The good luck continues:-  At 9pm on Saturday night Andrew Rhodes asks me for a game the next day, I’ve just told him that we have got 11 men & the next minute the phone rings & it’s Mel Wood (age 61) who has just been offered his “big chance” with a late call up for Yorkshire over 50s. All’s well that ends well!
So at 11.30 the next morning the 2 car convoy heads for the Manor pub in Undercliffe, a favourite of the Jesters as it’s any 2 course meal for £4.95 is tremendous valve & highly recommended (I should get a discount for this advertising). We do stay a bit too long & Craig Milner from the home team is getting worried that we may not be turning up. By coming from the Bradford side we managed to avoid the Greengates roadworks gridlock that meant Scottie & Sid turning up late. Luckily Craig agreed we could bat 1^st so the hitting power of Steve & Sid was held in reserve!
Ricky & Alex had a long opening partnership, with the former the main aggressor. Ricky did get some revenge over Thackley regular S.Marshall who had dismissed him earlier in the season in a league encounter. By the time everybody else got in it was bat with alacrity time. Mark Harrison got things moving & then Andrew Rhodes lost a few cricket balls as 130 was scored in the last 10 overs!
The hosts had wanted a 1.30 start & only a 35 overs-a-side game & at tea we discovered why with large helpings of chilli, chips & numerous sarnies requiring time to do them justice!
The skipper, playing his 315^thgame & so moving into 2^nd place in the Jesters “annals” (just a few [200] behind 1^st place Caggy) knew that old Yeadon junior’s team mate Gavin Lyons did not like spin bowling so opened the bowling with tweaker John Brough & youngster Ciran (mop head) Barker. Broughy managed 6 overs, conceding 1 run! (I did have a quiet word with him after the game explaining where he had gone wrong with that conceded run!) & both made inroads into the home batting line up. All the slow bowlers (including Dobby) took wickets on a dry, turning track except Sid!! After been talked into having a bowl despite his bad (flat?) feet! He delivered  a “mixed” assortment of rubbish including 1 ball that bounced 6 times that the umpire kindly let him get away with! That’s why it’s 12 years since he last bowled.
With the early finish it allowed plenty of time for socialising on a lovely sunny evening.