A third defeat of the season for Goole firsts on Saturday as they paid dearly for a touch of indisciplined bowling at the picturesque Sessay in York Senior League Division One, writes GRAEME WILSON.

There are few better places to play and watch the game of cricket than the village eight miles from Thirsk, but with the sun making a welcome appearance and increasing warmth too, it is a pity a run feast didn’t ensue, but it was an interesting game, as I say largely settled on wayward bowling early in the home side ‘s chase of 165 to win.
One could also question whether Goole could have made 20 or 30 more runs themselves on a pitch resembling baked mud, totally devoid of grass as the Sessay ground looks to recover from the ravages of the winter.

Neil Foster with 70 not out anchored the Goole innings when asked to make first use by home captain Steve Langstaff, and progress was solid, if unspectacular by the experienced former captain and equally experienced opening partner, Anthony Gibbins.
It was the change to spin which changed the outlook of the contest, Goole batsmen getting themselves out when well set, notably Ben Earl and Ashton Nottingham, who both reached the 20s without looking in any bother, only to carelessly get out and it put the pressure on the later batting which failed to work around Foster’s patience at the other end.
In truth it wasn’t easy as the pitch was rather slow, therefore the slower the bowler, the harder to get away, although the opening bowlers did get a little life in the initial overs with the new ball, as did Goole when they set about defending that 164-8.

Perhaps Goole didn’t make use of the running between the wickets either, no run outs, but one or two singles were missed, ones into twos etc. it all makes a difference.

James Kerr bowled superbly from the Pavilion End in the home reply, unfortunately Nottingham’s first over leaked wides and when chasing a small total, they could ill afford that. He tightened up considerably, and had the batsmen in trouble when he got it right, but it was Kerr who made the breakthrough with a ball that nipped through the defences of Matt Till.

An excellent partnership of 74 between Wilkie and Matt Wass then had Goole on the back foot, and although accumulated rather than all out attack, it did put their side in a dominant position, so credit Dave England and Ben Lamb for perseverance, which eventually saw the latter trap Wass into giving a catch to Neil Foster for 41.
Chris Till joined Wilkie and progress continued at a steady pace, before Goole then struck three times in four overs to offer a glimmer of hope - England (above 09-05-36 GT/JS) ) saw Till offer a second catch for Foster, and then Lamb tapped Harrison leg before for two, and the returning Kerr had Ramsay superbly stumped by Ben Earl without scoring.

However, Wilkie remained and in Tom Hall found a willing ally to take the score to 159 before the opener, who had reached his half century in 139 minutes off 110 balls was brilliantly caught by England at square leg, off Kerr, who finished with 3-29. He had almost seen his side home though, and victory came off the fifth ball of the penultimate over with Carver’s boundary. One or two dropped catches may have proved costly too, but 26 extras including 13 wides tells the story of what might have been a winning draw at the very least.

Dunnington 284-5
Goole Town 1st XI 217
Goole Town firsts’ hopes of a run in the Premier Cup were extinguished by a player, who many thought had retired at the end of the 2012 season, writes GRAEME WILSON.

However, the former West Indian Test star, Collis King, almost 62 now, is still around, and despite finding runs hard to come by against the Westfield side, chose this 40 over first round cup tie on the outskirts of York to hammer another century in his side’s huge score of 284-6. He wasn’t the only shining light in the home side’s batting, Jack Bolam made 97 as the two made hay on a perfect batting surface, and a young Goole side chased an awful lot of leather in pleasant, if increasingly cloudy conditions.

And yet, for all their youth, Goole never let their heads go down, and in reply later in the afternoon, made a really spirited effort before the task became just too much and the later order fell away.
King, who is using a lighter bat this year after leaving his much loved heavier blade in the Caribbean, produced calypso cricket from the start as James Kerr and Ashton Nottingham, in particular, were punished for anything short and off line. More problems with wides, and in addition no balls troubled Nottingham once more, before he was replaced by debutant Louis Sugden, who made the breakthrough by dismissing Gareth Miles. Harwood Williams also went cheaply before the onslaught was in full flow, Bolam joined King, and had more of the strike admittedly, but was equally, if not more severe than the West Indian making 97 in a stand of 153 in 77 minutes off 18 overs. Eventually, Neil Foster broke through as Bolam went, but King reached his 100 in 147 minutes as he and Dave Johnson continued the carnage which ended on 284-5, and two well judged catches by Nottingham and Foster in the deep.

For a long time Goole were magnificent in reply, Ben Earl and Neil Foster opened merrily with a stand of 102 for the first wicket in 64 minutes before Earl fell for 41 off the spin of Spofforth. Foster departed seven runs later for 56, his second half century of the weekend, this time in 43 balls, but Lee Hayward (above) and Ollie Ounsley took up the baton and added 83 for the fourth wicket, the former making another half century as he looks a better player in 2013 than in the previous two years put together, and the new recruit from Drax in 15 year old Ounsley made 32 before the target became too much.
Wickets tumbled at the end, a total of 217 well short of the Premier Division side’s total, but plenty of confidence from an improved batting display, full of positivity and hope for the season remaining.
Another word about Ounsley, his nice little innings followed up a spell of eight overs for 40 and two wickets, but his first six overs went for just 20 when Bolam and King were in full swing, and full swing it most certainly was.