15 Not Out: The canal walk that changed everything

Cricket Yorkshire is 15 Not Out in 2026 as the website celebrates a decade and a half of cricket journalism that champions the recreational game.

Over the course of the year, I’ll have a series of articles, interviews and podcasts reflecting on the changes at grassroots but also consider what lies ahead.

To kick things off, let’s take you back to when it all started: A stroll along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal that changed my life.

I was unemployed, not finding the roles that I wanted to do and frustrated. My wife and I took a walk down Hirst Lane, on the outskirts of Saltaire, that leads to the canal. I can still smell the warm, freshly baked bread from Hughes Family Bakers, lingering in the air as we crossed the railway line.

Credit: Hirst Lock by Tim Green, CC BY 2.0

A simple question

The cricket ground next to the bakery lay empty; a muddy patch cordoned off with an orange plastic barrier protecting the square. Looking back, we passed three grounds in the half an hour walk that led to a life-changing decision.

My wife’s question lingered: “What would your ideal job be, if you could do anything?” It was a pivotal moment in my life, asked by the person I trust the most.

She knew the answer, of course, but writing about recreational cricket felt as natural as taking a breath. In my thirties at that point, I had played for clubs over 15 years, done many interviews as a freelance journalist and understood the game from England to the village green.

Starting something from nothing is both liberating and terrifying. Especially in a county dripping with tradition, history and a vast amount of clubs and leagues. I always vowed never to run my own business and I had no experience of setting up an editorial website or generating income online.

These minor obstacles notwithstanding, there was nervous excitement but also something liberating with knowing that I could cover anything, pivot, adapt, react and build something unique.

Ideas flowed on that walk and in the subsequent months as the spark lit. For a heady moment, it was going to be a print publication, delivered to pavilions on Saturdays, until the giddiness gave way to the reality of Yorkshire’s geography and postal costs!

Finding the right fit

What to call this venture? ‘Cricket Yorkshire’ settled on the shoulders like a new cricket jumper. It had a simplicity that appealed – did what it said on the tin and was likely to crop up in Google.

True, it is sometimes mistaken for the County Club or the Foundation. But the occasional outraged emails about team selection or exasperated Facebook posts regarding ECB funding that I can’t change are worth gently batting away for the sake of the name I wanted.

Speaking of identity, there was a logo required and as you can see, I went with red and blue with a cricket ball incorporated before switching to the current logo with the stump knocked back and Cricket Yorkshire green.

Spotting the gap

From day one, I felt a pull toward the stories the local press were missing. Newspaper websites back then – and often still – were ad-filled horrors. The writing – often excellent with local insight – was hidden behind a barrier of ads, pop-ups and surveys. While they so often focused on the ‘who’ and the ‘what,’ I was more interested in the ‘why’ and the ‘how.’

The learning curve

Success, however we define that, wasn’t instant. Choosing Moonfruit as a website builder was the proverbial edge over the slips. It was free, flawed, and quickly replaced by WordPress. While those first digital pages are likely lost on a dusty hard drive in my garage, the memories remain.

In its first year, Cricket Yorkshire covered a bit of everything. Club, county, international, you name it.

One standout was having Sir Michael Parkinson as a contributor. Little did I know he would later write the foreword for my book, Last of the Summer Wickets.

Advertisers were on board with Romida, PC Sports, Wisdenworld, Nixon Cricket and others supporting our coverage – enormous thanks to them and every company or organisation since who has backed Cricket Yorkshire in our 15 years.

In July 2011, to share a random snapshot, the homepage had a book review of The Last Flannelled Fool by Michael Simkins, a guide to the Scarborough Festival, the signing of Iain Wardlaw at Yorkshire from the Bradford League and a chat with Ben Turner, Chadwell’s eighteen-year-old bowler who had bagged 10 for 13 in the Wetherby League.

Through our coverage, Cricket Yorkshire has become a part of the history of Yorkshire club cricket. Clubs will have moved website platforms down the years and with that, many of the stories, personalities and photos get lost.

The retrospective is as much a way to look back at the changes the game has experienced and also pick out personalities, interviews and moments to shine a light on.

A different era

When it comes to cricket, what were you doing in 2011? Were you playing, umpiring or perhaps helping to run a club or league?

I was just about still bowling left-arm, medium-pace darts with a sole appearance for Shipley Providence 2nd XI in the Dales Council Cricket League’s Division C. International cricket would have to wait.

A fine return of 3-37 as Cookridge were bundled out for 125 at the Salts Sports ground. Unfortunately, we could only muster 51 as I was left 99 agonising runs short of a century on 1 not out.

The year Cricket Yorkshire began, York won the 14-team Solly Sports Yorkshire ECB County Premier League with Rotherham Town, Cleethorpes, Yorkshire Academy, Sheffield Collegiate and Scarborough making up the top six.

The landscape has shifted since York lifted that trophy. Leagues have merged, clubs have evolved, and Cricket Yorkshire has grown alongside them.

I’ll be diving into the archives, both ours and more broadly, in the coming months which should be plenty of fun and test all of our grey cells.

Fast forward to 2026 and Cricket Yorkshire has an audience of 220,000 website readers a year, with additional communities of 20,000 cricket fans across Facebook, LinkedIn and our newsletter.

It’s never been about pure numbers though but the experiences across Yorkshire cricket and our role in discussing the recreational game. There are many adventures still to have.

Thank you to everyone who reads the website, shares our articles on social media, subscribes to our newsletter and has supported the journey so far in whatever capacity. You might have contributed a feature, been interviewed yourself or had a chat with me at a ground.