2-day MCCU Challenge Match

8th & 9th May 2012 – Loughborough

Following the wash-out of the BUCS game the day before, the 2-day MCCU challenge game against Loughborough was unable to get underway until 4 pm due to a soaked outfield. Both Andrew Lawson and Russell Cobb (the new Loughborough head coach) were desperate to get some play in.

Rick Moore - Capt

Leeds Bradford lost the toss and were put in to bat. After a decent start with Slater and Webb putting on 30 for the first wicket the wheels came off, to leave us teetering on 81 for 6. In what could prove to be a crucial game Rick Moore and Will Vanderspar then batted superbly, sharing a 7th wicket stand of 119 before Vanderspar fell just before close of play. However, on an overnight total of 205 for 7 and with Moore still there on 67 not out, the boys will be hoping to add a few more tomorrow before having a crack with the ball in what could be an intriguing days play.

Will Vanderspar

As it turned out the last 3 wickets could only add a further 36 runs before the Yellows were dismissed for 241 – 9 runs short of a 3rd batting point. Let’s hope we’re not left to regret that at the end pof the season. In reply Loughborough got off to a shocker, losing their first 2 wickets with only 3 runs on the board. However the 3rd wicket pair rallied and, despite the ball beating the bat with metronomic regularity, they were still there when the rain came once again, this time bringing an end to the proceedings with Loughborough on 78-2.

The weather has played absolute havoc with both the one-day and two-day competitions with only Cambridge managing to get positive results from theor 3 games so far. They now have one foot through the Grace Gates at Lord’s so the battle is on to see who joins them. Leeds Bradford now take a two week break before returning to BUCS action at home to Solent on 31 May, followed by Durham at home and Cambridge away in bothe formats of the game.

We are one of the two  ‘new kids on the block’ as far as first class status goes. Ourselves and Cardiff were only bestowed with the honour over the winter. Leeds Bradford have now played two games at this level – against Surrey at the Oval and Yorkshire at Headingley. We lost against Surrey by 2 runs after chasing 315 to win and then had the better of a drawn game against Yorkshire in our own ‘local derby’. To redress the balance of negative comments about the MCCU’s status, here are a few snippets from the media during and following our match at Headingley.

YCCC coach Jason Gillespie on Twitter (end of Day 1): “Not an ideal day today in our game v Leeds Bradford Uni. We were outplayed today” “Leeds Bradford bowled well today. We have no excuses.”

At end of Day 2: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a game on our hands. Looking forward to a run chase v Leeds Bradford at some point tomorrow.”

And at the end of Day 3: “Thank you for the game Leeds Bradford. Was a good contest, great hit out for us. Some talented players in their side. Pity about the weather.”

James Buttler on YCCC’s official website: “The rain fell to spoil what looked like it was going to be an exciting climax to the three-day fixture at Headingley. Yorkshire were two wickets down and 180 short of the winning line when the heavens opened. The Leeds Bradford MCCU can take huge credit though for the way they played their cricket to make their county opposition fight hard.”

“The students have been an impressive bunch, particularly in the field.”

“One thing cannot be debated – the Leeds Bradford MCCU, after narrowly losing to Surrey and more than worrying Yorkshire at Headingley, have done a lot to calm the debate on whether university matches should be first-class fixtures. The students at Headingley over the last few days have been first class.” FULL REPORT HERE

Chris Waters in the Yorkshire Post:  ”At a time when there is much debate around whether universities should even hold first class status . . . one is unlikely to hear too many dissenting voices from Headingley Carnegie. For after running Surrey close at the Oval earlier in the month Leeds Bradford once more did themselves proud against a Yorkshire side who, in truth, struggled  at times against less vaunted opponents.”

“For long periods of the game it seemed as though the young men of Leeds Bradford might spring a surprise on their county opponents.”

