Theakston Player of the Round: Jack Harrison (South Holderness)

Jack Harrison scored 162 runs from 53 balls against Blubberhouses in North Yorkshire (North)

Come the end of September when the 2022 Voneus Village Cup statistics are being finalised, one knock from the preliminary round is likely to be in the reckoning for the highest individual score of the tournament.

Facing Blubberhouses in North Yorkshire (North), South Holderness batter Jack Harrison blasted 162 runs from 53 balls to help his side to 387 for 4 and earn himself Theakston Player of the Round honours.

Walking to the middle in the 26th over, his knock included nine fours and 19 sixes, with Luke Davis, Adil Shazad – who had only conceded 29 runs from his previous seven overs before being smashed for 23 by Harrison, Ubaid Khan and and Sudais Shah all suffering at his hand, while his third-wicket partner, Adam Dewson, contributed just four runs from 14 balls to the 145-run stand.

And what makes it even more remarkable is it was a knock which nearly didn’t happen.

"I only bat one way and it’ll either come off or it won’t," Harrison said. "We’d agreed if there was a wicket before the 30th over then someone else would go in, but it fell in the 26th and I thought, '14 overs? Hardly a massive time to wait', so I decided to go in at No.3.

"The wicket was quite soft, so you had to be a bit careful but with 14 overs left there’s nothing to lose. Once I’d hit the first couple for six, I thought I was on one and once I got to 100, I wanted to see how many I could get. The lad I was batting with, we did say we wanted to get to 400."

^{Blubberhouses versus South Holderness [supplied]}

South Holderness’s bowlers backed up their batters, bowling Blubberhouses out for just 69 runs, and their reward for their 318-run triumph is a home tie against Great Habton.

"For a small club like ourselves, getting through to the next round is brilliant," Harrison said. "It’s a lovely community club and it’s a big deal from a financial aspect. Where we play is a sun trap, so if it’s a lovely day, we’ll get 60 or 70 people coming to watch. And if we get no further than the next round, then you know what? We’ve all had a day out, it doesn’t matter."

But Harrison is modest about his own chances of making another boundary-laden contribution: "That’s probably me done for the season. I noticed the other day that I’ve broken my bat, so I’ll see how long that holds out.

"It’s nice to get the runs, but ultimately it’s a team sport and if I get two but we win then it doesn’t matter. There’s going to be a bit of increased pressure because they’ll probably look at the scorecard and think this guy got a big knock  but it’s one of those things."

Simon Theakston, of Theakston Brewery, added: "With an astonishing 162 off 53 balls and over a century in sixes alone, the undoubted performance of the day and winner of Theakston Player of the Round, is Jack Harrison of South Holderness.

"Having won the toss and put South Holderness into bat, the sheer dominance of Jack’s afternoon’s work sapped all resistance from the Blubberhouses response enabling the visitors to record a victory of epic margin.

"Congratulations to Jack who will no doubt enjoy a case of Theakston beer as a reward."

Jack Harrison will receive a case of Theakston beer for being named the Player of the Round during the Voneus Village Cup. For more information about Theakston visit https://www.theakstons.co.uk/. Visit https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ for the facts