Opening day of duck season…
… and fortunately I didn’t get one!
Yesterday saw the opening day of The York Senior Cricket League 2008 season. It entailed a trip to Cawood and a comfortable victory for my team. I even made a notable contribution to the game - a couple of catches and 10 quick runs - which was thoroughly satisfying.
We won the toss and didn’t hesitate to put our opponents in. We struck early with yours truly managing to hold on to a catch in the gully. A short ball took the bat by surprise and up she popped, a second or two of adrenaline fuelled panic ensued as I moved forward and grabbed hold - thank goodness for the lack of pace and the strong wind holding the ball up. Wickets then tumbled regularly and before we knew it we had them all out for 54 in the 16th over (or thereabouts). I took another very similar but far less panic stricken catch right towards the end. A job well done (in the fielding department at least) by Civil Service.
Following a delicious tea - jacket potatoes, salad and a smashing fruit pie - we went out to knock them off. A shaky and nervous start was soon put to rest as Messrs Wray and Woodhall steadied the ship after the loss of early wickets. A brief cameo by me (10 off about 10 balls) saw us almost home - I think if the ball had beaten the fielder and gone to the boundary that would have wrapped it up. I was a bit gutted because I was sure the fielder had dropped it - he never looked like he was going to catch it to be honest - but he managed to wrap his arms round it as it popped out and headed groundwards. Still we were almost home and a couple of minutes later had moved on to 58 for 4 for a comfortable win.