It's nearly 20 years since we last ventured into the wilds of North Yorkshire, out through Ouseburn, Helperby and Raskelf, to the village of Alne, where the right turn to Alne CC took us through the farmyard and out into the playing field with an impressive pavilion overlooking the ground.
The Ash team had ex-Bilton man, Allan Toole, on debut, as we looked to continue our unbeaten start to the season and skipper Rob Clarke duly won the toss and elected to bat first.
Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan as James Thompson (4) , Rob Clarke (8) and Ned McClelland (0) all fell early before Mark Taylor (20) and Ali Bowles (31) tried to repair the damage with support from Neil Laurence (13) and Allan Toole (27 not out), but an array of bad shots and helpful umpiring decisions saw the innings close at a miserable 112 all out.
A strange tea and fiery team talk and we were determined to defend the meager total as best we could.
Skipper Rob Clarke did his best, changing the bowling, switching ends, and setting an attacking field as much as possible, but we were thwarted by some 'home' decisions on the umpire front, so we were a little upset when a couple of batsmen didn't walk after a clear edge behind!
There was no disputing a great spell of bowling from Mark Taylor (5 for 15), nor that the batting performance was well below the standards we have set, but if this serves as a 'kick up the bum' we can put it down to a bad day at the office.
Scorecard:
Pannal Ash Innings
| J Thompson |
b. A Raper |
4 |
| R Clarke (c) |
c. S Morley b. S Raper |
8 |
| N McClelland |
b. A Raper |
0 |
| M Taylor |
b. F Raper |
20 |
| A Bowles |
b. S Raper |
31 |
| R Turner |
b. F Raper |
4 |
| A Tomlinson |
b. J Dodgson |
0 |
| N Laurence (w/k) |
b. F Raper |
13 |
| A Toole |
Not Out |
27 |
| A Pitt |
c. b. A Raper |
0 |
| M Merryweather |
LBW b. A Raper |
0 |
| |
Runs |
107 |
| |
Extras |
5 |
| |
TOTAL (all out) |
112 |
Alne 2nds Innings
| S Raper |
b. A Bowles |
15 |
| A Jackson |
LBW b. M Taylor |
6 |
| F Raper |
c. R Clarke b. M Taylor |
31 |
| R Clarke |
b. M Taylor |
36 |
| A Raper |
Not Out |
18 |
| O Scurrah-Smyth |
b. M Taylor |
0 |
| S Morley |
b. M Taylor |
1 |
| J Dodgson |
Not Out |
0 |
| B Warris |
did not bat |
- |
| S Chappel |
did not bat |
- |
| A Keighley |
did not bat |
- |
| |
Runs |
107 |
| |
Extras |
11 |
| |
TOTAL (for 6 wkts) |
118 |
Bowling Analysis
| |
Runs |
Wkts |
| Pannal Ash Innings |
|
|
| A Raper |
4 |
33 |
| F Raper |
3 |
16 |
| |
|
|
| Alne 2nds Innings |
|
|
| M Taylor |
5 |
15 |