“On a competitive pitch that offered something for everyone, Leeds Bradford actually bowled in a fashion that would have put several counties to shame. Ivan Thomas and Joe Leach were particularly impressive, the former looking a real prospect as he bowled some splendid material from the Kirkstall Lane end.” FULL REPORT HERE

YCCC bastman Anthony McGrath in the Telegraph and Argus: “Last week’s game against Leeds/Bradford MCCU was a really good workout for the lads. I said to their coach after the game that I thought it was the best University team I’ve played against. They made it really competitive and were a really good unit. We were all very impressed with  them. In truth it was a disappointing end to the game, because it was boiling up to be a good finish.” FULL ARTICLE HERE 

Finally, the Yorkshire CCC Forum on their official website had some interesting chat, to say the least. Probably the best comment on the Yorkshire v Leeds Bradford match thread came from ‘Triple Centurion’ who, when after the game had finished was wondering about Yorkshire’s selection for their next game against Essex , wrote:-  ”Unfortunately we have a few selection headaches for Thursday as Higginbottom, McQueen, Reece, Thomas and Hodgson are unavailable for consideration due to examinations.”

When you add to this the number of positive words from the YCCC players, messages to the players and coaching staff on Facebook, Twitter etc and the congratulatory emails from various members of staff at Headingley, the whole squad comes out in an extremely positive light. We now have to transform this form to our matches against the other universities starting with our visit to Oxford at The Parks this coming Weds, Thurs and Friday.

The Year of the Yellow??

LEEDS BRADFORD MCCU

There was a time not too long ago, when university matches used to be seen as an extended practice by county batsmen and bowlers to fill their boots. But universities are no longer the soft targets they once were.

Catching up with Leeds Bradford MCCU coach, Andrew Lawson, over Skype ahead of their three-day match with Yorkshire at Headingley, he is quietly confident and he has every reason to be. It is a landmark season for Leeds/Bradford MCCU who, along with Cardiff/Glamorgan, are the last MCC university centres of cricketing excellence to be awarded first-class status.

If Cambridge, Durham, Loughborough & Oxford are more established in that sense, it is the Yorkshire-based university outfit that has sent out its own statement of intent recently by taking Surrey right to the wire down at the Kia Oval, losing by an agonising two runs.

It is a mark of the journey that started a decade ago with a thumping defeat to Leicestershire at Grace Road by an innings and 316 runs, though credit to Surrey down at SW11 for declaring and offering a chase of 315 in a day.

While Yorkshire benefited from preseason in Barbados, Leeds-Bradford MCCU opted for Pune in India, which gave them valuable game-time outdoors but surely the coach was surprised at quite how well they performed?

“I suppose, yes and no. We came into the Surrey game with most of the guys having spent a bit of time at the wicket batting or having had a good bowl. Plus, we’d played quite well against the counties last year, so mentally the boys were fairly comfortable. I wasn’t shocked, I thought we could do quite well.”

Lawson wouldn’t be a cricket coach without identifying areas for the squad to improve on, such as being “slow off the mark in the first innings” but this is clearly a squad with potential for a shock victory against either Yorkshire or when they play Sussex at Weetwood in early May.

Then came the reality check of sorts, which only gave ammunition to those that don’t agree the university sides should have first-class status. Durham MCCU were humiliated by being bowled out for just 18 against Durham. Twitter was awash with tweets from observers, some in the mainstream media, throwing around comments like ‘disgraceful.’

Lawson is both protective of Leeds Bradford MCCU’s new status, seeing it as a positive way forward, but also hopes people will take the freak Durham MCCU result in a wider context of progress:

“I’m over the moon that we’ve got first class status. I think it’s a step in the right direction. Putting a bit of value on the game adds a bit of edge to it. With the idea that we’re trying to get these boys to be seen by the counties and hopefully by the time they’ve finished studying, signed contracts with the county sides.”

“I think last week’s game (Durham MCCU) was a one-off. If you go back over the last handful of years where all the other centres have been there, the results have been fairly decent.”

The aims for Lawson’s university squad in 2012 are two-fold but the mantra of consistency crops up more than once. Against the counties, the MCCU squad need to maintain a level of performance over a number of days. That might sound obvious but not particularly easy with the considerable step up from playing university cricket.

Leeds Bradford MCCU brushed aside Exeter University this week by nine wickets but will raise more than a few eyebrows, if they repeat that against Martyn Moxon’s 1^st XI squad. A positive result, of any kind, in three days is always going to rely on one XI folding like a pack of cards in their first innings.

In the games against other universities, consistency across all formats of the game is the target: “We’ve found we’ve been a little bit up and down. We’ve played well in one competition and haven’t been able to mirror it in the other. Hopefully we can adjust our minds and skills.”

