Burton Leonard.net

Burton Leonard 1st XI recorded their fifth win of the season with a comfortable 62 run over Ripley after posting a testing 275-6 thanks to useful contributions from Craig Eustace (68), Neil Blaken (45) and Ben Drummond (76*). Fine bowling from all the bowlers plus a great team effort in the field meant that Ripley could only manage 213-7 in reply after a good effort chasing. Meanwhile the 2nd XI were skittled out for a paltry 23 chasing only 78 to win the game, so the less said about this match the better. However the 3rd XI got back to winning ways against Studley Royal 4ths in the Deer Park, thanks mainly to Kris Burtwistle’s 88 with the bat which allowed Burton to post 197-9. In reply Studley Royal scored 134-7 with Wilf Wigglesworth finishing with magical figures of 3-21 off his 11 overs.

Muzza’s Report
Burton hosted third placed Ripley this Saturday, and, after a two week holiday, the good weather returned to allow 90 overs of cricket.

After skipper Neil Blaken turned up late, even by his own high standards, he lost the toss and Burton were in the not all too unfamiliar position of batting first. The pitch was typical of late, mainly due to the horrendous weather conditions, and was dry and hard underneath a soft top. This was seemingly a bad toss to lose.

Due to the absence of Mickey ‘the Mouse’ Wray, still camping, Craig Eustace and Mike Stansfield resumed their unbroken partnership started last week at Studley. Huge groans of despair echoed about the pavilion arose when it became apparent that the two opening bowlers were dibbly-dobblies, one of them, much to the amusement of the junior members of the club, had the appearance of a well known computer game character. Early uneven bounce was played well by the openers, and was duly noted by the Burton pace quintet.

An early respite was provided when Eustace was dropped off the bowling of Luigi, and Ripley’s fielding exercises prior to the game looked a complete and utter waste of time, becoming ever more apparent throughout the game. Both openers executed near-perfect pull shots to the short boundary, and all looked well. Stanners even treated the fans (a season best attendance of 5) to a master class in quick singles. This was not going to last and it did not. Both openers reverted to type, and the dobblers started to haemorrhage boundaries.

Ripley felt the need to liven things up, so brought on an extra medium paced junior. Craig ‘minus’ Eustace responded, and on the second, third and sixth balls of the over, sent the ball sailing into the tennis courts, reminiscent of Glasshouses earlier in the season.

Minus brought up his fifty with a well timed edge to the third man boundary, and Burton were on 65-0 after the first third. Two dropped catches later, and the breakthrough finally came. Stanners chipped one to mid off, was unsurprisingly dropped, then called for a risky single which was in the end too risky. There was more than a shred of controversy when the bowler did not appear to have control of the ball at the point at which the wicket was broken. 80-1.

Skipper ‘Blakes’ Blaken came to the crease, and began to form a partnership with Minus. Craig was having none of it, and soon played on to his stumps for 68. 101-2. ‘J Dot’ Wilson was the next man in, and never seemed to settle against the awkward off spin of their antipodean. Blakes settled some nerves imitating Eustace in dispatching the Aussie into the tennis complex. It was then noticed that their wicket keeper was standing at an unfashionable angle to the stumps, and it was this that was blamed for his conceding of eight successive byes. In a rehearsal of the main event, J Dot was bowled off a no-ball. Two overs later he was bowled by a legitimate delivery. 133-3 from 30 overs.

Dan Thirkell stayed at the crease for a short but entertaining stay, including a 7. After chipping another of Ripley’s seven bowlers over mid-wicket and running three, the fielders, not content with their dropped catches, gave Thirks four overthrows. A six came off the next ball. Surprisingly, this was not to be the end of spectacular events involving Dan. And so Thirkell departed, understandably making an effort to up the run-rate, which was predicting a score of roughly two hundred, widely believed to be nowhere near enough at Burton. 148-4.

Ben Drummond rectified the situation, and picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Eustace for the most sixes this season. Neil Blaken was bowled for a captain’s knock of 45 by the off-spinner. 186-5.
Chris ‘Cookie’ Parker was next in, and hung around well to let Big Ben continue to demolish the bowling attack. A new young bowler came on at the score box end, and a few onlookers commented that ‘he should have been bowling earlier’. Despite his ridiculously non-justifiable long run up, he proved us wrong with figures of 4-0-41-1.

Cookie defied belief when he was actually caught, and Rob Murray completed the innings with a streaky single to third man. Burton closed on 275-6 with Ben Drummond top-scoring with a swashbuckling 76 not out. I am reliably informed that, if dropped catches were worth a run apiece, they would have outscored the groundsman. ‘Pick’ of the bowlers was the Aussie, who took 4 for ‘only’ 73.

