Game 3 against Yorkshire at Doncaster

On 12 July we packed our bags, boarded the coach and headed for Doncaster in South Yorkshire where we were to play a match against Yorkshire at the Fishlake Cricket Club.

It was raining when we left Norwich but fine, cloudy and windy when we finally reached the Fishlake ground. Our first attempt failed when the bus was unable to cross the narrow bridge near the ground so Steve had to take a detour that added at least 20 minutes to the journey - more than four hours travelling time in total.

The cricket club shares premises with the bowls club so there was plenty of activity. The cricket club was established in 1968 making it one of the newer clubs that we have visited.

On either side of the ground are fields with horses grazing. A number of other farms close by breed horses.

Victoria batted first and made 233 in their 40 overs. David Baker retired at 40. A good team effort. Yorkshire could only manage 6 wickets for 168 runs in their 40 overs. Gordon Cowling took 4 wickets for 23 runs in his eight over bowling spell. Victoria's first victory for the tour.

The highlight for of the day, however, was the afternoon tea - real salad including beetroot with ham and a small pork pie. We were also able to watch the Wimbledon Men's Final on television in the afternoon which was a novelty as in Australia we would have had to watch at night.

We were obviously not the only Victorian team to have visited this club as a framed cricket bat signed by the Victorian Bushrangers was on display in the club rooms.

There were some very happy Victorians in the bus on the way to our next destination - Bradford.