Runs at a premium

Published on 8th May 2008 in Letters

Ripon 43-3

Carlton Towers I 41

Another bad day at the office for the Carlton Towers batsmen.

After another week of glorious weather, turning up to see another green sticky wicket was no surprise.

Ripon bowler Dirk Van Dyke must have thought that he had died and gone to heaven on a track that suited his excellent swing and seam bowling.

To his credit he hardly bowled one bad ball in a 16-over spell. Every Carlton batsman struggled to get him away as his line and length were excellent, with only Mark Spetch and Graham Spetch getting into double figures.

Carlton were eventually bowled out for 41 in the 31st over.

Some teams would have given up at the interval, however the young Carlton bowlers went out after the break and showed why they are playing Division Two cricket.

Again Mark Spetch shone, moving the ball around much more than the experienced Ripon attack, justifying his North Yorkshire selection earlier in the week.

Carlton managed to dismiss three Ripon batsmen and also dropped another two as Ripon knocked of the low score of 41 in 11 overs.

If Carlton want to progress within this division this season then the senior batsmen have to start providing the youngsters with something to bowl at.

Carlton Towers II 71

Thorpe Arch BS II 188-4

Carlton's second string entertained Thorpe Arch and Boston Spa from near Wetherby at the Fishpond Field on Saturday in Division Five B,

looking for an improvement on last week's disappointing result.

However, it was a poor start for the home side, with an excellent opening

partnership for the visitors with the opposing captain Turner making 54 and Orrell 20 in a good opening stand of 83.

But Carlton's young bowling attack showed lots of character and fought

back well with Squires (1-41), Tate (1-21) and Sam Morris (1-14) keeping Thorp Arch and Boston Spa to 188-4 with James making an unbeaten 53 for the away side.

A special mention goes to Lee Ellin whose wicket keeping was of good

standard and he claimed two amazing catches with Steve Landers, who bowled with accuracy keeping the score to an achievable chasing target.

Carlton started their response well with a solid opening partnership by

Kline with 13 and Watson.

However, that apart the home side showed a lack of dedication at the crease, allowing the opposing captain to cap off a fine individual performance with a haul of 5-13 and after the early promise from the openers, it was captain Richard Knapp top-scoring with 24 for Carlton seconds.

The visitors ended up winning comfortably by 117 runs, however if the Carlton youngsters continue to show the application with the ball, and in the field and the determination they showed here, despite the good total posted by the visitors, there is a bright future for those on view.

P[Plenty of cricket for the Carlton side this week, starting tonight, details of which are below.

Forthcoming fixtures

Thursday, May 8

Snaith and District Evening League

Hensall v Carlton Towers

Saturday, May 10

Hunters York and District Senior Cricket League Division Two

Tadcaster Magnets v Carlton Towers I

Division Five B

Carlton Towers II v Rowntrees II

Sunday, May 11

HPH York Vale League Division Five

Carlton Towers III v Thorpe Willoughby II