Banks thrash Ripon to get off to flyer on the opening day
Dacre 2nds got their season off to the best possible start beating Ripon 3rds by the big margin of 106 runs. An excellent team display capped by some fine individual performances propelled Banks to an easy success, although it must be said it was facing a Ripon outfit who looked a shadow of what they were last season. They did seem like a poor team but Dacre were extremely professional showing great energy and drive which helped deliver success. The hosts pretty much produced a faultless display in the field as they eventually cantered over the finishing line picking up their first 6 point haul for nearly 2 years.
The game marked Shaun Marshall’s first as 2nd XI captain, and the new skipper (pictured) would’ve been delighted to see his men produce the goods on the opening day of the campaign. As always, prior to the start of the new season there had been plenty of talk, but now it was time to walk the walk and perform on the pitch. In what was an otherwise familiar looking team, Dacre gave debuts to new players Mark Reed and Rahul Lazarus, with both keen to make an impression. Marshall lost the toss and was unsurprisingly put into bat by opposition skipper Alan Stainton. Dacre opened with the familiar partnership of Steve Wyss and Tim Carrington whilst Ripon used Chris Searle and surprisingly the captain Stainton. However, he was forced to take himself out of the attack because Carrington went absolutely mental inside the first 10 overs, hitting balls all over the park as the Ripon attack got smashed.
Banks were out of the traps quickly although did suffer a couple of setbacks when Steve Wyss feathered one behind off Chris Searle and Mark Reed was bowled by Ricky Simms. Those two were the best bowlers on the day for Ripon, but were nothing special. Searle was surprisingly inaccurate and not as good as usual, perhaps a bit rusty. However, both did manage to pick up a few wickets and ended with respectable figures, the rest of the attack was hit for much more. Carrington kept going from strength to strength and soon raced to his 50, but Dacre were to suffer a setback by the loss of 3 wickets in relatively quick succession. Andy Merrill was bowled, Carrington unlucky played on and then Chris Eckford was caught in the gully off a loose delivery. This left Banks at 110-5, the run rate was high and there was plenty of time left, but wickets had fallen.
From this point it would’ve been unexpected to have gone on to make a total of 225, but the middle to lower order fired strongly. Bill Quarrie made a well constructed 38, whilst Marshall scored a more aggressive 45, together they put on a partnership of 56. Both eventually got out, but the damage had been done. Crag Francis and Glyn Burgess then carried on the good work, the latter going onto make a quickfire 22 which included an excellent straight drive to the boundary. A total of 225-8 was an impressive number and much bigger than was expected, especially at the half way stage when a few wickets had been lost.
However, its been a rare instance that Dacre 2nds have been able to defend many totals in the last few years, so even with such a decent target on the board there was still a lot of hard work to be done. Ripon came out positively looking to hit the ball, but a superb 10 over spell at the start of the innings effectively eliminated the visitors out of the game. Sean Marshall and Glyn Burgess bowled good lines and lengths on an unresponsive pitch, but they also fed off the energy and drive of the fielders. There was plenty of banter and great encouragement from everyone, its been a while since Dacre had been so energetic out there, and it made a difference. Ripon were soon in trouble at 32-3 with Marshall grabbing all the wickets, and from that point onwards there was no way back.
The only two shining lights for Ripon were Michael and Ricky Simms who produced some decent resistance, the latter scoring almost solely behind square playing constant sweep shots. The fielding was really good and everyone was on their toes, special mention must go to debutant Mark Reed who looked very sharp and won the fielding point. Bill Quarrie came on and bowled 10 overs finishing with figures of 1-28, a great effort with some tight lines and length. One negative note for the hosts was that Marshall had to leave the field with a nasty looking calf injury, but he hopes to be fit in time for next week. Burgess and the skipper each snared 3 victims, and then later on Tim Carrington and Andy Merill wrapped up the tail to see Dacre home convincingly. An interesting stat was that 11 out of 18 wickets to fall in the match were bowled out, suggesting that players struggled a bit with the lack of bounce in the pitch.
So overall, despite the Dacre team being potentially light in the bowling department on paper, Ripon were easily bowled out fairly quickly. It was an excellent display by Banks in all departments, although tougher challenges must surely await. Ripon did miss a couple of guys this week and some of the players who were rusty are sure to get better as the season progresses, but they did look like a fairly poor outfit. If they continue to play like that then they’re a major relegation candidate and it could be a struggling campaign. As for Banks’ ambitions, well a much clearer picture will be known after about 6 matches but this is a good start. Better opposition is sure to await soon and a trip to Wath and Melmerby who haven’t lost any of their last 12 games might be difficult. In what will be the first ever Nidderdale League match on a brand new ground next week, victory would be a terrific result.
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