York Cricket Club hoping for dry weather (From York Press)

York Cricket Club hoping for dry weather

9:51am Friday 27th April 2012 in Yorkshire League By Steve Carroll, Sports reporter

YORK Cricket Club are hoping the weather forecasts do not prove accurate.

The Clifton Parkers were unable to get their Solly Sports Yorkshire ECB County Premier League campaign under way last weekend as downpours forced the league to abandon the entire fixture list.

York are due to travel to Sheffield United tomorrow before a trip to Yorkshire Central League outfit New Farnley in the first round of the National Knockout on Sunday.

But with rain forecast up to, and throughout, the weekend, there are fears that captain Dan Woods and his men may have to wait at least another week before they can get out into the middle for the start of battle.

Woods has selected the same side that would have started against Sheffield Collegiate last weekend for the trip to their near neighbours United, but there are two changes in the team to meet New Farnley.

Family commitments keep out Andrew Tute and vice-captain Nick Kay, with Simon Lambert and highly-promising young batsman Charlie Elliot coming into the side.

Elliott, a star of the junior set-up at York for several seasons, was recently named among an elite group of 19 young players in this year’s Gold level intake on the Pathways to Cricket Excellence scheme.

The next step up from Gold level is a contract with Yorkshire.

Kay said it was important to give the under-18s and U19s some first-team experience and, on the situation with the skies, added the team were desperate to get their season under way.

“We were all ready to go against Collegiate and we have probably netted as much as we have ever done in pre-season,” he said. “The lads were desperate to hit the ground running but the decision to move the fixtures back was the right one.

“We want to get off to a winning start this week. We don’t know much about New Farnley but we think they have recruited two or three ex-professional cricketers so that is going to be a really tough test.

“Sheffield United have been an extremely young side but they have also recruited some senior players and that could make them a slightly tougher game than we would have wanted.

“There’s a danger after last week that we could be undercooked and the lads are all aware of how different it is in the nets to playing out in the middle.

“It would be a real shame if we were rained off tomorrow and have to go into the most important cup that we enter without having played any competitive cricket. But the lads have experience of hitting the ground running and we have had a good record in the last few years of getting off to a good start in the leagues and cups.

“We just want to get off to a winning start and get some confidence for the batters and bowlers. We are desperate that the rain stays away.”