After a well earned tea, Burton set out to keep Ripley to below 275, and so win the game. ‘A Dot’ was top edged for six in the third over, and when the ball returned from the tennis courts it resembled that of a chewed up dog toy. No swing then. This did not dampen the batsmen’s spirits, who edged their way to 79 before Cookie made the Aussie look a fool by forcing him to mis-time a drive straight back to him. 79-1.

The other opener fought on, deciding that keeping his wicket was more important than keeping with the ever-demanding run rate. Thirks bowled a number of balls which were just too good for the batsmen to get anywhere near, as the number of mowing, airy strokes increased proportionately with the run-rate. Dan eventually got his man, clean bowled. 133-3.

Opening bowler Rob ‘Muzza’ Murray returned with a vengeance, trapping Ripley’s number 4 lbw for just 2. 148-4. Muzza then deceived the persistent opener with a second successive slower ball and was well caught by Neil Carass. 151-5. Wilson, Thirkell and Blaken then bowled well enough to force the remaining batsmen to play for the point, which they would not get without a huge scare from Thirks.

The tail-enders thought it would be a good idea to attack Thirkell, who responded to an uppish but nonetheless powerful drive by clinging on to a spectacular diving catch whilst travelling in the wrong direction in his follow through. 209-6. Next ball the new man somehow played onto the stumps, and a rare hat-trick attempt was made. 209-7. The vultures circled, three slips a gully and silly mid off all in place. The ball struck the pad, the vultures squawked, and the appeal was deemed not out.

The distant rain threatened to make six hours hard work all pointless, so in an effort not to be banned by the match official, the skipper upped the over-rate. Ripley closed on a respectable 213-7 and 5 points were in the proverbial bag. Next week the Burton Broncos travel to Burnt Yates, who only just beat Knaresborough Forest by 205 runs.
Rob Murray

Below are some highlights of the start of the Burton Leonard 1st XI’s innings and although it looks like they were playing a timeless test match, the runs were coming quite quickly.

Sadly only 13 overs were possible in this game before the umpires called a halt to proceedings due to the incessant rain that had been falling since the start of the game, However the Burton Leonard dressing room was treated to some sumptious batting from Craig Eustace and Mike Stansfield as they quckly rattled up a half century opening partnership with Craig Eustace finishing 44* and Mike Stansfield 20*.

Below is a video of our opening pair batting with Craig Eustace actually stroking the ball through the covers in Comptonesque fashion (this is original footage honest, it has not been doctored). If anyone has difficulty viewing the video let me know as it is the latest flash/h264 technology and may require a player update.

The 2nd XI games against Ouseburn 2nds was also abandonded due to the weather.

Chairman Dallas reflects on the Studley game:-

1. Real fans of water sports converged in their thousands ones to Studley’s huge ground under leaden skies where a light rain relented sufficiently for the covers to come off and for the match to begin.
2. Our 1st XI was in high spirits having won the last two matches and looking for maximum points from the bottom-placed club.
3. Chief optimist and gourmand ‘Mr Whippy’ Drummond turned up in shorts and clutching a three-pack of deep-fill sandwiches to help him through those long minutes until tea-time.
4. In contrast, Dan Thirkell did not turn up - having ill-advisedly accepted an invitation to ‘football training’ at the Army Camp. He was later seen running over the moors carrying a 72-lb ruck-sack full of rocks singing old US marine hymns (in unison with 100 young men with no 1 hair-do’s) whilst being shouted at by a terrifying figure with many stripes on his arms. Serve him right.
5. They won the toss and inserted us – no doubt (as we modestly thought) to prevent us forcing an early result by bowling them out for nowt before the rain returned.
6. We opened with ‘Claude’ Eustace and the Flying Stanners. Eustace promptly drove the opening ball of the match through extra cover for four – with an elegance that reminded us of the absent Mickey ‘the Mouse’ Wray - sadly more of a drowned rat today as he takes his enormous family on a happy camping trip in the charming weather. How envious we are!
7. As to the shot, Eustace sought out your correspondent afterwards to re-experience the wonder of a shot-all-along-the-ground-on-the-posh-side. ‘I just leaned into it’ he marvelled - as elbows started to slip off the tables and his audience made polite excuses and sidled out of the dressing room. His delight on finding out that Ben had captured the shot on video was a wonder to behold. He will be submitting it to Lords for inclusion in their next coaching DVD.
8. Stanners rather spoilt the elegance of the occasion by getting off the mark with an edged four. Inexplicably, we clapped louder than we had for Claude.
9. After this, our two gladiators grew in stature (upwards – since sideways is already adequately catered for) as both struck impressively into the broad acres of the Studley offside field. Eustace even did some work on his handicap by striking some useful approach shots over the head of Long On.
10. After only 12 overs, Burton had reached 64 without loss with Eustace motoring along on 44* and Stansfield getting into his stride on 20*.
11. But the rain was getting worse and off they came. An early tea was taken before the match was finally abandoned.
12. Tea broke up in controversy after an unfortunate misunderstanding with our hungry openers. It appeared that they were unaware that the Battenberg cakes were meant to be sliced and shared out.
13. Match Abandoned – 2 Points each

