The fixtures have now been released for the 2012 season. They are as follows: -

HPH York Vale League Division 1

Sat 28th April - Ovington (Away)

Sat 5th May - Hemingbrough (Home)

Sat 12th May - Burn (Home)

Sat 19th May - Stockton & Hopgrove (Away)

Sat 26th May - HPH Cup 1st Round (TBC)

Sat 2nd June - Clifton Alliance (Home)

Sat 9th June - Copmanthorpe (Away)

Sat 16th June - Wheldrake (Home)

Sat 23rd June - HPH Cup 2nd Round / GM Cup 1st Round

Sat 30th June - Hirst Courtney (Away)

Sat 7th July - Bishopthorpe (Away)

Sun 8th July - HPH Cup Semi-Final

Sat 14th July - Ovington (Home)

Sat 21st July - Hemingbrough (Away)

Sat 28th July - Burn (away)

Sun 29th July - GM Cup Semi-Final

Sat 4th August - Stockton & Hopgrove (Home)

Sun 5th August - HPH Cup Final

Sat 11th August - Clifton Alliance (Away)

Sat 18th August - Copmanthorpe (Home)

Sun 19th August - GM Cup Final

Sat 25th August - Wheldrake (Away)

Sat 1st September - Hirst Courtney (Home)

Sat 8th September - Bishopthorpe (Home)

Howdenshire Evening League

Tue 1st May - North Ferriby (Home)

Thur 10th May - Mortimer Cup Preliminary round - Newport (Away)

Tue 15th May - Eastrington (Home)

Tue 22nd May - Mortimer Cup 1st Round - Hemingbrough (Home)

Tue 29th May - Welton (Away)

Tue 5th June - North Duffield (Away)

Tue 12th June - South Cave (Home)

Tue 19th June - Mortimer Cup Semi-Final / Junior Mortimer Cup Preliminary Round

Tue 26th June - Selby (Home)

Tue 3rd July - Newport (Away)

Tue 10th July - Hemingbrough (Home)

Wed 11th July - Mortimer Cup Final

Thur 12th July - Junior Mortimer Cup Semi-Final

Tue 17th July - Barmby on the Marsh (Away)

Tue 24th July - HICE (Away)

Tue 31st July - Junior Mortimer Cup Final

We have been very lucky with the weather this year, with only one Saturday and one evening game lost to rain and the covers not required very often. It has been a mixed bag on the pitch finishing in mid table 6th in the HPH York Vale Cricket League Division 1 and 4th in the Howdenshire Evening League. We did, however, win two cup competitions in the space of three days, which made up for our patchy league form. Our main problem has been consistency of team selection with players coming and going throughout the season for various reasons. This is reflected in the averages.

The Saturday league season began back in April and we got off to an inauspicious start losing our first four games as we waited for the football and rugby seasons to finish, which decimated our playing squad. The opening day saw us lose by 64 runs at home to Bishopthorpe. This was followed by defeats away to Wheldrake by 5 wickets and then at home to Copmanthorpe by 44 runs. The season low point came at Clifton Alliance in a Sunday match and we could only field nine players and lost by 10 wickets in match barely lasting 20 overs in total. Our first league win came in our fifth match at Escrick Park against Ben Johnson. Richard Tomlinson took 4 wickets to bowl them out for 122, before James Ferguson scored a quick-fire 77 not out to see us home in 22 overs. The following week saw a home win against the eventual league runners-up Stockton and Hopgrove by 2 runs in an exciting finish. James Ferguson again scoring 93 not out in Cave’s 176 for 7, before Jonathan Tomlinson with 5 for 47 bowled Cave to victory in the final over. A defeat at Burn followed, by 5 wickets, despite Richard Tomlinson’s 51 runs out of 139 all out. Another disappointing defeat came at home to Hemingbrough by 133 runs with only Rob Page’s 5 for 34 offering any resistance. Rob performed well again with the ball the following week taking 6 for 55 to bowl Barmby Moor out for 161, before Jonathan Tomlinson (61 not out) and John Backhouse (39) saw Cave to a six wicket win. Arguably the best win of the season came at Bishopthorpe, where Karl Youngman 3 for 22 and Mike Stellings 3 for 13 bowled the home side out for 102. Stellings then hit 55 not out to complete a match winning performance as Cave ran out 8 wicket winners. A disappointing 56 run defeat at Champions Copmanthorpe was followed by another defeat at home to Clifton Alliance, even after Mike Stellings again showed his metal with a gritty 68 runs in Cave’s 173 for 9. A strange match took place at the beginning of August with Ben Johnson turning up with only six players, followed soon after by their seventh man who had to drive up from Devon for the match. After all that effort he managed to get run out without facing a ball much to his own team’s amusement. The match itself only lasted 51 minutes as Ben Johnson were bowled out for 35 in 10 overs and then the Cave openers only took 4 overs to knock off the runs. In the next match a weak Cave side lost at Stockton and Hopgrove and then had a nerve jangling, 1 run win in the final over at home to Burn. Sam Forth’s innings of 32 got Cave to 118 before Jonathan Tomlinson held his nerve at the death taking 4 for 13. The penultimate week of the season saw Cave produce a fine performance away at Hemingbrough winning by 63 runs. Mark Woodall scored 50 before Rob Page (5 for 11) and Jonathan Tomlinson (3 for 17) bowled Cave to victory. The final week saw Barmby Moor concede the match. In the HPH cup competition Cave produced some of their best performances. Captain Rob Page’s 103 not out was the highlight of the first round 6 wicket win at Burn. Then James Ferguson equalled the feat scoring 107 not out at home to Bishopthorpe in the 2nd round as Cave ran out 4 wicket winners. A weakened Cave side then lost the semi-final at Heworth, but were then re-instated to the Final as Heworth were disqualified for fielding ineligible players. The Final was played at Hemingbrough against Copmanthorpe. James Ferguson produced another great innings of 80 to steer Cave to 193 all out. Mike Stellings (3 for 27) and John Buttle (4 for 5) then dismissed Copmanthorpe for 116 for a 77 run win.

