Hathersage face David and Goliath encounter in Village semis
by Alan Rowley, 14th August 2007

Yorkshire and Derbyshire League outfit Hathersage are one game away from Lord's. They visit Woodhouse Grange of the York and District Senior Cricket League on Sunday for a semi-final clash in the npower Village Cup. The Peak District side will go into the game as big underdogs against a side that currently lie in second place in a League that includes club cricket giants Clifton Alliance, Easingwold and Dunnington.

This is unknown territory for the little Derbyshire village side who are struggling to avoid relegation from division one of the Yorkshire and Derbyshire. In true David and Goliath tradition, the Derbyshire regional champions will be looking for a major upset after already knocking out Stockton, Lilleshall and Wrea Green in the national stages of the tournament.

Picturesque Hathersgae Cricket Club

The Baulk Lane club are captained by seamer Stephen Hutchinson who's best bowling figures of 8 for 32 came against Holmesfield back in 1998. Described as an 'astute captain but a useless tosser', he holds the club record for most tosses lost in a season.

In the quarter finals, Hathersage caused a major upset, putting out fancied Wrea Green, thanks to a 78 run sixth wicket partnership between Jim Fowler and Marc Parry. Chasing 174 for victory, Hathersage slumped to 75 for 5 before Fowler knocked a match winning unbeaten 56 and Parry contributed 40 to take the outsiders to victory by four wickets.

Woodhouse Grange are formidable opponents. In the quarter finals, the Yorkshire lads pipped last year's winners Houghton Main, who knocked out Shipley Hall in last year's semis, by two wickets. Grange, skippered by all rounder Steve Burdett are a powerful batting side and have several players capable of scoring rapidly. The youngest of three brothers in the Grange side, Burdett is a hard hitting batsman and a medium paced swing bowler.

Woodhouse are no strangers to headquarters having lifted the Village Cup in 1995 and grabbing the runners-up spot in 1999. Burdett states that his greatest cricketing moment was his all round performance in the 1999 Village Cup semi-final at Caldy, where he provided vital runs in a late rally and then picked up five cheap wickets to send the Grange back to Lord's.

Sunday's game starts at 2:00pm and supporters travelling to the game need to leave early to avoid hold-ups on the M1 and M18. The ground is situated off the A1079 Hull to Beverley road. From the outskirts of Hull follow signs for "A1079 - Beverley".  Stay on the A1079 following signs for Pocklington when they appear, passing Market Weighton and going through Shiptonthorpe, Hayton and Barmby Moor. At Hewson and Robinson's garage take left turn onto Sutton Lane.  Follow road for approximately two miles, Woodhouse Grange is on the left.