So, to the three-day challenge of Yorkshire with Leeds Bradford MCCU travelling less than two miles down Otley Road to Headingley. Apart from the sense of big occasion, it’s an obvious opportunity for players to get noticed by county coaches at Yorkshire. A three-day shop window, if you like. One such player will be Dan Hodgson who has already shown enough promise to be awarded a summer contract with Yorkshire and will aim to string together eye-catching performances with Leeds Bradford MCCU.

So, can Leeds Bradford MCCU go one better than they managed down at Surrey not so long ago and get one over Yorkshire? The coach, understandably, wasn’t about to predict a crushing victory in three days. But, nor does we expect the occasion to get the better of his squad, as long as they play to their potential:

“I’m looking for us to play good, solid cricket from ball one on day one to the end of the third day. If we do it in the batting and bowling, and our fielding backs it up, we’ll be there or thereabouts. Whether it’s good enough to win the game over those three days, only time will tell.”

“I think if we can execute our skills, it’s out of our control what Yorkshire does, we will hopefully have a good three days.”

FINAL DAY REPORT

Report and View From The Scorebox to follow . . .

Last year Surrey, captained by Kevin Pietersen, we beaten by Cambridge MCCU and will be keen not to be embarrassed again. Lawson’s squad will contain a number of the boys who played recently in India with the addition of Luis Reece & Harry Bush, who were away in Abu Dhabi with the Combined MCCU team, and Ivan Thomas, who was on pre-season tour to Antigua with Kent CCC.

The full squad is as follows:-

Rick Moore (capt), Harry Bush, Tommy Hardman, Matt Higginbottom, Daniel Hodgson (wk), Joe Leach, Alex MacQueen, Luis Reece, Charlie Roebuck, Ben Slater, Ivan Thomas, Jonathan Webb.

The only player with previous First Class experience is Charlie Roebuck who made his bow for Yorkshire against India A in 2010.

Payyade CC (Mumbai) v Leeds Bradford MCCU

Poona Club Ltd, Pune, India – 21 March 2012

1-Day Tour Match (50 Overs)

Our fifth and final match of the tour promised to be our toughest, against Payyade Cricket Club from Mumbai. Payyade, who recently won the ORRA-Police Invitation Shield (the largest 3-day match competition in Maharashtra) is the home club of current Indian star Rohit Sharma – although neither he nor many of the shield-winning side were in their team today. Nevertheless they fielded a strong line-up, including some familiar faces who had bowled at us in the nets on the  first few days of the tour.

Ben Slater was rested for the game and Charlie MacLeod was the latest victim of the dreaded ‘Puners’ (with the emphasis on the first syllable). Rick Moore won his fourth toss of the trip and had little hesitation in choosing to set a target.

Jonathan Webb had clearly been studying the opposing opening batsmen during the trip, and smashed four boundaries from the first over he faced. Will Vanderspar was caught at 2^nd slip in the 3^rd over and Webb fell shortly after to a (possibly) harsh lbw decision when pushing forward. The successful bowler was Farhan, a nippy left-armer who had bowled at us in the nets over the first two days (or some might say had occasionally thrown at us from 15 yards after a 50 yard run-up). Charlie Roebuck was caught at first slip for a duck and when Joe Leach pulled at the 3^rd ball he faced and top-edged to the keeper for his first failure of the tour we were 33 for 4 – with Webb being the only player to have scored from the bat! Rick Moore and Dan Hodgson began the repair work, adding 31 before Moore became the 5^th victim of the innings when his stumps were rearranged by Nimesh.

Up to this point of the trip Dan Hodgson, the Yorkshire-contracted wicket-keeper, had had a lean time with the bat, amassing only 30 runs from 3 innings. Today he came to the party, playing with due caution but punishing anything loose; indeed his only scoring shot from the first 20 balls he faced was a maximum. Hodgson was well supported by his fellow ‘keepr Chris Gill. Not for the first time on the trip, Gill played a crucial innings. In the past he’s had a reputation as being a big-hitter and fast scorer, but once again he showed another dimension to his game, adding 103 for the 6^th wicket before being trapped in front by Farhan for 36 from 78 deliveries. Hodgson was out shortly after, driving at a ball that jagged back in and losing his middle stump have hit 9x4s and 2x6s in his innings of 78 from 114 deliveries. MacQueen became the 8^th wicket with the score on 178 and still a lot of work to be done to set a decent target.

