Magazine: Anthony Asquith Star Of Leeds Bradford
By Editor in Cricket on 26th Jun 2008 12:00
Here is a quick little piece about Pitchcare UK celebrity Anthony Asquith (AA) you will find AA around the message boards on both Pitchcare & Oceania.
Many is the time when a winning captain goes to great lengths to stress the vital role the groundsman has played in his team’s success, and never was this more pertinent than in the work the Weetwood groundsman Anthony Asquith performed to ensure that the fixture between Leeds Bradford and Durham went ahead last weekend. Despite torrential rain on the Saturday and near-gale force winds on the Sunday, Asquith’s huge efforts ensured that sufficient play was able to take place for the home team to gain the necessary draw and bonus points to jump from fourth to second place in the MCC Universities and secure a place in the Challenge Final at Lord’s for their first time.
The Leeds Bradford boys went on a pre-season tour to Sri Lanka in order to get ready for the season, but given the extraordinary weather conditions in Leeds, they may have been better served going to the Outer Hebrides or Falkland Islands. After a delayed start on the Saturday, only 45 minutes of play were possible until rain wiped out play for the rest of the day. In this period the home team, having been put in to bat, had reached 47 for 0 from 10.3 overs. The rain continued until way after midnight, but Asquith was at the ground at 3.30 am Sunday morning – not to dance naked at sunrise for the summer solstice – but to ensure the ground was ready for a prompt start at 11.00 am.
Having heard that no play had been possible at either Loughborough or Cardiff on the Saturday, the Leeds Bradford outfit knew that they had a small start on their rivals in trying to overcome the four-point deficit they had in the table over triple joint leaders Cambridge, Loughborough and Oxford. Then, shortly after play resumed on the Sunday, word came through that the Cardiff v Cambridge game had been abandoned without a ball being bowled, both teams receiving 5 points, meaning the Yorkshire-based students had to gain at least 10 points from their game to overhaul Cambridge and hope that there was a positive result either way between Loughborough & Oxford.
The news from Loughborough at this point was that Oxford had been dismissed for 166 and Loughborough were 27 without loss. Harry Gurney and Richard Browning bowled an impressive opening spell, Browning trapping both Johnston & Bruce leg before to reduce Durham to 24 for 2. Browning’s opening spell, into the wind, brought him 2 for 18 from 9 overs.
Durham were now 222 for 7 with time running out, confirmation came through that Loughborough had defeated Oxford, and celebrations commenced once umpires Millns and McKenzie called stumps at 7.50pm. Special mention here should be given to Millns and McKenzie who officiated wonderfully in such appalling conditions.
End result – 11 points each, but crucially Leeds Bradford had overhauled both Cambridge & Oxford in the table to book a place at Lord’s where they will meet Loughborough in the Challenge Final.
A jubilant Rob Sutton commented after the game, “We’re just so delighted for our head coach, Richard Horner, that his final game in charge of us will be at Lord’s. He retires at the end of the season and we were determined that his time with us wouldn’t end in the wind and drizzle at Weetwood. All the boys pulled together for him – particularly Anthony Asquith, our groundsman – and with a bit of luck from results elsewhere we achieved our objective.’
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