Studley Royal Cricket Club Blog

Expectations amongst players, management and supporters were running high when Studley Royal arrived at Hartshead Moor Cricket Club in West Yorkshire for the Semis and Final Day of the ECB U-15 County Club Champions (Yorkshire Region) on Sunday.   The squad of twelve all arrived early so as to watch Guiseley play Darton in the first Semi of the day.   What a match, tied on the last ball, with Guiseley through on the basis of having lost fewer wickets.   So Studley then knew who they would face if they could win their Semi which to great surprise was not to be against North Leeds who had failed to get through but against Whitely Hall from South Yorkshire, like Studley unbeaten in their league this year.

So Studley skipper George Lamb went out for the toss and won opting to bat.   With both the usual Studley openers Ed Robinson and Nick Kimber away on school trips in went Nick Stuart and Lamb.   Stuart did the job asked of him and together with Lamb put on 22 and 26 respectively off 47 balls.   Stuart fell to an excellent bit of fielding, run out, and Lamb was caught right on the boundary line by Stringer while attempting a second six back over the bowlers head!   What Studley did not realise straight away was that Stuart had twisted his back which would result in 12th man U-12 Tom Bailey fielding with implications later in the day.   U-14 Elliott Oates was the Studley number three and was off the mark quickly with a number of quick singles before being caught by Chadderton for 8 while Angus Shaw also fell cheaply for 5.   Having got off to a good start Studley now looked a little shaky when Ben Coad walk purposefully to the wicket with the air of a man meaning business.   Well what business, 29 off 17 balls including three straight sixes and suddenly the total looked much more respectable!  U-14 Rob Lowe, U-12 Harry Lamb, U-14 Simon Evans, U-13 Josh Crewe and U-14 Ben Nabarro all paid brief visits to the crease and added another 21 runs between them putting Studley on a final total of 132 for 8 off their 20 overs.

After taking on fluids Studley turned round and the Whitely Hall openers Pickering and Martin came out to be faced by Ben Coad and U-14 Rob Lowe on blistering form.   With two of the three older Studley seamers away much was on the shoulders of Coad and Lowe.   They did not disappoint Coad bowled 4 overs for 14 runs and Lowe 3 overs for 18 runs.   After seven overs Whitely Hall were very much contained by the Studley opening attack and now came the two older spinners who did what was expected of them.   Lamb took the wickets of both openers returning figures of 2 for 22 off 4 overs and Shaw took out the number 3 returning figures of 1 for 22 off 4.   Simon Evans and Josh Crewe then entered the attack returning excellent figures of 11 off 2 overs and 7 off 2 overs respectively.   Mention here must be made of Studley wicketkeeper U-14 Scott Thompson who did not let anything past him.  The last over fell to Harry Lamb and victory was Studley’s having restricted Whitely Hall to 109 runs off their 20 overs in an excellent game that was played in the best spirit of Yorkshire junior cricket.

So after a forty five minute break for the excellent refreshments kindly laid on by the hosts Hartshead Moor Cricket Club it was time for the Final against Guiseley.    Once again the toss was won and Studley padded up with the officials hurriedly marking out the extra lines needed for Studley to deploy a runner for the injured Stuart.   Studley skipper Lamb and Stuart organised themselves with Nabarro acting as the runner.   Stuart did a brave job at one hitting 13 runs off 7 balls before being run out.   Oates then joined Lamb at the wicket but had a rare off day being bowled for 2.   The great Studley experiment of the day was then instigated with Harry Lamb walking out to the crease to join his brother.   The Lamb brothers then dazzled everyone running up 45 and 44 runs respectively.   George fell caught by Newark off Mountain.   Angus Shaw joined Lamb junior in a supporting role hitting 13 off 13 balls before being caught by Chippendale off Reeve.   Rob Lowe then batted out carrying his bat with young Lamb for 4 runs off 3 balls.   The target set by Studley for Guiseley was 149 runs.

So Coad and Lowe again the Studley opening attack recoding figures of 7 runs with 1 maiden off 3 overs and 11 runs with 1 maiden off 3 overs respectively.   Guiseley like Whitely Hall were well contained and it was time for the dynamic due of Lamb and Shaw to cast their leg and off spin spells once again.   The wickets came with Lamb taking the wicket of Guiseley opener Pratt for 12 and Shaw bowling Mountain for 8, Walker for 14 and taking an excellent caught and bowled of Thompson for 2.   Lamb’s figures were 1 wicket for 18 runs off 3 overs and Shaw’s 3 wickets for 10 runs off 3 overs.   Lamb and Shaw showed once again just how dangerous they are when bowling together in tandem.    Evans, Nabarro and Crewe all then were bowled returning figures of 7 runs for 1 wicket off 2 overs, 10 runs for 0 wickets off 2 overs and 9 runs for 1 wicket off 2 overs.   Finally Elliott Oates was unleashed demonstrating the incredibly spin he can put on the ball going for only 3 runs off 2 overs including 1 maiden.     At the close of their 20 overs Guiseley had scored 80 runs and Studley were the 2009 ECB U-15 County Club Champions (Yorkshire region) by 69 runs.

There was then a fifteen minute break while the presentation table was set up before Stephen Pickles the ECB county organiser for Yorkshire spoke to the two sides,  management and supporters.   The achievement of both sides to reach the final was made clear when Mr. Pickles told everyone that 180 teams from Yorkshire had entered the competition this year and that the Yorkshire Region was the largest county club competition in the United Kingdom.   Guiseley were presented with their runners up mementos and then the winner’s medals were presented to all twelve of the Studley squad for the day before George Lamb came up again to be presented with the ECB U-15 Club Championship County Winners Trophy for 2009.   Pictures were then taken and congratulations given all round.  

Studley now progress to the national stages of the competition playing the County Durham champions at Studley’s Galphay Road ground on the 19th of July at 2.30pm.