Festival postcard from Scarborough Cricket Club

Watching Yorkshire play county Championship cricket at Scarborough during the annual Festival remains a pilgrimmage for thousands of fans every summer.

Cricket Yorkshire was on the North Yorkshire coast for the second day where Yorkshire were 10-0 in their second innings with Lees and Hodd at the crease.

Get a feel for the day with these collection of photos…

Even as early as Leeds station, Change was the message for the day whether that was Australia handing over the urn at Trent Bridge or the flickering form that saw first Durham then Yorkshire seize the initiative.

Inside the ground at Scarborough Cricket Club, a sign revealing that the ground was bought for £7,000 – what would that buy you nowadays?

Not even a tenth of the new player’s balcony at Headingley, just as Dickie Bird!

Sitting pitch-side, square of the wicket awards a cracking view of the action, here, Yorkshire County Cricket Club captain Andrew Gale being put through his catching paces.

This is probably the most iconic image of Scarborough Cricket Club – not this particular photo, I hasten to add…

As cricket pavilions go, Scarborough has much appeal and the sea gulls perch just above the clock watching over us all.

Took little over an hour before seeking out the tea room; a welcome pocket of shade from the sun with old cricket books to thumb through while you tackle a pork pie or piece of cake.

This view from the interior of the tea room at Scarborough Cricket Club shows off the crowds – 4,100 the official figure of a capacity of 11,500.

The ground felt rammed except for the far stand so what ‘full’ must be like, who only knows. It once had 22,946 who attended against Derbyshire in 1947!

Lunch brought the opportunity to get up on high and investigate the ground with cameraphone in hand.

The Scarborough gull keeping the scoreboard ticking over here…

In almost the same spot as the last photo is this view over the Scarborough houses.

The ability to walk the ground at the intervals and set up games of cricket at a county game is always a charm to see anywhere…

There was plenty of interest in the surface out in the middle given twenty wickets had tumbled the day before and Yorkshire were five down in their second innings by lunch.

There seemed to be significant bounce at times but no gremlins which the afternoon session proved as Yorkshire went from 79-5 to 327-6!

It being the weekend, we had the queen in attendance with a group of her London beefeaters and also a group of tennis players from the 1980s who wasted no time in a cross-sport knockabout.

Lunchtime saw hundreds of spectators head out the gates in search of the beach, ice-cream or (judging by the tell-tale boxes from the chippie at the roundabout), battered cod and chips.

In pursuit of these gourmet treats, I spotted this on North Marine Road. Handy for cricketers who need whites cleaned at short notice?

While Maxwell and Rashid embarked on their own batting fireworks back at Scarborough Cricket Club, there was a naval battle at Peasholm Park to see for the first time.

As the unofficial spokesman for Scarborough Tourist Board, this is a particularly fine town on a sunny day for those that like a paddle or to climb up towards the castle and look back along North Bay beach.

Good to see friends and work colleagues, Scarborough has that precious quality to it where you feel like you’ve come home…