They say that a week is a long time in politics but a year was a long time to wait for the Parish Council to gain revenge for last year’s heavy defeat in this, the fifth instalment of the annual match with the Ebor Players.

Having finally won the toss, newly appointed Parish Council captain Liam Godfrey put the Ebor Players into bat. Moreover, a disastrous start it was too with opening batsman Bev Linfoot being run out early on for 0. The Council followed this up with tight bowling and although wickets were rarer than England football victories, the Players were finding runs difficult to come by. There were worthwhile contributions from Rose (7) Patrick S. (11) and Bruce T. (8) the latter riding his luck surviving dropped catches and a brilliant ‘run out’ from the fielding of Jemison but like Lampards ‘goal’ the referee, or in this case umpire did not see it. A late flurry of run outs and a caught & bowled by Davis overcoming his phobia following a childhood broken finger, restricted the Players to a modest 59 (the lowest score since the 15 over format was adopted)

The Council needed 60 to win at 4 an over. Openers Godfrey & Bewley began in contrasting fashion, the latter cracking balls to the boundary to retire on 10 the former opting for a more Boycottesque approach. New signing Dale M could not resist hitting his first ball for 6 and in the process nearly decapitating a nearby dog walker on Ferry Lane, he too retired on double figures as did Stewart Harrison whose undefeated 12 gave him the record for most runs scored in all the matches played to date.

The only blip in an otherwise perfect innings was when debutant Kay Redhead bowled Tom Davis for 2. This will not be the last time this year that Redhead (Puss in this years production of Dick Whittington) will get the better of Davis (King Rat)

And so, it was left to Godfrey and Chris Dale to see the Parish Council home, which they achieved despite very vocal harassment from the Players team that would have made Shane Warne blush. Victory by 4 wickets and with 5 overs to spare. The Ebor Players now lead the series 3.2

Scorecard

Ebor Players

B Linfoot              RUN OUT                                             0

D Rose                  RETIRED                                               7

T Bruce RETIRED                                               8

K Redhead          RETIRED                                               3

S Patrick               RETIRED                                               11

T Patrick               c&b Davis                                            1

J Eason RUN OUT                                             2

L Thornton          NOT OUT                                             1

S Pendleton       RUN OUT                                             4

N Pendleton      NOT OUT                                             1

 

Extras                                                                                    21

Total                                                                                      59

Parish Council

L Godfrey            NOT OUT                                             4

J Bewley              RETIRED                                               10

M Dale  RETIRED                                               13

T Davis  b Redhead                                          2

S Harrison            RETIRED                                               12

C Dale                   NOT OUT                                             13

 

Extras                                                                                    11

Total                                                                                      63

Did not bat: I Jemison, C Bruce, A Dunn

Zak shows how it’s done around the agility course

The dogs of Bishopthorpe were out in force on Sunday, as they and their owners converged on St Andrews Church for the Bishopthorpe Fun Dog Show.

There were six show classes to compete in, so if ‘cutest pup’ didn’t quite suit your dog there was always ‘best turned out pair’ or ‘best six legs’. There were some notably creative entries for ‘dog most like the handler’, and some sob-stories to go with ‘best rehomed dog’, but the most popular class was ‘the dog the judges would like to take home’ – perhaps in the hope that they would!

Ebor Dog Training gave exciting displays of dog agility and dog handling, and Hearing Dogs for the Deaf gave a thought-provoking demonstration of how their trained dogs can make a real difference to the lives of deaf people.

So with fine weather, well-behaved dogs (and owners), good competition, and fresh strawberries on hand, a good day was had by all.