’t make a breakthrough. He was very economical though going for just 12 runs.

Milford’s batting today was in complete contrast to last week. Both Stuart and Peter Batty looked confident and were soon putting away the bad ball and picking up quick singles. They were both scoring at a similar rate but it was Stuart who to his fifty first, a couple of big sixes off Whixley skipper, John Richardson, nudged him ahead. So 65 balls for Stuart and 68 for Pete.

As often happens with a big partnership both batsmen were out within 5 minutes of each other, Stuart for 67 and Peter 59. This brought Martin Bramley & Rob Peregrine to the crease, Rob was out for a duck getting a leading edge straight back to the bowler. His purple patch of May seems well & truly over. Martin is convinced the umpires have it in for him this season and it came has no surprise to see him given LBW for the 4th time this season, sometimes the cricketing gods have a wicked sense of humour.

From having a good start the Milford innings was in danger of fizzling out into a damp squib, the White brothers settled us down a bit and put on 38 for the 5th wicket taking the total over 200. That was not without a scare as Dan was bowled when on 15 but luckily Ed Mason was adjudged to have over stepped the line. Dan took advantage of an extra life and put his foot down. He certainly wasn’t the gentleman when he smacked Pat Greenwood’s daughter, Hannah, for 12 off her opening over. She got her revenge the next over when she bowled his younger brother Ben.

Dan looked nailed on for our third half century of the day until run out on 47. For once the Milford rabbits didn’t lie down today and we closed on our highest total of the season, in the league, of 249. Even Andy Clark managed to carry his bat today !!!!!!

The disadvantage of us scoring big totals is that it takes a bit of time to check it off, as a result I was a bit late in getting round for the tea and by then all that was left was what appeared to be coleslaw sandwiches. Call me fussy and ungrateful but as Shania Twain said ‘That don’t impress me much’. Fortunately there were plenty of cocktail sausages and mini pork pies to fill the gap and mini doughnuts and fresh strawberries placated me somewhat.

The weather had improved somewhat by the second innings the drizzle clearing away and though still cool it looked like we would be ok for the rest of the match. Strangely the Whixley innings started off as the mirror image of ours. Openers Pat Greenwood and junior Jack Whitham sharing in an identical 1st wicket partnership of 139. Greenwood certainly rode his luck been dropped twice and having a stumping chance go begging. Still they pushed on at a fair rate, particularly Whitham who hit 13 boundaries in his 72.

By the drinks interval Whixley were looking pretty having not lost a wicket and well up with the run rate. Stu Morley was scratching his head having tried most of his usual bowling options without any success. Most disappointing was the usually dependable Loz White who was having a bit of an off day with the ball and had to be taken out of the attack after just 3 overs. His day was to improve though when just after drinks he took a great low down catch to dismiss Pat Green at deep extra cover. Another fine knock for Pat, amongst many he has played against us, gave him the top score of the day 88.

As with the Milford innings Whixley’s batting now had a wobble and Sam Thomas and Steve Winspear started to make inroads into the order. The return of Andy Clark also helped the run rate slow and soon Whixley were looking at more than a run a ball if they were going to overhaul our total. With 5 overs remaining Whixley needed 41 with 5 wickets in the shed.

A big 11 off Andy Clark in the 41st over gave Whixley hope but 2 wickets in successive overs from Sam Thomas finally saw the chase been abandoned. In fact when Steve Winspear took 2 wickets in the final over we sniffed a chance of collecting the full 6 points. Perhaps fairly Hannah Greenwood managed to block out the last ball to give Whixley a well deserved point from what had turned out to be a very competitive game played in a fantastic spirit.

The result was much needed after last week’s poor performance and the news that many of our local rivals had been rained off only improved the mood. The weather had apparently been much worse around home. So it was back to the Anchor Inn in the village to calm the scorers’ shredded nerves with some Leeds Pale.