Forever falling short
NatWest Pro40: 29th July – 15th September
Pro40. Just like the old Sunday League, but with the added excitement for the fans of never knowing what day of the week the games are going to be played. Eight fixtures spread over seven weeks, guaranteeing the competition never gains any momentum but with the bonus of giving us a chance to play Durham for the sixth time this season. Hoo-bloody-ray.
And what did we learn from the Pro40? The same thing we’ve been learning all season. Give Yorkshire a competition, be it the championship, 20/20 or whatever, and we’ll only stay competitive for half of it. It this case remaining unbeaten in the first four games before cocking it all up when on the brink of qualifying for the later stages. With the 145 & 122 all out scores from the Surrey & Durham games being not so much a case of the hare falling asleep before the finishing line as catching a particularly virulent strain of myxomatosis.
It had all started so well, with a brilliant ton from Jaques and three wickets apiece from Gough and Dizzy seeing us home against Somerset. Whilst a good all-round performance from Richard Pyrah sneaked a victory against Middlesex. A result that would have been an absolute stroll, but for a nerve jangling period when we lost five wickets for seven runs, as most of the batsmen only stayed at the crease long enough to work out which foot to shot themselves in. Some of them need to remember that we have quite a large retired membership, we really can’t afford games like this that send blood pressure through the roof.
Yorkshire’s ageing membership
(Any resemblance to two former captains purely coincidental)
And it was batting that was to be our undoing throughout the competition. With only Rudolph finding top form, and only him and Brophy scoring at the kind of rate that would consistently win games. The fact we were in with a chance of promotion for so long, was mainly down to our attack. Ok, there were times when we lost control in the middle overs of games, but in general Gough and Dizzy bowled economically and took wickets. With able back up provided by the finds of the season in limited overs cricket: Richard Pyrah and David Wainwright. The progress they and Andy Gale made, when given a run in the side, might be the best thing to come from our one-day games this year.
Andrew Gale: Supporters who missed his three half hour innings during the week where able to catch up with Sunday’s hour and a half long knock.
So, another year where a trip to Argos would prove to be our best chance of getting hold of some silverware. DoubleM always knew this would be one of his biggest challenges, and so it’s proving. Next year may well be the time to give the younger lads a go.
Si’thee later,
Len
Result: Sixth in Division Two.
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