Village Cricket Cup: Burdett eyes Lord’s outing for Woodhouse Grange (From York Press)

Village Cricket Cup: Burdett eyes Lord’s outing for Woodhouse Grange

10:37am Saturday 28th July 2012 in Sport

Woodhouse Grange captain Steve Burdett is eagerly anticipating the challenge posed by Streethouse in tomorrow’s Yorkshire Tea National Village Cricket Cup quarter-final, writes James Scott.

Burdett’s Sutton-on-Derwent-based side are hosting the last eight tie, which starts at 1pm, and the skipper said: “It will be a really competitive game. Both teams will be up for it and will be looking to make an aggressive start.

“We’ve played Streethouse a few times of late and we know about their application and desire to win.”

A bumper crowd is expected for the game and Burdett is aiming to light up a season so far blighted by bad weather.

“It’s been frustrating with the weather,” he said. “Any cricketer will tell you that this season. It can be difficult to build momentum with the stop-start nature that awful weather brings.”

Woodhouse have the advantage of a home draw in this round and also in the semi-finals should they win tomorrow. Expectation is high at a club that is used to winning on this stage.

The club have played the final of Village Cup at Lord’s four times in the past 17 years, winning in 1995 and 2007.

Burdett stressed that, while it would mean a lot to him personally, it was more important to the club as a whole. “It’s always a wonderful feeling and to get there,” he said. “It would be a fantastic achievement for the club.”

The Grange team includes 19-year-old Tom Young, a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, who is one of a number of younger players looking to shine.

“Most importantly this season, it has been great to watch the development of the young players,” said Burdett. “The younger guys have had a real impact this season. The likes of Tom Young, Chris Bilton, Andrew Horner and Michael Hattee have really excelled.”