Team Royal Oak, Burton Leonard successfully completed the 2008 Great Yorkshire Bike Ride last Saturday and raised nearly £1000 for charity in the process. This is the 25th time the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride has been organised by the Wetherby Lions and last year raised almost £120,000 for worthy local charities.

The ride starts in Wetherby and ends in Filey a total distance of about seventy miles accross the Yorkshire countryside through the Howardian Hills to Malton and then onto Filey and usually attracts over 1500 entrants. Pictured above are Katie Barker, David Gilmore, Bev Hawman, Ben Drummond and Stuart Barker who all took part this year and sucessfully finished the ride in appauling conditions at the finishing line in Filey enjoying a much deserved alcholic beverage

Following on from the Evening A team’s fantastic win against Scotton last monday to reach the Semi-Finals of the CB Atkinson Cup, Burton Leonard B won their quarter final against Harrogate Gas Sports last night thanks to an unbeaten 120 run partnership between Mike Stansfield (39*) and Ben Drummond (74*) to reach Gas Sports 150-8 for the loss of only two wickets. Burton Leonard A now travel to Burnt Yates on Monday 23rd June for their semi-final, whilst Burton Leonard B will have to wait to see who they face away on Monday 30th June in the semi-final of the George Greaves Cup.

1. As the cliché goes, this was a match which we could not afford to lose. Sharow were just below us in the table and needed for this (and other historical reasons) to be kept in their place.
2. This was a gripping match with the crowd (two people and a dog called Charlie) on the edge of their seats from the start – mainly because they were still wet from recent rain.
3. Removal of the covers revealed an excellent dry strip which, according to the unsuccessful batsmen (see below), played at a deceptively-slow pace. However, when we bowled, it played fast and true. When challenged, these batsmen changed their account – now suggesting that the opposition had ‘bowled slower’ (implying that it was a form of cheating).
4. After the usual pre-match problems were overcome - Skipper is still worried about the shortage of 1’s for the scoreboard (which he is inclined to blame on the Chairman) whilst a ladder in Dan’s tights (or ‘skins’ as he understandably prefers to call them) was clearly causing great distress – we were inserted and got off to a great start.
5. Mickey Wray (who, worryingly, refuses to wear a cap even when the sun is out) and his foil ‘Claude’ Eustace were in commanding form putting on about 80 in very short order. The Mouse was his usual elegant self whilst Claude birdied a beauty into the car-park.
6. The entertainment became so exciting that Charlie invaded the pitch and held up play for at least 5 minutes whilst about 8 players and his embarrassed owner tried to re-capture him.
7. Unhappily, just as the middle order were removing their pads, the wickets began to fall and thigh pads had to be hastily re-strapped into position. First, Wray’s pre-war bat (‘his matchstick’, as he calls it) hit all round a straight ball from a new bowler and departed for 43. In the way of the things, the other opener quickly followed, Eustace being caught in the next over when he discovered that the car-park had mysteriously and treacherously receded about ten yards, enabling him to be well-caught on the boundary (28).
8. Nevertheless, at drinks, we were 104-2 and well-set. The war would be over by Christmas.
9. But how wrong we were! A whole succession of well-coached and hugely-talented athletes then came and, sadly, went. Thirkell drove about 3 minutes too early and was caught at mid-off (16). After a few overs, Joe Wilson (6) lost his battle with the bowlers and his head - and was bowled. His curious roaring noise as he re-entered the pavilion caused two small children to cry and has attracted the attention of the duty Social Services team. Mike Crawshaw (17) magnificently struck the ball into the village but, with 10 overs to go, was deceived by the Sharovian dibbly-dobbler when trying to repeat the feat. Stanners (2 – yes 2!) contrived to kick another of the d-d’s balls onto his stumps from about 4 yards to leg. Mike (and many others) had much to say afterwards about the baffling degree of ‘drift’ that the dobbler was achieving. Clearly, we must expect him to be playing for Yorkshire soon….or possibly not.
10. Things then improved somewhat, with our esteemed leader (29) in good form – despite again missing his pre-match shave. He, Muzza (23*) and Cooky (23*) all hit hard and true - leaving BLCC on 209-7 after 45 overs.
