At Roses 2012, the men’s 1st XI cricket match was one of the most tense and enthralling contests of the whole tournament, and epitomised the spirit of both sides.
The contest ebbed and flowed as the advantage sprung from one side to the other before Lancaster, who had earlier been 4-4, clinched a memorable one wicket victory over their White Rose opponents.
This year’s captain Fraser Crawford told Vision: “We came extremely close to winning Roses last year in a close low scoring game. We had the game in the bag and were extremely upset to not earn the points for York, but hope to do better this time around.”
York got some revenge for their agonising Roses defeat by beating Lancaster in the cup final a month later, and victory on Saturday would see the side fully avenge the misery of twelve months ago.
Looking ahead to this year’s Roses clash Crawford remarked: “We are extremely confident going into Roses this year. With the great wicket that 22 Acres can offer we are keen to use the strength and depth of our team to get revenge on Lancaster for what happened last time around. We strongly feel we have the talent to beat the Red Rose on home turf.”
Indeed he has reason to be confident, as apart from their narrow Roses defeat last year was very successful for York, as they prevailed in both the cup and their league. Only two members from last year’s side have departed, and the club has had a strong intake of freshers.
Amongst the new additions to the squad are wicket-keeper batsman Nish Selvakumar and slow left arm bowler Ross Miller, two players who Crawford believes could have a telling impact upon this year’s contest.
Another player to look out for is multi-talented Tom Brandreth, who top-scored in last year’s match with 47. When not playing at centre-back for UYAFC, Brandreth is a potential match winner with his batting prowess.
The stage is set for York to erase the nightmare of last year’s agonising defeat, as the contest gets underway at 11am on 22 Acres on Saturday.