Oxenhope Moor

A big day (you need to indulge in large for this one!)

It's been a quite fabulous day! Didn't set the alarm and managed to lay in and get a full eight hours of sleep for the first time in as long as I can remember. The weather forecast was much better than expected so I ran a few errands in town and set off at midday to go watch the boys in the first cricket match of the season. Forrest has dropped down to the seconds so logistics are very much easier with them both playing in the same team - although they were away at Illingworth, just outside Halifax, so I had a ride of the best part of 20 miles to get there. Not sure how a team in Calderdale has ended up playing in the Aire-Wharfe league?

A few days ago there was much despondency around the cricket as it seemed very unlikely there would be a full game today, but as it turned out the sun shone for most of the match - which was remarkable really because the cloud action all around was quite astonishing. We seemed to be sitting in this little window of good weather while showers passed by on all sides - not too dissimilar to that day on the Sheepshead exactly a week ago.

Forrest opened the batting and scored a very solid 37, setting the foundation for a competitive score of 163, although he was very annoyed with himself for getting out when he did, set for a big score and playing a bit of an unnecessary shot. He's very hard on himself. It was going to be too cold to sit and watch the entire game so I took off on the bike to explore a bit for photographs, doing a circuit over the high moor road to Oxenhope and back via Denholme. This was taken at the very high point of the route on Oxenhope Moor, just before the steep descent to the village. When you take a look at these clouds you can see how amazing it was that we got an uninterrupted day of cricket.

I got back in time to see Roam open the bowling and take the first wicket. He bowled really well in this first game of the season, picking up where he left off last year and showing no signs of rustiness. Wickets fell at a steady rate, although one low order partnership threatened to spoil things. But then Roam was brought back on and soon got the breakthrough, followed by Forrest who picked up the final wicket with a classic sharp turning off-break. I was a very proud dad.

I enjoyed the celebrations and then had to take off for home. It was almost 7pm and I had no lights. A rapid ride back got me home in just over the hour. The dramatic light and skies made for an exhilarating ride, especially as I could see some very heavy showers happening around me. I just beat the boys back and, taking a slightly different route, they encountered some torrential rain and had been feeling rather sorry for me. They are now down at the club for what should be a great night. It's been wonderful to see them head out so happy. And it's actually rather nice now to have the house to myself. As I said, it's simply been a fabulous day.