Like most people, I don’t go in the loft very often. On Sunday morning, however, I climbed the ladder to retrieve my ‘cricket chair’, stowed away a month before, in a dark, cobwebby corner, with the thought I wouldn’t be needing it again until next April. I’d not so much forgotten about the annual Arthington […]
Thirsk: Watching club cricket inside a racecourse
The sports ground ‘collector’ is always on the lookout for something different. Playing inside a racecourse circuit – as do Thirsk Cricket Club – counts as unusual. Not unique, though, in my experience. Two decades ago, I watched Racing Club Warwick in a Southern Football League match at a ground enclosed by the town’s racecourse. […]
Illingworth St Mary’s throw Halifax Cricket League title open
The tidy, scenic Alloe Field View ground, home since 1888 to Illingworth St Mary’s Cricket Club, was described by a first-time visitor as the “crown jewels” of the village. It is one of many stories told by Andrew Smith, 13th club president, former player and chairman, and author of a superb, 232-page club history, published […]
Sutton-on-Hull Cricket Club throw 150th birthday party at Netherhall
Birthday parties are fun – and the one I attended at Sutton-on-Hull Cricket Club was no exception. Sutton, founded in 1872, mark their 150th anniversary this season. A high point of the celebrations was a visit, to the Netherhall ground, in Bransholme, by an MCC XI. The sun shone all day, the cricket was very […]
Around the Leagues: Title, promotion or relegation?
It is ‘do or die’ time for those eyeing championship glory or promotion, or seeking to avoid relegation, as Yorkshire’s 2022 club cricket season enters its final weeks. We start our review with the county’s four ECB-rated Premier Leagues. With two games to play, Woodlands (343pts) are on course to retain the Bradford Premier Cricket […]
Hemsworth Miners Welfare claim T20 Title at Streethouse
On three days of the recent four-day heatwave, I was lucky enough to watch cricket. Had there been any shade available to the spectating hoi polloi, at the County Ground, Derby, I might well have secured a full house. I don’t usually see so much cricket in such a short time but I’m starting to […]
Waddilove Cup Final: Steeton beat holders Rawdon at Olicanian
Early August means one thing to the club cricket enthusiast: a mega choice of cup finals. Unfortunately (and I’m sure there must be a good reason), many are staged on the same Sunday. Which poses a dilemma for the neutral. Where to go? I opted, as I have several times in recent seasons, for the […]
Nidderdale Cricket League West Tanfield and Killinghall tussle for title
For several years, I put together, on behalf of a Skipton-based publisher, the editorial side of an annual (bi-annual, initially) visitor guide to Yorkshire. It meant spending a lot of time in the Dales (well, somebody had to do it). Quickest access to Wensleydale, for me, was via the eastern outskirts of Ripon and the […]
NYSD Hundred: Sea fret and sixes for Whitby versus Guisborough
There is a lot to like about Whitby. Maybe too much! The town hit the headlines recently when, in a local referendum, residents voted in favour of measures aimed at cutting the number of homes used for holiday accommodation. About 28 per cent of properties in Whitby are second homes. Families say they are being […]
Viking Cup: Jake Weatherald stars for Barnsley Woolley Miners
For which club did Dickie Bird OBE, Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Sir Michael Parkinson play? Surely, everybody – even me – knows the answer. Barnsley Cricket Club. After visiting Shaw Lane Sports Club, to watch a Viking Cup quarter-final against York, I know quite a bit more about the Barnsley club. The eventful history of […]