With the whole village of Rawdon otherwise engaged on this Sunday & it being the school holiday season; at 8.15pm on the night before this game the Jesters playing strength stood at 7. By 8.30pm Nick Walker had texted to say his Yeadon U17 colleague James Cryan could make a Jesters debut & then Ives came good with the recruitment of 3 rampant griffins from Barnsley; the now regular Glenn Yates & newcomers Tom Shaw & Daniel Rafiq (brother of Yorkshire's Azeem Rafiq). The outcome was a very youth-full Jesters side with 6 players still in their teens.
So on a lovely sunny day the small Wharfedale contingent set off again into deepest Huddersfield. On arrival we found that the Barnsley & Huddersfield parties had joined up for Sunday lunch & that Ives had organised the toss, the batting order & had brought a umpire for the day ( Menorca tour veteran Paul Benson). Ives is a tremendous addition to the ranks with his enthusiasm & organisational skills (+ new supplier of Jesters sports ware) & I hope his Jesters career is a long one.
After heavy rain the previous day there was bound to be a bit of help for the home bowlers but “rowdy” Yates & Dale showed their class in getting us to a decent score in which everybody got a bat (just as it should be). Rowdy even had a cricket quiz question for everybody:- Name the 3 post war England cricket captains with a surname beginning with H. – (answer at the bottom). Umpire Benson was determined to use all his newfound power & managed to fire out 3 batsmen & earning himself the new nickname of Benny the Jester slayer.
A burger for tea with test cricket on the TV meant there was no rush back out to field. Potential future captain Ives, having brought Barnsley’s 1^st XI wicketkeeper (Tom) to play decided he would keep wicket himself & we finally headed out. A good opening spell from Alec Slack in his 1^st bowl for the Jesters was followed by some accurate stuff from every body else & another close finish ensued. Play was briefly held up when 2 attractive women decided to have a 100m race in the adjoining field. (it could only happen in Huddersfield). An entertaining day with an evenly matched home side, captained by someone with the same Sunday philosophy as our self’s. Scottie now playing as a batsman (& scorer) led us home so he could catch wife swap on TV (it’s taken over from “where the heart is”)
There was a worrying postscript to the game when on arrival home a phone call from Ives informed me that “Miami” vice captain Dale had been taken to hospital with a suspected mini-stroke. While still at the ground he had felt ill so tried to ring a friend who is a paramedic (this man knows everybody). He could not get through so Ives called an ambulance & when it arrived it was Dale’s mate driving. The Jesters wish Dale well as he takes thing steady for a couple of weeks.

Catching competition update:- RL=5, DRB=4, Ives=3, Hill tag team=2, Scottie=0

Quiz answer:- W.Hammond, L.Hutton, N.Hussain