11. This was a respectable but by no means unsurmountable score – especially as the Sharow captain was known to be in top form with the bat.
12. However, they got off to recklessly-bad start. Batting as if in a 20-20 match against an under-7’s side, the north-Riponers threw their bats from the start at an accurate attack launched by Rob Murray and Ali Wilson.
13. The result was disastrous. Both openers quickly departed after failing with huge shots. Their successors also failed to see the need to get their heads down. Their skipper came in and watched as more wickets fell at the other end to Wilson Murray and Blaken. Catches were held and Joe Wilson’s quick re-action to an ill-judged single sent back the only other player who was trying to bat sensibly.
14. Wickets continued to fall faster than house prices and, with seven down for about 90, Joe’s highly-original remark that they were ‘dropping like flies’ seemed cruel but fair. Confidence was high and the sledging (or ‘banter’ as we prefer to call it) intensified.
15. At this point, as the sledging was crushed by the umpire and the resulting near-silence emasculated the fielders (who were left with nothing else to do but play cricket), the game threatened to turn dramatically. No 9 failed to get out! A stand then developed between him and the captain – who was now in commanding form. Neil tried every trick in the book (ie M Wray with the ball) but it was to no avail. The score kept mounting and the ball just passing over fielders’ heads. As Sharow passed 150 with plenty of overs to play with, the situation was getting desperate. The crowd (now grown to three, even without Charlie – who was now locked up at home in disgrace) was back on the edge of the now-dry seats. The situation was desperate and small whimpering noises could be heard in the outfield as the team began to wonder whether BLCC’s famous ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory would once again prevail.
16. But it was not to be. At last, Ali’s second spell proved too good for the tiring No 9 who was eventually bowled. The relief! But with their captain well past 50 and still going strong, the situation was still dangerous until Parker’s cunningly-contrived mis-field lured him into a dodgy second-run attempt. Goodbye and God bless!
17. The last two hung about for a few overs but it was all over bar the shouting (which, as usual, was mostly coming from JW at extra cover).
18. Ali Murray (3-56) and Blake (2-21) both bowled well but the pick of the bowlers was Rob Murray whose spell of 2 for 18 included 5 maidens. Dan Thirkell also bowled a hostile spell without the success either he or his high-performance underwear deserved.
19. So we left with a valuable six point victory which leaves us in comfortable mid-table obscurity.
20. The End!

Andrew Dallas

Diners at the Royal Oak, Burton Leonard were treated to a special Italian evening last Friday, as John and Julie held the first of three themed nights and very good it was too. The food as usual was of an extremely high standard and very good value for money and as good as anything you would get in an Italian restaurant.

The restaurant was almost full and everyone enjoyed the whole evening.

For those who are interested the menu is printed below and the next theme night takes place on Friday 4th July, when the pub will be hosting an American night.

Also of interest is that from today, The Royal Oak is launching a credit crunch beating two course meal deal Tuesday - Friday for only £8.95. For more details please contact the Royal Oak on 01765 677332

Italian Night Menu - Friday June 6th

Two Courses £ 11.95
Three Courses £ 14.95

Goats Cheese & Roasted fled Pepper Ravioli in a Pesto sauce

Salad of Sicilian Sausage, Slow Roast Vine Tomato & Rocket with a Balsamic & Olive Oil dressing

Minestrone Soup served with Ciabatta Bread

Wild Mushroom & Basil Risotto (also available as a Main Course)

Parma Ham, Mozzarella & Olive Bruschetta

***

Veal Escalope in Breadcrumbs with Tarragon & Lemon Butter Served with Rocket & Tomato Salad & Sauté Potatoes

Meatballs & Penne Pasta in Arrabiata sauce

Seafood Pizza (Prawns, Scallops, Calamari & Crayfish) Served with Salad and Chips

Chicken Cacciatora with Green Beans, Courgettes & Potatoes

Tuscan Beef, Bean & Pasta Casserole with Gnocci

***

Tiramisu

Iced Lemon & Raspberry Terrine

Gorgonzola & Dolcelate

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Cherries & Strawberries

***

Peroni Beer only £1.50 per bottle

Pinot Grigio or Valpolicella only £7.95 per bottle

Burton Leonard 1st XI finally managed a win on Saturday, taking maximum points in their match against 3rd placed Rainton.

