PCA Masters v Yorkshire Academy
Click here for the scorecard from this game.
Abbeydale Park, Sheffield was the venue for the Pro40 match between the Yorkshire Academy XI and the PCA Masters XI, sponsored by Sodexo.
The morning started with a community coaching session, sponsored by Sodexo, involving twenty young cricketers from a local Sheffield School. The PCA Masters were on hand to offer expert advice and the benefit of their cricketing experience. Both Yorkshire CCC and the PCA would like to thank Sodexo for their sponsorship of junior cricket through the PCA Masters.
On a warm but windy day, PCA skipper Gladstone Small lost the toss and was asked to field first. The Academy XI started strongly, with an opening partnership of 90 in just 17 overs between Andrew Gayle and Joe Sayers. Gayle was eventually out for 79 from 87 balls, but Greg Wood (36 from 27 balls), Azeem Rafiq (28 from 29) and Ajmal Shahzad (29 not out from 16) continued to score fluently with the last 10 overs of the innings yielding 72 runs. The PCA's most effective bowler was former Yorkshire favourite Jeremy Batty, whose eight overs earned figures of 3-48. The Academy innings closed on an extremely competitive 236 for 6.
The Masters responded with an opening partnership of 79 between current Lancashire player Paul Horton and former Yorkshire favourite Ashley Metcalfe, before being broken by opening bowler Ajmal Shahzad, who removed Horton (24). Another current Lancashire player, Luke Sutton, joined Metcalfe and added a further 54 runs before Metcalfe ran out of steam on 86 from 90 balls. At the 30 over stage, the Masters were odds-on favourites to overhaul the Academy total as they stood at 145 for 2.
However, tight bowling prevented the Masters reaching their target, with strong performances from Steve Patterson, Azeem Rafiq and Ajmal Shahzad. The Masters eventually limped to 205 for 4, with Luke Sutton not out on 49.
The PCA would like to thank the Yorkshire Club and the Sheffield Cricket Appreciation Society for hosting this match so superbly. The Yorkshire side showed what great potential they hold in their junior ranks and the Masters would like to wish them all the best for the remainder of the season and their future in the game.
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