Arthington captain leads from the front amid trio of golden ducks

Arthington’s 2nd XI continued their promotion charge at the ACG when they came out on the right side of a closely fought contest against fellow promotion challengers Upper Wharfedale. The club’s recent availability problems had affected the second team as well, but they had still been able to retain a core of regular players.

In the baking sunshine, Upper Wharfedale won the toss and chose to bat first and immediately found themselves on the back foot when Joe Seaborne’s first ball loosener was steered straight to Martin Hings at mid-off by the Upper Wharfedale captain in just the second over. However, the next Upper Wharfedale pair recovered well and added 51 runs for the next wicket, taking the innings into the 17th over.

It was Andrew Stoddart that made the breakthrough, having bowled continuously from the start of the innings conceding barely any runs in the process. The remaining opener attempted to steer a shot into the off-side but only edged behind to wicketkeeper Dave Howard who held the catch. At the other end Martin Finn had replaced Seaborne after a short spell and was unlucky to see the number three put down twice from his bowling, once at mid-off and again at long-on.

Eventually, the batsman’s luck ran out and after Stoddart’s superb ten-over spell came to an end, it was Martin Hings who took the key wicket of Sean Tomlinson when he missed a straight ball and was bowled in the Arthington captain’s first over. There was then a pause in the wicket-taking as the away side’s middle order consolidated their position, but once again it was Hings that made the next two breakthroughs with an LBW followed by another ball that trimmed the top of the bails for a clean bowled.

Despite the set-backs, runs continued to flow for the visitors and they passed the 150 mark only five wickets down and with an opportunity to push on in the final overs of the match. Hings, however, had other ideas and turned his three wickets into five via a catch at slip by Andrew Stoddart before a wicket, all of his own making, when the batsman prodded back up the wicket for a caught and bowled.

Yet Hings was not content with a first five-fer of the season and wanted even more. A shot into the leg-side was mistimed and went high into the air. It looked like it was going to land harmlessly in a vacant mid-wicket position until Luke Seaborne charged in from the deep mid-wicket boundary and took a fine, sprawling catch for the eighth wicket of the innings. Two balls later and Jake Greaves-Newall managed to redeem himself for an earlier drop by holding onto a catch at long-on.

The batsman had crossed but a dot ball rounded off Hings’ final over and meant the number eleven batsman would be on strike for the final over. Arthington’s captain, though unusually expensive, returned seven wickets in his excellent unbroken ten-over bowling spell. Joe Seaborne had run out of gas so it was left to Mohammed Faiyazuddin to bowl the final over, his first, yet he did not let that affect him as he bowled a wicket maiden to round off the innings, taking a wicket with the final ball when a drive into the covers was intercepted and caught by Luke Seaborne. Upper Wharfedale all out for 180 after exactly 40 overs.

Arthington should have been confident of chasing down the target at four and a half runs per over on a good wicket and with a fast outfield, yet their hopes were given a severe denting as they began their reply with their worst start to a batting innings this season. Within five overs, the home side were at 7/4 and in disarray. Shabir Ahmed edged the first ball of the innings wide to the right of the wicketkeeper who held the catch. Andrew Stoddart was then a little unfortunate that his edge to slip was dropped but only into the waiting hands of the gully fielder and he had to depart. Mohammed Faiyazuddin at least broke the sequence of ducks but could only manage five runs before he played onto his stumps and this brought Gareth Meredith to the crease. He was bowled immediately by an excellent yorker for a golden duck and left number six batsman Luke Seaborne facing a hat-trick ball at the end of just the fifth over. A crazy start.

Thankfully, for Arthington, Seaborne and the remaining opener Jake Greaves-Newall steadied the ship somewhat. The latter must have wondered what he had come back to after a several-year absence from competitive cricket to return as a favour to the club only to find himself propping up the innings as wickets tumbled before his eyes. His lack of practice was evident in the early stages as he played and missed at several deliveries but he at least kept out the important ones destined for the stumps.

Seaborne, on the other hand, picked up where he had left off in his last innings and, after a couple of mistimed aerial shots landed away from fielders, soon began finding the boundary with regularity. His 45 runs took just 34 balls and included 4 fours and 4 sixes, including two huge blows over deep mid-wicket. As he approached his fifty, with his batting partner on just 15, his attempt to guide the ball into the leg-side only found the top edge of his bat and the ball looped high above the Upper Wharfedale wicketkeeper who took an easy catch.

Despite the loss of the fifth wicket, Seaborne’s innings had given the Arthington batting effort the impetus it had required and, thanks to its quick nature, the run-rate was still very favourable for the home side with just over 100 runs required but still 25 overs remaining in which to acquire them. Martin Hings was the next man in and took a calculated approach to the next partnership, ticking off runs and overs and seemingly always in control of the chase.

The captain and the ever-present Greaves-Newall remained at the crease together for 22 overs and added exactly 100 runs but there was a much more even spread between batsmen on this occasion as Greaves-Newall had begun finding his form as he became reacquainted with the sport as well as accustomed to the pitch. Hings managed 37 runs, including 6 fours, before his charge down the wicket resulted in disaster and the unseating of his bails. The skipper had followed up his terrific performance with the ball with an impressive batting display and had so nearly gotten the hosts over the line.

Not all hope was lost for the visitors, however, and they were further emboldened by Martin Finn, whose swing into the off-side from his very first ball found the hands of the cover fielder for a catch: the third golden duck of the Arthington innings. With two overs to go, Arthington needed six runs for victory. The away side needed either three wickets or two extremely tight overs to prevent a defeat. Greaves-Newall and Joe Seaborne managed a single apiece before a wide ball helped the Arthington cause some more. With the last ball of the penultimate over, the Arthington opener thumped the ball over the head of the bowler for a four to end the contest and carry his bat in an incredible batting display considering the circumstances.

The unbeaten innings of 63 came in 113 balls and included 7 fours and 3 sixes but, most importantly, Greaves-Newall was able to stick around when others could not and he provided a much-needed anchor around which the likes of Seaborne and Hings could amass the runs. As the dust settled, Arthington were the victors by three wickets and with an over to spare.

The win sees Arthington improve their position in division six as the challenge of Upper Wharfedale is blunted with their defeat as they slip to fifth place. The 2nd XI’s next game is against bottom side Burton Leonard, who have failed to record a win all season yet gave Arthington a real scare in the reverse fixture at the ACG where only a sizeable final wicket stand saved the home side’s bacon, so it is set to be an interesting match.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Nash for providing the teas at Arthington.