It was a game which very nearly didn’t happen at all. Friday’s monsoon had ruined the prepared strip, so once the umpires had declared it unfit to play, Burton took the extraordinary step of invoking Law 794.4 subsection 11 which allows a replacement strip to be cut, if both skippers agree. Rainton were less than keen, but Chairman Dallas’s powers of persuasion convinced the skipper it was a good idea after all.

After a problematic start, while the broken lawn mower was fixed by adding petrol, the Burton crew gelled into their new groundsmen roles. With Blaken on mower, Wray on brush (sweeping and marking), Chairman Dallas and Wilson on roller, and Eustace on straight edge, it wasn’t long before the skippers were heading out for the toss.

The Rainton skipper’s benevolence continued as he called wrong, and Rainton were batting. Then opener Binns threw away this wicket in the second over - the first of six wickets for right arm paceman Rob Murray.

Burton were excellent in the field: Dan Thirkell took catches at slip and Mike Crawshaw held onto two in the deep. The fielding sparkled, and Mike Stansfield was likened to american sprinter Michael Johnson at one point as he chased to long leg. Although his later effort at mid-on was perhaps a little more like Boris Johnson.

Meanwhile Rainton stumbled along to 58-8, strangled by the tight bowling of Chris Parker(1-9 off 6) and Dan Thirkell(3-17 off 7). More sensible batting by Weaver took their final score to 107 all out. Rob Murray finishing with 6-26 from 11 overs.

After a delicious Crawshaw tea, it was Burton’s turn to bat. Only 108 needed to win.

Craig Eustace was soon back in the hut after mistiming one to mid-off, but the champagne moment was to follow soon after as James Robinson hit a truly enormous six. It was still on its way up as it vanished over the tree, landing inches from Whapple’s stable block.

Batsmen came and went and soon Burton were 52-6. But Chris Parker(26*) and Mike Wray (60*) dug in to grind out a much needed win.

Burton Leonard 2nd XI suffered their sixth defeat of the season losing by nine wickets yesterday when they were soundly beaten by Harrogate Stays.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first on a damp pitch, the Burton innings began steadily and although losing openere Ollie Moffat cheaply, Matthew Rangeley and Bryan Slack laid the foundations before Rangeley mis-cued a pull shot straight to mid on. Next in to bat was Ben Drummond who imediately carried on where he’d left off the previous wednesday and the run rate picked up slightly and 57 runs were added in the next thirteen overs before Bryan Slack drove straight to cover.

Ben Drummond then added 50 runs with Chris Sladen and passed fifty for the first time on a saturday this season before eventually being caught out on the boundary looking for quick runs at the end of the innings for a well earned 71, which would have been more if the four sixes he hit had counted on the Stray’s ground. It was left to Stuart Barker (8*) to end the innings with Chris Sladen (26*) and Burton had posted a decent score of 176-6 off their 45 overs with a batting point safely in the bag.

After an excellent tea in the Harrogate Tavern enjoying Burton old boy Tom Henry playing for Harrogate 2nd XI on the country ground, The Strays reply began and the dangerous Stanworth began tucking into some legside gimme’s and the home side were off to a flyer and although Johnny Duffy and the subsequent bowlers all bowled well no early breakthrough was made and suddenly the target looked like it wasn’t going to be enough as Burton’s bowling attack looked about as penetrative as Pélé without his blue tablets. Eventually a wicket was taken all beit a run out, but with only 45 runs required off seventeen overs the game was effectively over and the final nail in the coffin came five overs later and Strays had completed a nine wicket win at a canter.

Burton Leonard A’s evening league team remain unbeaten this season after a four wicket win at Glasshouses. Chasing 185 for victory, Burton’s batsmen found it hard going and slumped to 87-6, with 99 runs still required off the remaining six overs. However a partnership between Neil Blaken and Ben Drummond developed and the boundaries began to flow and with two overs remaining 39 runs were wanted for victory. Astonishingly those runs were achieved in the next over as Glasshouses conceded five sixes, a four, two twos and a wide and Burton had somehow got home with an over to spare with Ben Drummond ending up 63* and Neil Blaken 37.

Dan Thirkell and Ollie Moffat see Burton Leonard B home by 10 wickets before the heavens open against Goldsborough B in first round of the George Greaves Cup tonight.

Chasing a modest 85, Burton’s opening pair wrap up the game with Dan Thirkell scoring 50*.