1955 1st Division Winners
The 1955 season saw the 1st XI under the captaincy of Mr R Jackson, other teams in the 1st division included: Railway Athletic, Knaresborough 2nds, The Ouseburns, St George's and Marton-cum-Grafton.
The climax of the season saw Briden Cup holders Marton-cum-Grafton, St George's and the Ash all in contention at the top of the league.
Ash had last won the championship in 1932 but the final game of the season saw Railway Athletic turn up with only six men and were quickly rolled over for 36 with Jon Sanpher (2-18) and Barrie Spedding (3-14) doing the damage.
The Ash innings saw the early loss of openers Gardner, (8) and Astwood (1) before George Bainbridge (21 not out) guided the Ash home.
St George's disposed of fellow contenders Marton-cum-grafton to set up a play-off final at Follifoot.
The Ash team was immediately announced as follows:
R Jackson (captain), G Bainbridge, D Anstis, S Swales, B Spedding, G Green,
A Astwood, J Sanpher, A Gardner, R Hope, and S White.Reserves: L Green and J Henderson.
The Harrogate Herald match report led with the headline 'Swales(59), Hope (77) allies in stand of 110 - Pannal Ash run local cricket title play-off.
Ash battled first, Astwood (2) and G Bainbridge (5) going early. A costly miss saw S Swales dropped early in his innings, an error certainly regretted when Swales and Hope put together their superb third wicket partnership.
Late batsmen chased quick runs and sacrificed their wickets, ground fielding of the highest quality saw the innings finnish at 180 for 7 wickets.
The St George's response never got going. Only K Robinson (22), G Adsetts (17) and B Ashworth (20) reaching double figures in a total of 82 all out.
The Ashes bowler, John Sanpher, bowling 12.3 overs for a 5 for 25 haul and George Bainbridge (3 for 14) doing the damage.
The play-off scorecard read as follows:
Pannal Ash
S Swales
c. Jones b. Jones
59
A Astwood
b. Whipp
2
G Bainbridge
c. Teal b. Jones
5
R Hope
b. Whipp
77
G Green
b. Jones
5
B Spedding
c. Snashall b. Crabbe
10
A Gardner
Not out
2
R Jackson
Not out
0
TOTAL (for 7 wickets)
180
St George's
A Crabbe
b. Sanpher
9
K Robinson
c. Gardener b. Sanpher
22
E Snashall
c. Bainbridge b. Sanpher
0
G Adsetts
c. Gardner b. Bainbridge
17
F Teal
Run out
0
J Garwood
c. White b. Sanpher
0
B Ashworth
c. White b. Sanpher
20
J Foster
b. Bainbridge
1
E Jones
lbw b. Bainbridge
1
G Whipp
b. Sanpher
2
C Roome
Not out
0
Extras
9
TOTAL
82
Bowling Analysis
Pannal Ash Innings
Wickets
Runs
Whipp
2
29
Jones
4
69
Crabbe
1
26
St George’s Innings
Wickets
Runs
Sanpher
5
25
Spedding
1
25
Bainbridge
3
14