Paul Machell bowls Chris Brook to seal Yeadon's first priestley Shield triumph

East Bierley v Yeadon
At Spen Victoria
Sunday, August 7, 2005

Yeadon's first ever Sovereign Health Care Priestley Shield was something of a family affair. Their winning line up contained three Machell brothers and two Gilks and up in the scorebox keeping track of events was scorer Arthur Machell who was proud to see his three sons help their side to a fine win.

The victory was a rich reward for a determined team effort which was greatly appreciated by Yeadon's large and enthusiastic support. They celebrated long and hard after their team had secured a surprisingly comfortable 43-run triumph over holders East Bierley .

A Yeadon victory seemed a distant prospect when skipper Andrew Pickering won the toss and elected to bat, only to see his side plunge to 17 for two. The normally reliable opener Jon Carey looked on edge from the start. He was dismissed off a no ball before eventually being caught by Leigh Abbott in Chris Brook's first over of the match for two.

When Pickering was trapped lbw by Brook for four, Yeadon were in trouble and needed some determined batting from the Gilks brothers Kevin and Tony to stabilise the innings. Tony found the going tough and was bowled by Paul Ellis for eight, but his brother stood firm and gradually discovered his timing.

Gilks didn't allow the unpromising score of 38 for three after 20 overs to deter him. He had his moments of luck when he was twice dropped, but he earned his good fortune by striking a six and five fours in an invaluable innings of 64. When he finally departed at 133 for five to a brilliant catch by Nick Robinson at mid-wicket Yeadon were well placed to post a more challenging score than had seemed likely when they made such a poor start.

If Bierley thought that Gilks ' departure would let them seize control they were mistake. Paul Machell saw to that as he took centre stage for the closing overs as he stroked his way to an unbeaten 49 as Yeadon reached 198 for seven. The total was boosted by a generous concession of 37 extras by East Bierley. They were to regret their indiscretions as the game unfolded.

Yeadon's batting display had clearly fired them with enthusiasm for the task ahead. That was underlined from the very opening overs of the East Bierley reply as the admirable Richard Wood put the holders on the back foot with some superb bowling which was backed up by excellent fielding.

East Bierley 's innings looked to be following a similar path to Yeadon's as they were 65-3 after 25 overs to Yeadon's 66-3. They also clocked up their 100   in the 32nd over – just like Yeadon. The decisive difference came when Jon Carey made up for his earlier disappointment with the bat by taking four wickets in a key spell.

Three wickets fell in the space of five balls as Bierley's hopes were extinguished. Ellis was caught by Pickering off Carey's bowling and next ball Damien Glover was caught by wicketkeeper Will Darby. When Nick Robinson was run out following a smart throw by Darren Machell , East Bierley 's supporters looked shell-shocked.

There was still a flicker of hope while the influential Anderson was still there but the tide had turned Yeadon's way. Anderson, who had only just returned to action after recovering from a broken ankle, was ninth out when Richard Machell took an excellent catch on the long-on boundary to give Carey his fourth wicket.

The final wicket which stood between Yeadon and their first Priestley Shield triumph proved elusive for a couple of overs but the celebrations were able to be unleashed when the impressive Paul Machell bowled Brook to end the East Bierley reply at 155.

All of the Yeadon bowlers had impressive figures. Wood (2-24) and Carey (4-35) were the only bowlers to complete their full ten over allocation but Paul Machell (1-5), Richard Machell (1-25) and Tony Gilks (1-21) all chipped in with valuable wickets.

But despite their fine figures, none of them could match the economy of East Bierley 's Chris Hester. He had bowled his ten overs unchanged from the start of the Yeadon innings and had the stunning figures of 10-6-8-0.

The catching of the Yeadon side was one of the outstanding features of the match. Darren Machell snapped up two excellent catches while skipper Andrew Pickering did likewise. Even Nick Darfield was inspired to take a stunning catch with the sun in his eyes. The outstanding fielder though was Kevin Gilks . He saved countless runs and that, allied to his top score of 64, earned him the Man of the Match award.