The Spencer Wilson Halifax Cricket League annual dinner and awards presentation evening ended up being quite the knees-up. A chance to meet some of the clubs I’ve visited over the last decade and celebrate individual and team achievements, this was billed as home of hill top and valley bottom assembling en masse. On an evening […]
Floods and flower power at Bridgeholme Cricket Club
As I write this, the November rain is peppering the windows of the Cricket Yorkshire office. A journey into town for supplies had meant I returned home resembling a deep-sea diver who’d just returned to the surface. It’s a funny time of year. There’s a smattering of indoor cricket leagues starting up and pockets of […]
Scarborough Cricket Festival: “When the fixtures are out, book me in!”
In this extract from my 2019 book Last of the Summer Wickets, I describe the occasion that greets the release of the domestic fixtures for county cricket. Scanning dates for the Scarborough Cricket Festival is high up the list of priorities for many. Here, I have a bit of a flap in booking a place […]
Core Cities Leeds: Beeston Mini World Cup & tape ball cricket
Sohail Raz is Community Development Officer (Leeds) at The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation (YCF) and one of his roles is to head up something called Core Cities Leeds. Core Cities is part of the ECB’s action plan to engage South Asian communities and it has identified 10 areas, including Bradford, Leeds and Kirklees in Yorkshire, where […]
Woodlands aim for continuity and more success in 2020
Bill Marshall talks to Woodlands’ Secretary Brian Pearson about the momentum and trophies built in the Bradford Cricket League over the years. ** Since the Bradford League began in 1903, six clubs have had their periods of dominance. Great Horton were the first team to which the adjective great could be applied, winning the league […]
The Hundred: Will it convert you?
As something a bit different for Cricket Yorkshire readers, now the regular club cricket season has drawn to a close, I thought I’d put together a few thoughts on The Hundred; the new 8-team, city-based professional tournament coming to England & Wales in 2020. Unless you’ve been on another solar system, you will have a […]
Cricket Yorkshire 50 is back: Fifty stars from the grassroots game
The Cricket Yorkshire 50 is my annual shortlist of superstars selected from the recreational game in the county. The CY50 is in its fourth year and remains one of the most-read articles of any year for the website. This is for you – the players, coaches, administrators and officials out there who help to make […]
York & District Senior Cricket League: Cows and calm at Pannal
Pannal Cricket Club, of the York Senior Cricket League, has been on my wishlist for some time. I’ve scooted past on the train from Leeds to Knaresborough many times and one August afternoon, following a trip to Knaresborough Forest CC earlier in the day, I thought I’d give it a go. It is always a […]
Hallam Cricket Club embrace growth and opportunities for all
Hallam Cricket Club play a lot of cricket. They are a bustling, South Yorkshire hotspot and I caught up with their Chairman Matthew Mawson to understand how their club ticks. They have five senior Saturday sides, a Sunday team, a Wednesday evening eleven in the Sheffield Midweek Alliance, a share in the South Sheffield/North Derbyshire […]
Woodlands win the Bradford Premier League at Undercliffe
A trip to Undercliffe Cricket Club to watch Woodlands try to clinch the Bradford Premier League title was to travel high above the city. Up, up past Bradford Cathedral, Carlton Bolling College to Intake Road, a cricketing heartland complete with white walls and a swirling wind. The game was reduced to 80 overs due to […]