News

ANNOUNCEMENT

Crossgates CC Annual General Meeting

11th November at 11:30am

The Committee would encourage all players and any other interested parties (parents, supporters etc) to attend.

As players you have the right to have your say on the running of the club, vote on various issues and be involved in the nomination of captains and vice captains.

Please make every effort to attend.

By Skipper Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI Away v Burton Salmon
17th August 2019

Somewhat belatedly your correspondent writes.

Sometimes you have to just accept that on the day the best team won. Burton Salmon have been top of the table all season long and this match showed why. They certainly have the best bowling attack in the division and after winning the toss and inserting the Gates they proceeded to demonstrate this fact. Any batting side that is 6-3 inside 5 overs has to recalibrate it’s targets for the innings. In this regard it was a real positive that we managed to bat out the 40 overs. The graft started with a 64 run partnership between the skipper (41) and Ray (21). When these two fell in quick succession it precipitated a mini collapse. Sam (13*), showing good application and PD (23*) with some dash saw out the overs.

116-7 may not seem like much of an innings, but it represented a performance of genuine grit and fight given the attack were up against.

Once again Sam showed real hostility with the new ball and was good value for the two wickets he picked up in his opening burst. That brought together two batsmen at the top of the divisional averages. At this point we needed to take any chance offered. Unfortunately a couple of really difficult chances went down. Burton Salmon were proceeding serenely to the target when Ray pulled off the catch of the season to give Finn a well deserved wicket.

Although ultimately well beaten, Crossgates showed real desire to compete. Yo paraphrase Annie Schwarzenegger ‘We’ll be back’.

Man of the match: Skipper
Fielding point: Ray

By Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI Away v Kippax
3rd August 2019

Geologists will tell you that Yorkshire is a county made up of gritstone. From Brimham Rocks near Pateley Bridge, to the Cow and Calf at Ilkley everywhere in the broad acres can be found true examples of Yorkshire grit. But no truer embodiment could be found than in Crossgates 2nds on Saturday at Kippax on Saturday.

For the first time in a long while, Crossgates did not have a full eleven to take into the field; a shortfall that was to prove vital in the end. Despite this the ten who played put up the best battling performance of the season.

Winning the toss, the skipper chose to bat on a roasting hot day. It soon became apparent that the strip was not the road it appeared to be, with hit the deck bowlers in particular getting the ball to stick in the surface. Nevertheless the skipper and Laxa proceeded sedately to put on a 50 opening partnership. Laxa was unfortunately run out, soon to be followed by the skipper flagging in the heat.

Will and Ray added a sensible partnership of 70 before some late order dash was provided by Zaheer, PD, Paramjeet and Kulvinder. The outstanding effort on the batting front came from Will. Pacing his knock perfectly, he combined solid defence with some mighty biffs for 6 and his first 50 for Crossgates is further testimony to his development as a quality player and the cerebral way he approaches the game. A total of 170-6 certainly gave us something to defend.

It did not seem so at first as Kippax got off to a flyer, scoring 63 from the first 11 overs. Here was where Crossgates needed to hang tough. A change to Zaheer produced a wily breakthrough. This was followed up with a really effective combination of Will taking pace off the ball from one end with the welcome return of Kulvinder, using the conditions well by employing his height to pound the surface. This pairing bowled 15 overs and took 5-56 between them. The fielding was starting to turn the screw with the skipper pouching a neat catch in the deep and Laxa a tidy take behind the stumps as well as having a good shout for the key bat turned down.

A couple of difficult chances to George and Finn went down but even this illustrated the grit of the team. It would have been easy in the tension of a close game for younger players to want to hide. But on the contrary, these were only chances because of both lads really attacking the ball.

Having chipped away at wickets the game was starting to edge away from us. Being a man down meant an inevitable gap in the field. At this point, Ray came back for a second spell. Having taken some tap in his opening burst, Ray showed the grit that was characteristic of the day to pick up 2 quick wickets.

With 6 runs needed, a top piece of work in the field by George effected a run out. Last man in. He survived an almighty appeal when struck on the pad from Ray while playing no shot. Two overs later the Kippax tailenders struck the winning runs  to end a valiant effort by Crossgates.

Our ten men took a team near the top to the wire. Heads never dropped when they got off to a flyer. Every one of our players made vital contributions, whether with bat, ball or in the field. This was a defeat that felt like a victory. Up the Gates!!!!!

Man of the match: Will Bradley

Fielding point: George Warner

By Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI at Home v Church Fenton
Saturday 20th July 2019

Cricket is a team game. Yet cricket involves individual contests. But ultimately to be successful, cricket needs to be a game of partnerships. This is traditionally seen as applying to batting but is equally relevant to bowling. Saturday’s match against Church Fenton was decisively turned by a crucial batting partnership and a vital bowling partnership.

