The West Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League Softball Finals Day promised fast-paced fixtures for ten clubs across three pitches – spoiler alert – it did not disappoint. Pink balls were launched up, up and away on a breezy Sunday at Bradford & Bingley’s Wagon Lane ground. Non-stop, blink-and-you-miss-it action, an inflatable pub, cute dogs, […]
Horsforth Hall Park: Kites and Collingham Cup win
Horsforth Hall Park Cricket Club has been on the radar for years – and last Sunday’s Waddilove Cup quarter-final against Collingham & Linton is when planets aligned perfectly. The prospect of cup cricket in the park – with a bonus of free parking on Fink Hill as it turned out – gave a spring in […]
Chance to Shine Skills Festival at Darfield Cricket Club
A Chance to Shine Skills Festival recently brought together four local schools for an afternoon of cricket activities at Darfield Cricket Club. More than 90 children from Upperwood Academy, Outwood Primary Academy, Springvale Primary School and All Saints Academy enjoyed batting, bowling and fielding drills while Little Urn, the Yorkshire Tea van, served brews. In […]
Recycled plastic benches: Life’s a picnic at Darton
This is a feature about recycled plastic benches, volunteer time and a community supporting a cricket club. In this content collaboration with British Recycled Plastic, we’ll explore why Darton Cricket Club replaced their wooden seating, the thinking behind choosing recycled plastic and how they approached funding their benches. My interview is with Darton’s Chair, Joe […]
Grassroots cricket is hot – but is it bothered?
The latest UK heatwave is a not-so-subtle reminder that extreme temperatures are here to stay. They are not a freak outlier nor anything we should be surprised about – and yet, I tend to react with incredulity every time the mercury dips above 30°C. At least it’s been cooler in Yorkshire than the South coast […]
Eggborough Power Station CC: The Eagles have landed
Going to Eggborough Power Station Cricket Club to check out their new ground offered a glimpse into the future and a reminder of the past. In 2017, I watched Eggborough’s evening league game against Carlton Towers when they had the power station’s cooling towers as the backdrop. Since then, the power station has been demolished […]
Bradford Park Avenue Ladies edge past Crossflatts at Windhill
Spoilt for choice on a Sunday that promised not to be chilly or wet for a change, I headed for women’s Premier League cricket in Shipley. Deposited on Platform 1 of the rail station, the lights opposite McDonalds were out so traffic had backed up into other postcodes. An electronic sign advertised ‘Clean Air Day’ […]
All Stars to grey foxes: The changing face of club cricket
Recreational cricket is evolving across the board, with different age groups, playing levels and communities all helping to shape the future of the game. In this collaboration with Howden, I caught up with Colin Mico (Head of Recreational Clubs at Howden) on how insurers and clubs should respond to changing demographics, team structures and participation […]
Jonny Tattersall: A Leicestershire Fox with a Yorkshire Bear
In the second of our series of interviews with cricketers who are Bear Cricket ambassadors, I spoke with Leicestershire wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Tattersall. As a former Yorkshire County Cricket Club captain and White Rose stalwart for over a decade, many of our readers will know Jonny, a popular figure at Headingley. Kit emergency Tattersall’s links with […]
The game that wasn’t supposed to happen at Ripley
There’s something uplifting about a cricketer’s refusal to admit defeat to the weather. All the forecasts leading into Saturday’s Theakston Nidderdale League Division Six fixture between Ripley and the higher-placed Thornton Le Moor promised rain, rain, and basically more rain. The sort of forecast that encourages sensible people to stay at home, or since it […]