Throughout the trip Tommy Hardman has shown what a dangerous batsman he can be coming in at No.8. His previous three innings had been 6*, 43 and 24* and this time he scored a vital 28 before being run out with three balls of the innings to go, having added 49 for the last two wickets with the aid of David Foster and Jonny Butterfield.

All in all an up-and-down innings where we recovered well after another poor start. However, to defend a total of 227 on a decent wicket and lightning outfield would require our best fielding and bowling performance of the trip . . .

By this point head coach Andrew Lawson had had to return to the hotel, having become the latest victim on the Pu-ners, and his mood wouldn’t have improved if he’d been around for Tommy Hardman’s first over, where his bowling stat resembled the guys on Strictly putting up the score for a mediocre dancer – 4 4 4 4. One thing we’ve learnt on this trip is the massive influence that T20 cricket is having on the way batsmen approach their innings. In each of the 5 games the opposition openers have set off like exploding whatsits, smashing the ball to all parts. If you can withstand this early onslaught without heads going down, you know it will only be a matter of time before they self-implode. After 3 overs Payyade were 31-0, although Moore’s choice of opening with David Foster did make them rethink their approach. Hardman had to leave the scene having conceded 30 from 3 overs, but Foster was keeping things under relative control at the other end.

Joe Leach replaced Hardman and began with a wicket-maiden, claiming a wicket with his first ball by trapping Abinhav in front. Foster then rapped Dhaval on the pads and after 10 over Payyade were 51 for 2. Opening batsman, Sushant, had been batting wonderfully, the small left-hander working the ball to all parts of the ground, but on 46 he ran himself out – setting off for a run from the non-strikers end whilst his partner never moved. This proved to be a key wicket and was probably initiated by the fielders become a little more – how shall we put it – ‘talkative’ to the batsmen. Ask Hodgy for further details. Chinag was out shortly after, superbly taken at midwicket by Hodgson diving full-length to his left off Butterfield to reduce them to 92 for 4. Unlike some previous opposition though, Payyade had more strength in depth and at 120 for 4 after 30 overs they still had more than a good chance of claiming victory.

One final concerted effort of the tour over the last 20 overs of the tour was required toensure we finished on a high. Our ground-fielding over this spell was superb, as was our catching – Moore and Roebuck taking blinders at cover and square leg respectively. A seventhwicket stand of 35 appeared to be swinging the game Payyade’s way, but then captain’s and vice-captain’s spells with the ball saw the last 4 wickets fall for only 15 runs to give us victory with 3 balls to spare.

This was a tremendous effort by the team. At the beginning of the game it was probably apparent that thoughts were straying to a fina night out in India before the journey home, but the boys refocused and were thoroughly professional in turning things around.

Four wins to one in alien conditions was an extremely satisfying result; Team manger Nick Davis was so impressed that he even bought all the boys a beer to drink on the bus back to the swimming pool!

Wilo, Mather & Platt v Leeds Bradford MCCU

Tata Motors Ground, Pune, India – 19 March 2012

1-Day Tour Match (50 Overs)

Our 4^th match saw us play ‘away’ for the first time, at the ground of Tata Motors, India’s largest automobile company (who also own Range Rover & Jaguar amongst others). The ground was about a 45 minute drive from our base in the centre of Pune – so probably about 4 km away. Our opponents were another company – Wilo, Mather & Platt – although a number of their players were from amongst the 12,000 local Tata employees. Two more of their players were from closer to home – Charlie Walker of Oxford MCCU & Nat Watkins of Durham MCCU who were spending the week on a scholarship at the GCS. The facilities weren’t a patch on our ‘home’ ground of the Poona club, but an experience for the boys, having to remove a metal spike from the stony outfield during warm-up. Before we came away Paul Farbrace, the Yorkshire second team coach, had warned us that the outfields may be dodgy (hence the reason Indian and Pakistani teams have never been known for their outstanding fielding) – and here was the proof.

