News Archive - September 2002

Yorkshire 209-4 innings closed (50 overs) A Rennison 73, M Cummins 45
Surrey 183 all out (49.4 overs)
Yorkshire won by 26 runs

Another century stand by Mark Cummins (45) and Andrew Rennison (73) laid a good solid foundation after Yorkshire were invited to bat first. The rate was always in the region of four an over but they were never really able to build on this and consequently never got away from Surrey. Again the middle order failed to capitalise on a good start. A final flourish by Uzair Mahomed and Phil Holdsworth managed to lift the score over the psychological 200 marks.

With runs on the board playing on these slow paced pitches, the pressure was always going to be on the side batting second to maintain the required rate. Aggressive fielding and tight bowling always had Surrey behind the clock. A run a ball was needed from the last twenty overs. Despite a first rate innings from Rory Hamilton-Brown, surely a name to note for the future, wickets began to tumble at regular intervals in the last ten overs. Three run-outs contributed to an all out score of 183 and ensured that the finish was less nerve wracking than the semi-final the day before. It also brought the curtain down on a highly successful season and with it the title of U15 County Champions

Yorkshire's fixture date for the Scarborough Festival has been announced for next year as Wednesday 13 August to Sunday 17 August 2024 in order to avoid a clash with the Walker Cup Golf when Europe's amateurs take on the USA.

Yorkshire's opponents will not be known for some time until fixtures are confirmed by ECB. The earlier dates for Yorkshire's Scarborough fixture will be Wednesday 23 July to Sunday 27 July.

The ECB COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL for Cricketers with disabilities will take place at Headingley, Leeds next Sunday 15th September at 11.30am between WALES (who beat Yorkshire in the semi final) and the ISLE OF WIGHT (who beat WARWICKS in the semi final).

The competition which has been running for three years has been won by Lancashire on each occasion so this year will see a new winner. Isle of Wight won all six of their qualifying matches and now visit Headingley's excellent new facilities which have been specially designed for disabled participants.

Last Sunday the Yorkshire Terriers Disabled team took on the Emmerdale All Stars in a very entertaining match officially opening the Headingley disabled facilities.

Long wait is over as awesome Elliott guides Yorkshire to Lord's triumph

By Paul Dews- Yorkshire Evening Post
AUSTRALIAN Matthew Elliott etched his name into Yorkshire history books on Saturday after steering the Tykes to a memorable success against Somerset in the C&G; Trophy final at Lord's. Elliott's magnificent unbeaten century guided Yorkshire to a six-wicket triumph and the Aussie is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the true Tyke greats. In six innings since joining the county Elliott has only once failed to reach 50 and it's the best start an overseas player has made to his Yorkshire career. On Saturday he was simply awesome. He arrived with Yorkshire reeling at 19-2 in reply to a Somerset score of 256 and proceeded to take command and lead the Tykes to victory with some aplomb. The Aussie isn't used to failure, he was still smarting from his last visit to Lord's when Glamorgan were beaten by Gloucestershire and the possibility of another all-too-familiar batting collapse was alien to him. Yorkshire fans had seen it all before. A reasonable performance followed a worrying loss of early wickets before a gallant effort to ensure a degree of respectability in defeat. Script But neither Elliott nor his team-mates had read the script this time and Yorkshire simply destroyed Somerset to record an easier victory than perhaps the scoreline suggests. Coach Wayne Clark has had his critics, but he has instilled a belief and a will to win in his players and, to put it simply, this lot do not know when they are beaten. Twice Yorkshire climbed off the canvas. When Somerset were 101-1 after 19 overs they should have gone on to reach nearly 300, but the Tykes came roaring back.
Then, when the reply slumped to 64-3 and the run rate was rising Yorkshire again looked out for the count before Elliott set about rectifying matters.
His unbeaten 128 was described by Somerset captain Jamie Cox as the best innings he had ever seen in one-day cricket and few could argue with his sentiments.
Elliott, who never once attempted to emulate Darren Lehmann's trademark wham-bam approach, played some great shots off his hips and on both sides of the wicket.
His innings was best summed up when England paceman Andy Caddick returned for a second spell and Elliott promptly hammered his first delivery through midwicket for four.
But it's worth noting that this wasn't a one-man show and without the efforts of Michael Vaughan and Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire may well have suffered stage fright again.
The classy Vaughan came into his own when Yorkshire's third wicket went down and he went on to share a crucial stand of 93 from 20 overs with Elliott before cruelly falling lbw.
At a time when Yorkshire needed a cool head, Vaughan never once panicked and simply stroked the ball around taking the ones and twos without being overambitious.
Vaughan's dismissal could have proved costly, but McGrath came in and played one of the best innings of his career to put the game beyond doubt.
Naturally pensive, McGrath has been one of Yorkshire's many unlucky losers over the years, but he soon settled down and went on to play his part in a late onslaught that sealed the win with two overs to spare.
It was a shame McGrath couldn't quite reach the 50 mark because, like Vaughan, his tremendous innings may well be lost in the midsts of time when people recall this as Elliott's final.
The deciding factor for Yorkshire came when, with 51 required from 42 balls, Somerset re-introduced Richard Johnson to the attack.
Johnson was responsible for the early carnage that had seen Craig White and Chris Silverwood depart in the same over. He also accounted for Matthew Wood in a deadly opening burst for Somerset.
But he was mere cannon fodder on his return with both Elliott and McGrath hitting out and his final three overs cost 31 runs and ensured that Yorkshire would win with time to spare.
Victory was finally sealed when, after McGrath unsuccessfully tried to blast Steffan Jones for four, Elliott hammered the same bowler high over square leg to send the Yorkshire fans wild.
It was a fitting end to a day that had started in frustrating fashion with the Tykes' weary attack struggling to make an impact on what was a glorious batting wicket.
Matthew Hoggard showed his resolve when he recovered from a disastrous opening spell to finish with five wickets, including the scalp of Marcus Trescothick.
Trescothick had taken Hoggard for 20 in one over and could have ripped the Tykes apart, but the Yorkshire paceman bounced back and Vaughan took a brilliant catch at extra cover.
Chris Silverwood, only cleared to play 35 minutes before the start after undergoing two injections on his ankle, also bowled admirably, while Ryan Sidebottom deservedly claimed two wickets. Richard Dawson, Vaughan and McGrath also chipped in with useful spells.
Somerset's innings lost impetus after Peter Bowler was dismissed by the returning Hoggard and Yorkshire always held the upper hand after that.
there were emotional scenes at the end. Yorkshire fans have waited 15 years to win a major final and endured many disappointments along the way, but on the evidence of this they won't have to wait that long again.