June 21: the summer solstice, midsummer’s eve, not a hint of rain. What to do? Stonehenge is a long drive, I cannot count any Druids amongst my circle of acquaintance, blood sacrifices are terribly messy (and likely to be illegal), and I am probably rather too near 60 for stripping naked and making love beneath […]
Ackworth represent Yorkshire in National Village Cup
Ackworth Cricket Club fly the flag for Yorkshire in the last 16 of the Voneus National Village Cup, the September 18 final which will be played at Lord’s. New to the Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League for the 2022 season, Ackworth travel on Sunday (July 3) to Rainford, a club from a community five miles […]
Priestley Cup: Fizzing sixes and spectator catches at Keighley
Despite it saying ‘Keighley’ on my birth certificate, I have only a tenuous connection with the town. My folks, from Sheffield, relocated to Keighley in the early Sixties when Dad was offered a post in its NatWest branch. The babes-in-arms Gallons (I have a twin sister) came along in 1965. By 1970, however, the family […]
Half Way in 2022: Yorkshire League Cricket RoundUp
Heading into the second half of 2022, the standings in Yorkshire’s club cricket leagues are starting to indicate who the season’s winners and losers might be. Let’s start at the top of the pyramid, with the four ECB Premier League, Premier Divisions. In the Bradford Premier League, New Farnley, Priestley Cup winners last year and […]
Easingwold make Hunters Cup Semi-Finals
After a Saturday drive up to County Durham, to watch a game in the North East Premier Cricket League First Division, at the splendid Philadelphia Cricket Club, overlooked by the Penshaw Monument, I fancied something closer to home the following afternoon. Forecasters indicating a continuation of the summer’s indifferent weather – cloudy and breezy albeit […]
Rothwell Cricket Club: Rhubarb and rockets at Royds Lane
Despite a lifelong sweet tooth, I’m not overly keen on rhubarb. In common with gooseberries (unfortunately, the only edible thing that grew in our South Pennine childhood garden), its bitterness makes me shudder. Adding custard helps. Rhubarb – vegetable not fruit – was on my mind as, courtesy of a courtesy car, I trundled, west, […]
Welcome to The Parish: Runs and red kites
The long innings of my 2011 vintage Volkswagen Polo is over. With 146,222 miles (note the Double Nelson element!) on the clock, the reliable old campaigner expired last week – albeit only a month before I’d planned to scrap it. No way, without major expense, would it get through a mid-July full service and MOT. […]
Foss Evening League: Stockton & Hopgrove host Rufforth
Stockton & Hopgrove Cricket Club field one of just six First XIs contesting the three-division York Vale Cricket League. The others, on the off chance this crops up as an obscure question at your pub quiz, are Ben Johnson, Hirst Courtney, Melbourne, South Cave & Brantingham, and Thorpe Willoughby. Stockton & Hopgrove’s ground, part of […]
Six of the Best: Leagues, cups and ambitions across Yorkshire
With the 2022 season about a third complete, the standings across Yorkshire’s recreational cricket leagues are taking shape and cup competitions approaching their climactic phase. We take a close look at six appealing matches over the June 11-12 weekend: three league fixtures on the Saturday and a trio of cup ties the following afternoon. Saturday, […]
Ryedale Beckett League: Midweek cricket at Duncombe Park
There is always a danger, with midweek cricket, one will arrive at a ground to discover a team – maybe both! – has scratched and the game been called off. Many clubs don’t seem to bother posting social media information about the activities of their midweek XIs, which adds an element of ‘wasted journey’ risk […]