Tin hat time as big-hitter Dakin arrives

11:49am Saturday 17th May 2008

NORTH CAVE fielders on the Thixendale boundary may be advised to wear helmets if the HPH York Vale Cricket League's new record-breaker reaches the crease this afternoon, writes Martin Jarred.

James Dakin is the man of the moment after his staggering 192 not out rewrote the league record books last weekend. His amazing innings at Malton & Old Malton is the highest individual score in the league's 75-year history.

The 38-year-old from Skirpenbeck, near Pocklington, only plays for Thixendale occasionally and his magical knock was his first on a Saturday this season after scraping just nine runs in two Evening League games.

"I had no idea it was a record. The first hundred was chanceless. After that I just tried to give it everything - I must have been dropped about five times after I reached a hundred," said Dakin, who has been a Thixendale player for five years.

He cleared the boundary nine times and clubbed 24 boundaries in his epic innings, which spanned only 30 overs.

Dakin has a great cricket pedigree and rolled back the years with an unbelievable display of batting fireworks.

As a star teen batsman with Kendal and an Cumbria Under-16s and U19s player, Leicester and Middlesex had shown interest in him as a youngster. At Durham University, he played alongside Ronnie Irani and Jeremy Snape, both future England one-day international players. The previous year, mathematics graduate Nasser Hussain had been the leading light at Durham.

Since then Dakin has pursued a business career, playing for Banbury, Oxford and Kendal, before moving to Yorkshire.

"I had friends who played for Thixendale, so it made sense for me to join them," he said.

Editor's choice