Losing the toss looked to be a fatal blow on a pitch that was showing signs of the effects of the previous day’s rain. Sure enough wickets soon tumbled as the skipper and Will were caught as the ball caught in the track.

Now came the decisive batting combination. In a truly effective partnership the components complement each other. This was certainly the case with Adil and Shabby. Adil displayed immense patience, taking 11 overs to open his account. At the other end Shabby took the long handle from the outset.  This proved to be a highly entertaining and effective union as they put on 126 for the third wicket. When Shabby was finally out for an excellent 80, Adil stepped on the gas, finishing with a carefully paced 78*. He was joined by Zaheer, who contributed a handy 23*, including a valuable 6.

The good work done here allowed Crossgates to set a challenging 200 for Church Fenton to win. Much depended on an early breakthrough as Church Fenton have a formidable front five. Now the second key partnership kicked in; with Sam supplying pace and hostility, perfectly blending with PD’s stump to stump accuracy. These two blew away the upper order to put Church Fenton behind the chase. When the middle order looked to push on, Will contributed two wickets at crucial times. The way Will worked out the batsmen just added to the growing evidence of his cricketing brain and justified the decision to make him acting vice captain on the day.

Zaheer and Finn bowled tidy spells and Rick chipped in a wicket to keep the momentum going Crossgates way. The ground fielding was solid with catches for Adil and Alex Bambrook, with Alex also effecting the run out that administered the last rites to the Church Fenton innings.

This was a great win against a top side, built on partnerships that were more Morecambe and Wise than Cannon and Ball ( one for the older readers there). Up the Gates.

Men of the match: Adil and Shabby

Fielding point: Alex Bambrook

By Skipper Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI Away v Walton
13th July 2019

Apologies dear readers. This week’s match report is both late and briefer. The reason for this is that amongst the many calamitous decisions made by the skipper this week was the failure to remember to collect the score book at the end of the game. Given the skipper’s Alzheimer’s, this is an essential aide memoire to the details of what has unfolded.

Faced with hazy memories your correspondent will cling to the positives. First amongst these was an outstanding innings of 91 by Adil. This really has been his season. In three of his last four innings he has made his best score, a heroic effort. He has refined his batting to combine great selectivity with his big hitting. The way he shouldered responsibility to chase down a big score was admirable and the fact we came up Short was despite not because of his tremendous knock.

Other useful contributions came from Zaheer and Paul but ultimately the batting came up short.

The bowling was led by Sam and Zaheer. Sam is starting to get division 3 batters quaking and Zaheer with his nagging accuracy provided the perfect foil. There was also another promising spell from Finn.

In the field Alfie and Finn were both energetic and reliable. The only blemish in the field was the dropping of three catches early in the piece.

A young team went down fighting and there will definitely be more details in next week’s report.

Man of the match: Adil
Fielding point: Alfie

By Skipper Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI Away v South Milford
5th July 2019

‘You will never win anything with kids ‘ opined Alan Hansen; a man who managed to convert the juggling of three words, namely ‘pace, power and movement’ into a highly lucrative gig by passing the manipulation of that triumvirate off as analysis. Hansen was so wrong on many levels. There are many things to be won, including the respect of your opponents and your team mates.

Crossgates rocked up at South Milford with a team reduced to only four regulars this season. In our hour of need we were helped out by two young lads, Alfie Edwards and Finn Fisher, playing their first game of cricket. Against one of the top sides in the division, it is necessary in such circumstances to recalibrate what constitutes success.

Winning the toss was vital; we could not bowl first with only one bowler, Paul, who had bowled regularly this season.

An opening stand of forty was brought about by some lusty blows from Adil whilst at the other end the skipper scratched about, displaying an outstanding ability to find the fielders. Deprived of a lot of strike Adil eventually skied one, trying to up the ante. He was replaced by Paul, who has not had a lot of opportunity this year, and as happens when lacking time in the middle, you do not get the breaks. Paul middled a poor ball only to see it pick out mid on. Next man, Gun, saw his mighty weapon jam in his holster, as he was undone by an excellent yorker. Then Tim Wills bedded himself in for the night. There is something about Tim’s setup at the crease that suggests he is not going to play like Chris Gayle and he provided obdurate resistance.

When the skipper’s tortuous knock was brought to an end, there followed a bit of a procession. Yet within the comings and goings were some significant moments. Rick made his top score and looked as comfortable as we have seen him at the crease. And so to the aforementioned kids. Alfie’s first ball in open age cricket was a beamer that hit him on the back. To his great credit he was solidly behind the next ball. Finn played correctly and made his first runs for Crossgates. George played sensibly and finished with a red inker. Finally Jojo (or Biff as he will be known hereafter) smote two lovely straight drives. A total of 99 in 34 overs was highly respectable in the circumstances.