Rick Moore won his 3^rd toss out of 4 and once again chose to bat. Wilo’s opening bowlers kept a decent line & length without trying to put too much pace on the bowl. Ben Slater had a new opening partner – Will Vanderspar – but Slats fell in the 7^th over when bowled by Kamarudin. Jonny Webb nicked one to slip and then Vanders was trapped in front after facing 40 balls for his 12. Charlie Roebuck smashed his first ball for 4, got a single off his second and was caught off his third, skying one to cover. Once again, not the ideal start at 39-4. Dan Hodgson and Chris Gill began repairing the damage, adding 49 before Hodgson was caught off the bowling of Nat Watkins.

Gill continued to play impressively, adding a further 37 with Joe Leach before falling lbw having scored 34 from 48 deliveries. At 125 for 6 there was still a lot of work to be done, but Leach and Rick Moore combined to add 75 from 11 overs, running extremely well in the sapping heat. The score had reached 200 when Moore toe-ended one to midwicket, although his innings of 38 at more than a run-a-ball had been crucial. Leach fell shortly after for 52, taking his tally for the tour to 212 from 4 knocks, and then a handy 9^th wicket stand between spin-twins Alex MacQueen and David Foster helped us to a respectable total of 231. Once again though, we failed to bat the full 50 overs, Jonny Butterfield being the last man out in the 47^th over.

The home team’s innings began in what has become customary style, the first two balls from Tommy Hardman racing to the boundary from audacious shots and 11 coming from the first over. Tommy had been 12^th man at the start of the game but took the field when Jonny Webb decided fielding was too tough and feigned illness. Tommy must have wondered what he’d let himself in for but, to his credit, became the only seamer on the tour to complete his full allocation of 10 overs – an outstanding effort in temperatures pushing 38°C in the shade.

Jonny Butterfield began in bizarre fashion. He nipped his first ball through the defences of Omkar to clean bowl him, but turned round and appealed to the umpire like a squealing banshee for an lbw decision – not even realising the batsman was already on his way back to the pavilion with Hodgson replacing the bails. This was the start of one of the most bizarre 5-wicket halls that Butts is ever likely to take. Basically, if the ball wasn’t flying to the boundary it was taking a wicket. In his third over he took two wickets . . . for 13 runs! The batsmen were just chancing their arms and either smashing it or getting out. None of the batsmen were ever really ‘in’, the only one to play anything like what could be turned a proper innings being Durham’s Nat Watkins, who hung around for 75 balls for his 26, before being the ninth man out with the score on 178. David Foster and Alex MacQueen once again both bowled consistently, picking up 2 wickets each, before Butterfield came back on to seal the game by bowling Kamarudin to finish with 5 for 41 from 4.5 overs.

Three wins out of four with the team showing resilience and a fine fighting spirit after two more back-to-back games. With a free day to follow thoughts turned again to burgers and beer at the Hard Rock Café.

Global Cricket School XI v Leeds Bradford MCCU

Poona Club Ltd, Pune, India – 18 March 2012

1-Day Tour Match (50 Overs)

 Our 3^rd match saw Rick Moore lose the toss for the first time. The GCS XI elected to bat first, meaning we would have our first chase of the tour. There were two changes to the previous game – Will Vanderspar falling foul to some foul fowl, his roommate Jonny Webb sitting out this game out to carry the drinks, towels, sprays and toilet rolls.

As has been the norm on this trip, the Indian openers once again went off like a turbo-charged tuk-tuk, smashing 31 from the first 3 overs before Tushar played a soft shot off Butterfield to Hodgson at short cover. GCS continued scoring at a fair pace, reaching 95-1 after 15 overs, until the introduction of David Foster’s left-arm spin brought things under control. His first two overs brought 12 dots, then in his 3^rd over Shivam’s frustrations got the better of him and he skied one to Moore at
wide mid-off. The batsmen had crossed but next ball Preetam also fell, snapped up by Charlie Roebuck at short extra. One run later the skipper trapped Shrikant in front so the locals had gone from 105-1 to 106-4.

Foster continued bowling a tight spell – not conceding a run until his 5^th over – and Joe Leach, bowling without luck, finally got his reward when he rapped Divyang on the pads with the total on 127. Foster took a smart    return catch to get rid of Asif, his igures at this stage being     7-5-9-3, but a loose 9^th over somewhat damaged his figures – although a final return of 10-5-27-3 was still a superb effort. Foster’s spin partner Alex MacQueen    also bowled with great control to finish with 3 for 33 from 8.3 overs.

