Game 12 - Addingham (Away)

Date - 8th July 2006

And so the return legs of the league programme gets underway.
Ilkley beat Addingham convincingly in the first match of the season and The ICC were hoping for the same result at the small away ground.

Yet again Captain Quaife won the toss, backing up his theory that he is a "2nd Half Man".... whatever that is!!!

Deciding to bat first the Skip sent out Bails with another new opener in the form of Racks and the the latter got the ICC off to a blistering start, racing to 50 inside the first 8 overs.. In the 12th over Racks was unlucky when he top-edged one to the keeper when he was on 46 but he got Ilkley off to a flier and helped build a good platform on which to progress.

Out walked the helmetless Cockcroft and he and Bails showcased some good running between the wickets before he was bowled for 7. Santy Lad came in at 4 and he too looked the part and made a start before holing out to Long off for 23. At the other end Bails was quietly pinching singles and dispatching the dead ball whenever it came. The Hustler was in at five but wasn't in long before Bails mistimed a short one to the keeper for 64.
Wheels was in and watched as Dover was out 8 balls later bowled by Richard Hey. This steady fall of wickets was to continue for the last 8 overs as next Wheels then Rhodes then Dickie and Guppy all gave their wickets away. Fortunately, Dawse and Lager swung the bat at the end and ran excellently to push the final total on to 252.

The tea at Addingham was the best of the season so far... as Daddy Quaife will vouch for - 3 return trips he made for extras!

The Addingham innings started in much the same vein as it had done at Ilkley - slowly. After 10 overs the scoreboard read 21-1 after Rhodesy Lad had bowled a belter to remove the wicketkeeper-opener. In an attempt to make another breakthrough Captain Quaife and Cocky were intoduced early on and this had the desired effect as the "less atheletic batsmen" was bowled by Gup. Cocky was also bowling well at the other end and Lager made an excellent stumping to remove Number 3. At drinks Addingham were 82-3.

Captain Quaife and Cocky were bowling well in tandem and the overs were soon running down when unfortunately the Skip pulled something in his back during bowling and had to be brought off for Dover. With 18 overs left this was a good chance for Paul to prove his capabilities with the ball and he bowled excellently taking a wicket and finishing with 7-1-10-1. Wheels was given a go at the other end with 6 overs left but watched on in horror as the two batsmen at the crease smashed the ball to the short boundary for 34 runs. Rhodesy at the other end was unlucky as 3 boundaries he conceeded were all top edges just wide of the keeper. So Ilkley went from a position of dominance to losing an extra point as Dingam celebrated pinching two points in the last over to get the 189 they required.

It has been a familiar tale to the Ilkley players this season as in the last 10 overs of too many games runs have been conceeded and Captain Quaife quite rightly pointed out that this needs addressing before its too late.

4 points again for Ilkley but with the other teams above all winning the gap was not narrowed and a win against Woodhouse next up is vital.

Come on The ICC!