In the Howdenshire Evening League, Cave finished 4th after finishing the season with 4 wins, 3 defeats and 1 no result. Hemingbrough were crowned Champions ahead of South Cave and new boys Barmby on the Marsh. Highlights included, Mark Woodall’s 67 not out against HICE, Matt Wilkinson’s superb 100 not out at Selby and James Ferguson’s 67 not out at Eastrington. Ashley Page also took 5 for 15 at Eastrington, with Rob Page bowling well throughout the campaign and Rhys Duerden scoring consistently all season. Again Cave saved some of the best Performances for the Cup Campaign as they lifted the Junior Mortimer Cup. The most amazing performance came in the semi-Final as James Ferguson hit 126 not out, Mark Woodall 52 not out and Ashley Page 40 as Cave finished with a massive 261 for 2 from their 20 overs, winning by 176 runs. The final saw an 81 run win over Barmby on the Marsh with Mark Woodall scoring 53 and James Ferguson 48 not out.

As usual I would like to thank everyone who has helped us during the season, especially Rob for the teas and his efforts with the team. Graham, JB and John Hewson for all their efforts preparing the ground each week and ground maintenance. It is much appreciated by us all! For the second year running I have been disappointed with the number of people turning up to help with Work on the Wicket. Everyone does need to contribute and not leave it to the usual few.

North Cave won the final York Vale League match today by walkover as Barmby Moor were unable to raise a side and so conceded the match.

North Cave won this afternoon’s York Vale Division 1 match at Hemingbrough by 63 runs. North Cave batted first and lost early wickets slumping to 50 for 7 with only Chris Carr (11) in double figures. The damage was done by Glen Crouch (4 for 20), Paul Smales (2 for 25) and A. Rowley (3 for 27). Cave’s tail then dug in and Mark Woodall hit a superb 50. He put on 38 with Andrew Ferguson (5) and then the final pair John Buttle (23) and Nick Gamble (14 not out) added 45 to take Cave to an unlikely 145 all out. In Reply Hemingbrough made a steady start with Matthew Milburn (18) and Luke Allderidge (16) putting on 28 for the first wicket. Glen Crough added 25 and at this point on 61 for 3 Hemingbrough looked good for a win, but then 7 wickets fell for 8 runs as they were bowled out for 82. Mike Stellings (2 for 28) took two early wickets, before Jonathan Tomlinson (3 for 17) and Rob Page (5 for 11) destroyed the Hemingbrough batting order, including 5 wickets in the final two overs of their innings. Cave ran out winners by 63 runs in 28 overs.