To dismiss the opposition for 195 in 44.3 overs after they had been 105-1 was a top effort, the fielders backing up the bowlers with a tight display – and four leg-before decisions in our favour were a welcome surprise!

The Leeds Bradford innings got off to an awful start, opening bowler Rajesh Jogdand accounting for Slater (2), Hodgson (0) and Roebuck (0). However, Rick Moore having opened the innings stood firm, punishing anything loose and playing with increasing authority. Chris Gill supported him well in rebuilding the innings, although when the diminutive keeper was trapped lbw after adding 55 with his skipper, the tourists were only halfway to their target with 5 wickets left. Juggling the order in pre-season games to give everyone time in the middle can sometimes cause uncertainty – but it was reassuring to see form-man Joe Leach coming in at No 7. Leach added 47 with Moore before the captain was adjudged lbw for a well-complied 67 from 120 balls. When Leach fell for 40 with the total on 159-7, another 37 were required from 10 overs. It was time for hard nerves so enter Tommy Hardman (or Tommy Hard-MAN as the locals call him), to carefully start reducing the target with a number of well-placed singles. He was ably assisted by Alex MacQueen (13 from 15 balls), although 9 were still needed from the last over with only one wicket left. Hardman decided it was now time to hit the first boundaries of his knock, smashing a six over midwicket followed by a 4 to bring his team home with two balls to spare. A tight finish  – although Moore, Leach and Hardman would say it was purely well judged, giving the team maximum time in the middle!

PYC Hindu Gymkhana CC v Leeds Bradford MCCU

Poona Club Ltd, Pune, India – 16 March 2012

1-Day Tour Match
(50 Overs)

The second game of the tour was once again at our ‘home’ ground of the Poona Club against PYC Hindu Gymkhana – another Maharashtra Premier League team, but significantly stronger than yesterdays’ opposition fielding pretty much their full-strength team.

It was always going to be a test of both mental and physical stamina playing two back-to-back-games so early in the season in such conditions – and so it proved.

Rick Moore won the toss for the second time and once again decided to bat. Jonathan Webb and Ben Slater began confidently, reaching 50 in the 9^th over before Webb got a leading edge and was caught at cover. Chris Gill came in on debut, got off the mark first ball with a Vaughan-esque cover drive for four but then two balls later nicked one to first slip. Slater hit two towering sixes – one from a free hit – and had reached 48 from 51 balls before flicking one straight into the hands of midwicket in the 15^th over with the score on 79.

Joe Leach was trapped in front after a solid start and Will Vanderspar was bowled for 3. At 111 for 5 it was time for Moore to find some batting form and rescue his team. This he did, allied by Charlie MacLeod – another debutant. Moore’s first scoring shot was a 6, but thereafter both he and MacLeod batted sensibly, nudging the ball into gaps for singles and capitalising on anything loose. Their partnership had reached 52 when MacLeod was run out coming back for a second run. This brought Tommy Hardman to the crease in the batting powerplay – and he utilised it to the max, smashing 43 from only 28 balls (4x4s and 3x6s) before being caught at cover with 4 overs left. Alex MacQueen was last man out with 7 balls left and the total on 243 – a considerable recovery from 111 for 5. However, too many batsmen got themselves in without going on to dominate and it always looked like we would be 30 or so runs short.

Buoyed by his batting performance Hardman grabbed his first wicket for Leeds Bradford when he bowled PYC’s opener Pritam for with the total on 17. From then on it was a case of the batsmen triumphing and the bowlers toiling in the heat Leach trapped Zohit in front for 19 and Vanderspar claimed his first scalp for the team when he grabbed a return catch to get rid of Abishek. However, opener Adhvoot batted well for his 85 until MacQueen managed to get a ball through his defences. With PYC now on 161-4 we were still in with a sniff, but were unable to capitalise further, skipper Shivam and Divyand guiding them home with 3.1 overs to spare, compiling an unbroken stand of 83.

Alex MacQueen was probably the pick of the bowlers but as the innings wore on and both mental and physical tiredness set in, errors began to creep in to Leeds Bradford’s fielding. The 30 or so runs we gave away in the field proved crucial in the end.

The squad headed off to recuperate with a rest day on Saturday and a Friday night at Pune’s Hard Rock Café where Vanders revealed a secret talent and Webby revealed something too . . .

