The Pocklingtonian 2018/19 | Page 80

SPORT// CRICKET CRICKET 1st XI P5 / W3 / D1 / L1 Having only played 7 games to date with 7 games victim of the weather, two of these in the National 20/20 competition, the boys have much to play for with only the MCC and festival remaining in the season. There has been glimpses of quality on show most notably the recent win over St Peters 2nd XI side however we must obtain a greater hunger for the significant contribution that goes onto win games whether with the bat or ball. U13 XI P4 / W1 / D0 / L2 / ABONDONED 1 WORSLEY CUP 8-A SIDE RUNNERS-UP W1 / L1 As frustrating a season as one can remember, with a number of games and practices on the square sadly falling by the wayside in what forecasters enthusiastically claim to be the wettest June on record! The first match to get underway was away at Hymers, and with Hymers electing to bat first (scoring 136-6 from 20 going into tea), we were in for a big innings before the rain appeared and the match was regrettably abandoned. Second match of the season was against Hill House. Batting first Hill House scored 101-7 from 20 (Blackburn 2-10, Councell 2-18, Woodhead 1-5). We left it rather late in the game to chase them down but a calm 51no from Olly Rook saw us over the line, finishing with a magnificent 6 over square-leg. Special mention should be reserved for Will Blackburn who hit 20 off 5 balls to effectively pull us back into 78 THE POCKLINGTONIAN 2nd XI U12 XI In what has been a heavily rain affected season the Second team have only managed to play half a fixture in which they bowled Hymers college out for 66. The U12XI have had a challenging season with the weather this year with one match abandoned and three cancelled due to rain. However, we have won two games and lost two games with a 6 a-side tournament and Area Cup final left in the final weeks of term. Notable performances came from Charlie Laverack with five wickets and a quick opening spell from Henry Smith. The boys have trained with confidence and I’m sure would have performed well, had the weather held for them. the game (Pocklington 105-3 from 17.4). Third match of the season was a testing encounter against St Olaves. St Olaves batted first and played a powerful and aggressive innings eventually reaching a rather enviable 143-5 from 20 (Councell 2-29, Woodhead 1-8). We struggled to maintain the required run rate, and even with a solid 29 from Laverack and 26 from Councell we fell short by 42 runs, reaching 101-7 at the close of play. Highlight of the game was an outstanding run out (flick onto the stumps) by Luke Woodhead after having his delivery driven fiercely back towards him by the strike batsman. The Worsley Cup (8-a-side tournament) played at Ampleforth, provided us with a win and a loss against Ampleforth and Greshams respectively. After beating Ampleforth by 56 runs (Rook 22no, Parsonage 22no, and Councell 24no), Greshams turned the screw on our batsmen, containing us to 34-6 from 10. They batted this off within 6 overs finishing with 37-1 (Laverack 1-7) and winners of the cup. With a lowly 2 games completed at the time of writing, our penultimate game Most Improved Player: Barney Walker Players of the Season: Ben Malkin and Dillon Quinn of the season against GSAL proved a difficult test. Rusty after seemingly weeks of rain, GSAL took their chances and under challenging playing conditions we posted a total of just 69-9 (Falkingham 12) from 20 overs. Despite some acrobatics in the field and a contender for catch of the season from Stan Stone, Leeds confidently knocked this off with a remarkable succession of boundaries finishing on 72-1 (Burton 1-7). All in all this has been quite a challenging season. We have given teams a good game wherever we have travelled only to fall victim to the weather, and credit must be given to the boys for their continued patience and enthusiasm throughout. In a climate of extremes, it’s important to remember that for every wet season endured hopefully there will be a scorcher just round the corner. TH Captains: James Burton / Ollie Rook Player of the Season: Tom Councell Most Improved Player: Will Blackburn