• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cricket Yorkshire

  • HOME
  • SHOP
  • Club cricket
  • Yorkshire CCC
  • Newsletter
  • Advertise
  • WRITE FOR US
  • ABOUT
You are here: Home / Yorkshire CCC / Yorkshire’s batsmen enjoy the sea air at Hove

Yorkshire’s batsmen enjoy the sea air at Hove

August 22, 2015 by John Fuller Leave a Comment

  • 34Share on Twitter
  • 49Share on Facebook

cricket

From time to time, writers submit their thoughts for consideration on Cricket Yorkshire and there’s been some really popular articles around club cricket this season.

As Yorkshire take their final few strides towards the LV=County Championship title (or not), it’s the turn of county cricket as Tom Collins took the train down to the Sussex coast to watch Andrew Gale’s team rack up 346-6 on the opening day at Hove.

**

View image | gettyimages.com

Thanks to the my sister’s habit of taking ages for getting ready for anything and a local waiter’s tardiness, we arrived at Sussex’s home a little after the 11am start time, and had already missed the first two wickets, with both Hodd and Leaning victims of an apparently lively pitch.

Having only previously seen the County Ground on TV, I expected the imposing tower blocks nearby to dominate the eye. But they blended in and our home for the day’s entertainment was a very pleasant place to be.

With the weather playing ball, Charlotte and I settled in to spectate and sunbathe in perfect conditions.

The County Ground stands combine the old and the new and were pleasingly busy for this crucial Championship clash.

Given the broad accents and flashes of White Rose among many of my fellow watchers, it was clear hundreds of other Tykes had made the long trip down to the south coast to support the lads.

As at North Marine Road, the watching public are invited onto the outfield between sessions, and at lunch I strode across the lush outfield to join many other amateur pitch ‘experts’ inspecting the playing surface.

Editor’s note: Do you all remember the playing surface at Arundel (a stunner of a place to watch cricket to rival Hove) that was so slow as to nullify the scoring attempts of these sides back in 2014? No such trouble this time around on the South coast…

View image | gettyimages.com

 

Our stand cast welcome shade across my slightly crispy neck (schoolboy error not to bring suncream!) as the afternoon session continued, while a pint of local ale provided welcome refreshment. Gary Ballance gave us further relief as his revived form helped Yorkshire to a solid position at tea.

Deciding to make the most of the late afternoon sun, Charlotte and I headed to the north side of the ground.

It has everything a cricket fan could wish for: a grassy bank, good view, decent toilets and a well stocked bar (though the less said about the overpriced ice cream van the better).

From our excellent vantage point, we watched Ballance close in on a well-deserved century in the evening session; surely he’d get to three figures before the close?

Well, no. An irritating bit of strike rotation with Tim Bresnan conspired against him, and to the frustration of everyone in the ground, the day’s play ended, leaving him stranded on 98.

I’m sure there’ll be plenty of Yorkies on hand to congratulate him on the landmark in the morning. I’ll certainly envy them; there will be few finer places to be this weekend.

BY TOM COLLINS (@grease34)

Filed Under: Yorkshire CCC

About John Fuller

Journalist, author and conquering Yorkshire one cricket tea at a time.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Primary Sidebar

SPONSORSHIP WEBINAR

club cricket webinar

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

CRICKET EQUIPMENT DEALS

club cricket - kitlocker deals

TRENDING ON AMAZON

Bestseller No. 1 The War of the White Roses: Yorkshire Cricket's Civil War, 1968-1986
The War of the White Roses: Yorkshire Cricket's Civil War, 1968-1986
£12.99
Buy on Amazon Price incl. tax, excl. shipping

Last update on 2021-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

© 2021 Cricket Yorkshire. All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Click if you accept and the button disappears. Just like the best cricket teas! Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.