With a lack of recognised bowling the sensible decision was taken to give everyone a couple of overs. After a steady opening from Paul and Rob, George ‘the Demon’ picked up his first Crossgates wicket with a ball that drifted away to hit the top of off. This was soon followed by Finn catching a high class bat plumb-in-front for a fantastic first wicket on debut. Everyone else bowled steadily but it is worth recording that the skipper’s over only went for one and there is no hint of Autumn yet.

Overall a game where new faces and old showed character in the face of adversity. The new boys and other youngsters brought energy and dynamism to the field. Up the Gates!

Men of the match: George and Finn
Fielding point: Alfie

By Skipper Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI at Home v Thorner Mexborough
29th June 2019

Since Gun rolled into town there has been a bit of a Clint Eastwood feel to Crossgates 2nd team and certainly on Saturday against Thorner we witnessed the full cast of ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’.

Let’s start with the good; Adil is undergoing a breakthrough season. For the second week in a row he got his top score for Crossgates. His 67 was a controlled mix of patience and brutality. Shot selection has massively improved and Adil is now emerging as a threat to any opposition attack. He was ably backed up by Tahir. Tahir has a straightforward method: 1)  see ball, 2) hit ball. The adventurous approach of this pair brought an opening stand of 53 inside 10 overs.

Also in the good column: Ian Medlicott, playing with intelligence and craft, to put together a beautifully compiled 45. This was an innings that was properly constructed. (Skipper please note). Sam continues to add real hostility to his bowling. Paul got some real rip off the pitch and came within a coat of varnish that has been half sanded off of bowling Thorner’s star bat. Neither Paul’s nor Sam’s figures do them justice at 2-42 and 1-39 respectively. Karam also bowled with control on his debut.

The bad and the ugly can be pretty well merged. I mentioned Ian’s intelligent batting. Watching the skipper bat would lead any doctor to switch off the life support machine. There was no brain activity there. A skipper should always lead but sadly in this case other senior players followed. However, whilst the innings was too reliant on 3 players, the skipper for one was convinced that 175 was a defendable total. However unlike last week we were unable to bowl stump to stump and haemorrhaged runs at an alarming rate. 19 wides and no balls compared to 4 last week tells a story. Consequently Thorner knocked off the requisite runs for 3 down and with overs to spare.

What do we learn? Never assume the total is enough. Some players (Adil in particular) are making great strides and the skipper needs to RAISE HIS GAME.

Up the Gates.

Man of the match: Adil

Fielding point: Ian

The ‘Thanks for coming, we’ll let you know about next week ‘ award: the Skipper

By Skipper Alex Smickersgill

2nd XI Away vs Headingley Bramhope
22nd June 2019

After weeks of lost games, returning to action at Bramhope was a welcome chance to try to restart the season. Fielding a side oozing class the omens were good for a win. Vinnie Patel was added the side to bring the swagger of a classic bat. A solid bowling line up also boded well.

A sticky pitch and an outfield like the Mato Grosso did not encourage batting and on winning the toss the skipper inserted the oppo. The prime requirement was to bowl wicket to wicket. From the off, Ray and Sam settled into a tight line. Whilst wickets did not come in this early burst but the run rate was glacial. This was backed up by solid outfielding with one bizarre exception. Throughout the afternoon the vice skipper spent much of his time on his back like an upended turtle, waggling all limbs in a random fashion whilst the ball would occasionally fly out from his flailing in an erratic and unpredictable manner. Indeed Paul looked like being the main source of runs for Headingley Bramhope.

First change Ian brought the break through. His metronomic spell (2-16 from 10 overs) was exactly what the conditions demanded. Zaheer (10 overs for 31) kept the squeeze on at the other end. Conditions were perfect for tight seam bowling and the pressure of good lines and lengths eventually produced wickets for Ray (3-22) and Sam (3-44). Meanwhile good catches were taken by Paul (on his feet unusually), Ian, Ray (2) and even the skipper.

Restricting Headingley Bramhope to 123-8 represented a performance of discipline and commitment.

In reply Vinnie P oozed class with technical excellence. At the other end end Adil was all controlled belligerence. This pair rapidly laid to rest any concerns about the track. Judicious in their stroke-play, they put on 78 for the first wicket before Vinnie fell for a stylish 27. Adil carried selecting the ball to hit and then making sure he cashed in. In a classy knock he went to his first Crossgates 50. Will offered steady support at the other end and when Adil was finally out for 56, Ray completed the coup de grace.

A thoroughly efficient performance all round bodes well for the challenges to come. Up the Gates.

Man of the match: Adil

Fielding point: Ray