Innings of North Cave
1 R. Page Bowled G. Crouch 0
2 J. Backhouse Ct L. Allderidge (W) A. Rowley 8
3 M. Stellings LBW P. Smales 0
4 C. Carr Ct P. Smales 11
5 C. Cockin Bowled G. Crouch 0
6 C. Parkinson Bowled G. Crouch 4
7 M. Woodall Ct A. Rowley 50
8 J. Tomlinson Ct T. Boyd-Bell G. Crouch 5
9 A. Ferguson Bowled A. Rowley 5
10 J. Buttle Ct T. Shepard 23
11 N. Gamble Not Out 14
Extras 25
Total 145
for 10 wkts

Hemingbrough Bowling Analysis
1 G. Crouch 11 3 20 4
2 P. Smales 6 1 25 2
3 A. Rowley 9 3 27 3
4 T. Boyd-Bell 3 0 24 0
5 R. Peet 3 0 22 0
6 T. Shepard 3.5 0 18 1

Innings of Hemingbrough
1 M. Milburn Ct N. Gamble M. Stellings 18
2 L. Allderidge Ct & Bowled R. Page 16
3 P. Smales Ct & Bowled M. Stellings 6
4 G. Crouch Bowled R. Page 25
5 A. Rowley Ct M. Woodall (W) J. Tomlinson 2
6 M. Allit Bowled R. Page 0
7 A. Barraclough Ct C. Cockin R. Page 4
8 T. Shepard Ct A. Ferguson J. Tomlinson 0
9 J. Kelly LBW J. Tomlinson 0
10 T. Boyd-Bell St M. Woodall (W) R. Page 4
11 R. Peet Not Out 0
Extras 7
Total 82
for 10 wkts

North Cave Bowling Analysis
1 M. Stellings 12 1 28 2
2 J. Buttle 5 0 19 0
3 J. Tomlinson 6 1 17 3
4 R. Page 5 2 11 5

North Cave won an exciting match by 1 run in the final over. Cave batted first and got off to a good start with M. Stellings (13) and Rob Page (12) putting on 31 for the first wicket. Wickets then fell at regular intervals with only Sam Forth (32) holding the Cave innings together. The Burn bowlers shared the wickets as G. Parker (3 for 28), G. Beavers (2 for 30), A. Abbott (2 for 25) and J. Adamson (2 for 12), all contributing. They restricted Cave to 118 all out from 34 overs. In Reply, Burn also started well with an opening partnership of 32 between R. Adamson (18) and L. Adamson (15). Mike Stellings (3 for 38) removed the top three batsmen and he was supported by John Buttle (1 for 26 from 12 overs). T. Rich batting at 4 was still unbeaten at the end on 31 not out, but he lacked support as the Cave bowlers dismissed Burn for 117 with five balls remaining. Jonathan Tomlinson with 4 for 13 was the pick, removing the tail. The win consolidates Cave’s position of safety in mid table.

Innings of North Cave
1 M. Stellings Ct G. Parker 13
2 R. Page Ct G. Beavers 12
3 C. Cockin Ct G. Beavers 5
4 S. Forth Bowled J. Adamson 32
5 J. Tomlinson Bowled G. Parker 2
6 C. Parkinson Ct (W) G. Parker 9
7 A. Ferguson Ct A. Abbott 5
8 J. Backhouse Ct J. Adamson 7
9 N. Gamble St (W) A. Abbott 0
10 J. Buttle Not Out 10
11 M. Johnson Bowled J. Shaw 0
Extras 23
Total 118
for 10 wkts

Burn Bowling Analysis
1 G. Parker 12 2 28 3
2 G. Beavers 7 1 30 2
3 A. Abbott 8 1 25 2
4 J. Adamson 5 2 12 2
5 J. Shaw 2 0 13 1

Innings of Burn
1 R. Adamson St R. Page (W) M. Stellings 18
2 L. Adamson Ct C. Cockin M. Stellings 15
3 A. Watson LBW M. Stellings 6
4 T. Rich Not Out 31
5 G. Hunter Ct M. Johnson J. Buttle 13
6 E. Clarke Ct M. Stellings J. Tomlinson 7
7 G. Parker Ct R. Page (W) A. Ferguson 2
8 A. Abbott Ct M. Johnson J. Tomlinson 9
9 J. Shaw Ct & Bowled J. Tomlinson 0
10 G. Beavers Run Out 0
11 J. Adamson LBW J. Tomlinson 1
Extras 15
Total 117
for 10 wkts

North Cave Bowling Analysis
1 J. Buttle 12 4 26 1
2 M. Stellings 12 3 38 3
3 A. Ferguson 4 0 20 1
4 J. Tomlinson 7.1 2 13 4
5 R. Page 4 1 7 0