Barnsley CC's inexperienced bowling attack was exposed in their first game of the season on Saturday as hosts Driffield comfortably chased down a target of 230 for the loss of two wickets with more than ten overs to spare.
All of last season’s first team bowlers have the club as well as several from the second team. They are still waiting for Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Adeel to get his visa clearance and had to field a very young attack.
New signing Harry Rouse was fairly economical but failed to make a breakthrough while his fellow opening bowler Callum Millward struggled with his run up early on and bowled ten no balls before finishing with no wicket for 43 off seven overs.
Matthew Rushforth, a recent signing from Stainborough in the Pontefract League, took the club's first wicket of the season but conceded more than five runs per over. Tom Goldsby-West took the other wicket and bowled very well but spinner Ali Jahangir conceded 72 off 11 overs.
Earlier, Barnsley made a decent total of 230 for four. Last season's top-scorer John Trower was going well before he was dismissed for 46 just after the breaks break after a first-wicket stand of 92 with Wilson, who hit 11 fours in his 77 off 153 balls. New captain Steven Nuttall chipped in with 27 while Rouse smashed four fours and two sixes in 45 off 36 balls.
“The first half of the game went according to plan but the second half went how we feared it would go,” said Nuttall.
“We had a very inexperienced bowling attack and we need them all to grow into Yorkshire League cricket straight away but that wasn’t the case. There was a ball in almost every over that could have been hit for four. It was by no means an embarrassing defeat but it was a comprehensive win for Driffield.”