Poona Club Ltd, Pune, India – 15 March 2012

1-Day Tour Match (50 overs)

After two days intense training and net practice in equally intense heat the boys hit the pitch for their first taste of competitive cricket in 6 months – and in conditions they hadn’t experienced before.

At net practice the day before the squad were paid a visit by Rishi Kanitak, a former Indian Test & ODI international and current captain of Rajastan, the reigning Ranji Trophy champions. He gave great advice to the team on how to cope with the conditions and advised that, on the Poona Club ground, it is normally wise to bat first provided your openers can see you through the first half-hour or so when the surface is still slightly moist from the dew.

Coach Andrew Lawson left out Chris Gill and Will Vanderspar from the squad of 13, Gill having dislocated afinger in fielding practice the day before. He had to be taken to hospital to have it put back in place and found the journey there in the tuk-tuk for more tortuous than the finger manipulation itself!

Poona CC play in the Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) and their ground is our base for the trip. Their team wasn’t their strongest with 5 regular first-teamers including their captain, Ashish Suryawanski, who has a fair amount of First Class experience. Nevertheless, it would be a good challenge.

Rick Moore won the toss, elected to bat and the new opening partnership of old-hand Ben Slater and debutant Jonathan Webb certainly got us through the first hour – adding 161 before Slater was run out in the 31^st over for a well-compiled 64 from 94 balls (1×6, 3x4s). Their 50 partnership came up in the 11^th over, 100 in the 19^th and 150 in the 28^th.

Webb was out shortly after, bowled when trying to sweep, for an excellent 81 from 82 balls (8x4s). Although the pair will undoubtedly face stronger attacks throughout the coming season it was a superb effort in such heat and alien conditions. The rest of the innings really belonged to vice-captain Joe Leach. Coming in at the fall of the first wickets, he smashed showed that it’s wise to conserve your energy in this heat and keep running to a minimum by smashing 105 from 66 balls, with 5x6s and 9x4s. It was a superb knock from the Worcestershire player, his maximums coming from classic straight drives and pugnacious pulls. With the assistance of Charlie Roebuck (26 from 16), Rick Moore (8 from 11), Dan Hodgson (11 from 12) and a 6 off the last ball of the innings from Tommy Hardman, Leach helped the tourists put on 167
from the final 20 overs, finishing on 329 for 6.

In reply Poona went off like a train – and I mean one of the TGV French variety as opposed to the Indian trains where, according to Vanders, even in the first class carriages you see people standing up and urinating in the corners! After 10 overs they were 86-0, Tommy Hardman and Jonny Butterfield taking the brunt of the punishment as they took time to adapt to bowling in the middle in such conditions. However, captain Moore accounted for Soloman for 52 when he pushed one to cover, hesitated, and dead-eye Rick hit the stumps with the batsman well-short . . . which, to be fair, he had to be for us to get a decision in our favour . . . subject closed.

It was the left-arm spin of David Foster, in his first game for Leeds Bradford, which really stemmed the flow and pulled us back into the game. He bowled the other opener, Karanjeet, for 33 – (which included 8x4s!), as well as bowling the dangerous looking Ajinkya for 18 and completing his spell unbroken to finish with 2 for 36. Foster wasn’t finished though – he took a fine catch at long on to give Alex MacQueen his first wicket and fielded with enthusiasm throughout.

Fossie’s spin-twin MacQueen then took over. Having being taken off after his first over went for 11, the off spinner returned to bowl 9 on the bounce at finish with 3-34 from his 10 overs -  a great comeback. Moore was responsible for another run out as well as picking up a wicket to finish with the most economical figures of the innings – despite bravely opting for the bowling powerplay in the 15^th over (when they were 155-2) and bringing himself on at that point – in which they only scored 18 and lost a wicket. His captaincy through was impressive – all he needs now is to get some runs under his belt. Jonny Butterfield also came back well with the ball after a weak first spell to finish with 0-36 from 8 overs.

Poona’s innings petered out after it’s brisk start and credit must go to all the Leeds Bradford boys for sticking to their task in such conditions and not letting their heads go down when Poona set off quicker than Usain Bolt. They finished on 248 for 8 to give us victory by 81 runs.

All in all a satisfying day with some pleasing performances. It will now be interesting to see how the team recovers for the game tomorrow against PYC Hindu Gymkhana.