Cricket is a sport where sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t.

On a day when New Zealand had put 317 on the board at Trent Bridge before England claimed a wicket, Ben Stokes would tell you that. As would Lightcliffe’s U13s who after pulling off a brilliant but narrow win at Hopton Mills on Wednesday night fell to a disappointing but narrow defeat against Thornton.

It was a tale of two performances though - good (on the whole) with the ball and in the field, poor (with exceptions) with the bat.

Let’s start with the positives, and there were plenty of wickets taken and plenty of boundaries stopped.

In the wickets column…

Two for George - one straight bowled, one into the ever dependable hands of Dom.

Two for Bosh - again, one bowled and one caught by Ollie. Although frankly those words don’t do the catch justice - it was one of those that Sky would replay on loop with Hussain and Atherton purring over.

One for Seth into the safe clutches of George, one for Yusuf straight bowled, one for Isaac also into Ollie’s hands (less dramatic this one, equally important) and one for Dom - caught and bowled with, yet again, the securest of hands.

9 down, 78 on the board after 16 overs. As Bradley Walsh nearly says, the chase was on. And, in truth, it was a struggle.

Wickets fell in batches - it was contagious. 9-1, 10-2, 10-3, 28-4, 29-5, 29-6, 34-7, 34-8. It wasn’t an easy watch for me or for many of those on the boundary rope. In this sport there are some shots from some games you’ll want to remember forever, there are some shots you want to forget (but learn from and get stronger from).

Resistance came though. And it came in the shape of Seth. He played the innings of his life and so nearly got the team across the line with 18 from 17. Charlie, who much like Dom’s hands is as dependable as they come, provided support, and provided it well.

It came down to the last over, four were needed to win. 1 from the first. Dot. Dot. Dot. They had to run. They tried. They oh so nearly got there but the finger was raised and the final wicket was taken.

Thornton won by 2. They’ll be disappointed not to have won by more in truth, and Seth deserves a lot of credit for making sure they didn’t.

The boys were disappointed, there were some tears - because they care, and you want them to care but it’s bloody hard as parents sometimes… but they’ll be back and they’ll be stronger for it.

As Mrs Dent said as the boys shook hands and left the field, ‘close but no coconuts’. It made little sense. It summed up the game well. It sums up cricket fairly well too.