Another Roses Stalemate

Following on from the drawn encounter between the two northern neighbours in the County Championship, the second string of Lancashire and Yorkshire have had to make do with honours even in their Todmorden tussle, as yet another cricket fixture fell foul of the foul weather. Regrettably, the Tykes' second eleven have lost a lot of playing time to the rain which has reigned supreme in recent weeks.

After a shocking start to their innings which saw the white rose restricted to 21 for four, the visitors rallied to post a score in excess of two hundred, a feat which seemed a tall order when the under-achieving trio of Callis, Hodgson, and Tattersall all perished, with three runs between them. Fortunately Oliver Robinson recorded an encouraging fifty which atoned for the top order collapse. Then when the red rose replied, the away team bowled very economically, as the hosts' top order struggled to ignite any momentum. In fact the Yorkshire bowlers achieved a phenomenal forty-four consecutive dot balls. Anyhow, although the Lancashire middle order certainly made amends for the team's sluggish start, the following Yorkshire bowlers deserve credit, namely Coad, Gibson, Rhodes, and Wainman, though it was young Shaw who pilfered the most wickets. Unfortunately Azeem Rafiq conceded sixty runs from twelve overs at a time when the first eleven are in desperate need of an accurate spin bowler.

Yorkshire have now played four Second Eleven Championship matches this rain-ravaged year, and not one of them has produced a result. Hopefully my beloved York will play hostess to improved weather in mid-July for the seconds' next three-day championship outing. Oh well, in the end, it was the wet weather which was the winner as both teams departed without losing, but without winning either.

Lancashire Second XI versus YORKSHIRE Second XI; at Todmorden; June 10th-12th; Lancashire Second XI won the toss.

YORKSHIRE Second XI first innings: 225 (Robinson 62; Jarvis 4-63, Griffiths 3-39)

Lancashire Second XI first innings: 318 for nine declared (Lilley 93, Livingstone 75, Newby 50; Shaw 4-85)

Match drawn. Lancashire Second XI 13 points, YORKSHIRE Second XI 10 points.