Derwent win Kingfisher Cricket Tournament

Derwent regained some sporting pride on Tuesday evening with victory in the six-a-side college cricket tournament, sponsored by Kingfisher. Derwent comfortably chased down a below par score of 41 to beat Vanbrugh in the final, with an over to spare.

The structure of the tournament – two groups of three then a final, third place and fifth place play-off – meant that all of the teams entered played three games.

Despite the Derwent Chrismas formal being held on the same night the men in blue managed to raise a strong side, as all of the other colleges did, where the commitment and desire to play could not be questioned.

kingfisher 1

A huge amount of emphasis, in the Kingfisher sponsored tournament, was placed on developing the link between the University of York Cricket Club (UYCC) and college cricket to ensure that fewer talented cricketers, and especially freshers’, slip through the net. Other than this it was felt that it was a good opportunity for the first years, the future of UYCC, to take some responsibility by captaining and selecting their respective sides. Ollie Marsh, Matt Cox, Tim Weston all did impressive jobs and are sure to progress into important players for the club in the summer.

The tournament started promptly, at 5p.m, with Alcuin ready to face eventual winners Derwent. Derwent posted a mammoth 84 in their fives overs thanks to some sharp running from Weston and Askham, followed by some lusty blows from the imperious Thomas Waghorn. Despite the best efforts of Matt Cox’s men, Alcuin could barely get within forty runs of victory following strong bowling performances from Jack Bradshaw, Mark Potter and Mark Johnston. The early loss of their most dangerous batsmen Callum Rabet was perhaps the crucial moment in the game.

Losing finalists Vanbrugh were in action next, in group B, against pre-tournament favourites James. Vanbrugh batted first and managed to set a competative total after solid batting performances from the Vanbrugh players negated the threat of the dangerous slow left armer Richard Lindsay in the opening over. They went on to run well with their captain Ollie Duguid showing exceptional judgement between the wickets.

In truth, the running was the difference in this game. Vanbrugh ran well. James did not. It was a testiment to the ability in the James team that they managed to get close to the Vanbrugh total despite three calamitous run outs, all of them seemingly initiated by their ‘senior pro’ Phil Clayton.

Both sides went on to beat the combined Languith and Goodricke side to leave Vanbrugh in the final, James in the third place final and Goodricke/Languith fighting to avoid the wooden spoon.

Kingfisher 3Halifax also beat Alcuin comfortably with yet another fresher, Alex Lack, impressing with the bat. It mean that Alcuin would face the Hes east side while a place in the final came down to the last ball in the game between Halifax and Derwent. Halifax batted first and got off to a good start off Waghorn who was unusually wayward. The rest of the Derwent attack, bar the unfortunate Askham, restricted the ‘Fax batsmen well. Halifax eventually set Derwent a testing 61 to win after good batting performances from Charles El-Neymar and Alex Lack.

Derwent started possitively with Weston and Askham getting the chasing side ahead of the rate. When Weston departed for a well compiled 25 it was left to Askham and Waghorn to guide Derwent into the final. The pair held their nerve and progressed to the final off the last ball.

Langwith managed to secure fifth place with a victory over Alcuin while James beat Halifax to finish third. All of the players stayed on to watch which created a good atmosphere for the final between Vanbrugh and Derwent.

Vanbrugh won the toss and chose to bat but thanks to some exceptional accuracy from the Derwent bowlers, they only managed to set Derwent 40 to win. With the depth of the Derwent batting the spectators must surely have thought that the final was going to turn out to be an anti-climax. Mark Potter hit two sixes in the early overs to put Derwent on top. When he was caught skipper Tim Weston joined Mark Askham to see his side home. It was fitting that it was Weston that finished the game with a towering straight six!

Derwent were visibly delighted with their win but the spectators condemned them for the lack of the use of the aeroplane motion in their celebrations.

The tournament was played in a good competative spirit to a good standard. It ran on schedule which was a testament to the extensive planning from the organisers Matija Pisk and Dave Washington.

Pisk, who is also the President of UYCC, had this to say: “I am delighted with how the day went. We are really trying to support and improve college cricket this year and hopefully hosting this tournament will go some way towards preparing college teams come the summer.”