Blubberhouses rain boundaries on scenic Birstwith

It’s becoming tough to select games to cover at the weekends – this isn’t down to a lack of fixtures available to choose from, but more to do with trying to select games with teams that I haven’t covered in at least the past couple of seasons.

Looking through the fixture list on Play Cricket, I noticed that Birstwith were at home to Blubberhouses in Division One of the Theakston Nidderdale League; the last time I was at Birstwith Cricket Club, it was the last day of the 2022 season when they were playing Harrogate – a game that ended early at the start of golden hour, with the home team taking all the points.

Blink and you miss it

After an easy 20-minute drive from my home, I found myself in the centre of the village, parked just around the corner from the quaint stone-built village bus stop (it has windows and the name of the village in wrought iron painted white over the door).

After a quick visit to the small shop to pick up a couple of drinks, it was time to drive to the ground. This is certainly one of those cricket clubs that you must know where it is – blink and you’ll miss it!

A couple of hundred yards down the main road and you’ll come to a private drive on your left. On your right is a large white and blue sign for Kerry, ahead on your left is Birstwith Tennis Club. If you are looking for a cricket club sign…you won’t find one…or at least, I don’t think you will, as I haven’t spotted one!

Turn left onto the private road, through the gates and drive along the well-maintained driveway…and keep going! You’ll eventually come to a couple of houses on your left and the entrance to the ground on your right.

Watched by a carved owl

Driving through the gates into the field, you will need to slow down a little as the surface undulates markedly in places. Under the watchful eye of the carved owl, you need to decide which path to drive…one takes you close to the boundary fence of the club and the other takes you along the drystone wall and a sign that says ‘Carpark’.

I know from previous visits, that it is best to park your car as far away from the small oval as is possible; big hitters can send the ball easily over the boundary rope and then most of the way across the field, deep into the car park.

A few of the Birstwith players were already warming up as I walked towards the pavilion and introduced myself to Tom Croston, the home team’s captain.

A lot of the people I meet around the local grounds, I’ve met quite a few times before, but I still don’t take it for granted that they will remember me or know why I am there.

Birstwith have one of the more epic locations, being well away from the main road and traffic noises, there is a wonderful sense of isolation. The River Nidd runs along one side of the ground, but with the double line of trees, you wouldn’t realise that.

The club sits at the bottom of the valley, with the village up on the hill on one side and Clint Bank, a holiday retreat and woods on the other.

The club itself has a modern pavilion in one corner, but when I say modern, I mean a sympathetically built Yorkshire stone pavilion and is totally in keeping with the setting.

Autumnal colours

A good fence runs around the oval, and the sense of isolation is added to by the scattering of trees in the fields all around the boundary.

In the past week, the weather has turned. Autumn feels like it has arrived and the trees around the area are starting to transform into their Autumnal colours, with leaves showing hints of reds and yellows.

The forecasts had suggested the potential for some cloud and maybe a few spots of light rain – but as has increasingly become the case, the weather forecast was completely wrong, and the sun was shining down from a clear blue sky.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t a little chill in the air, the breeze picking up a few times, helping to make it feel just a little cooler – but for anyone wondering, it’s still too early to put the central heating on! Just have a big coat handy!

The one thing that is becoming more and more evident, is that the evenings are drawing in quickly, which means that games are increasingly being completed in less-than-ideal light.

The visitors to the ground on Saturday were Blubberhouses, a team from a few miles down the road that were one place and only a few points above the hosts at the start of the day. A win for Birstwith could see them go above the visitors.

Car vs cricket ball jeopardy

The home team won the toss and decided to field, hoping to restrict their opponents’ run rate, and give themselves a target to chase. However, chatting to the players during the game, it seemed like the wicket wasn’t helping the bowlers, with the batsmen taking full advantage.

As I said in the introduction to this article, the ground is relatively small. Several years ago, I watched an older couple park their brand-new car in the car park, sitting in it to watch the game as one of the batsmen hit a huge six up and over the fence that landed in the middle of the bonnet.

Blubberhouses scored at an impressive rate, hitting fours and sixes regularly. However, it was the final ten overs where they seemed to ‘let loose’, sacrificing wickets to push the score to just over 400.

By the time the Birstwith bowlers had taken the last wicket, the visitors had reached 409 with Ali Raza reaching 112 and Salman Anwar getting a superb 169.

Thomas Johnston and Daniel Kittle were the pick of the Birstwith bowlers, with both picking up three wickets.

The home team’s response got off to a bad start as James Riley went for a big hit off the very first ball of the innings, but with stretching a little, didn’t quite get it timed perfectly.

Adil Shazad raced in from the boundary, looking unlikely to get to the ball as it angled down towards the ground just shy of the boundary rope. He dived forward, arms outstretched and somehow managed to get both hands under the ball just before it bounced.

You will not see a better catch this weekend in any league

James can consider himself really unlucky, on another day that more than likely would have bounced through for a four.

A second wicket fell just after and there was a worry that Blubberhouses would steamroller over the hosts to win the game at a canter. However, Birstwith were to show some real steel to build their response over the full 40 overs.

A magnificent century from Sam Ryan (109) and a solid 42 from Adam Hugo, helped Birstwith frustrate the Blubberhouses’ bowlers.

As the drinks break approached, the sun was hugging the ridge of the valley, shadows growing longer and longer; the teams decided to skip the break to try and take advantage of the last vestiges of golden light crossing the ground.

Birstwith weren’t going to catch their opponent’s total, that was clear, but it was now all about game management. A few wickets had fallen, but as the final five overs approached 12-year-old Riley Hirst and Craig Robinson formed the final partnership to help the home side earn ten points.

Ahmed Hussain had impressed with the ball for Blubberhouses, taking a wicket for just 26 runs in his spell of 12 overs, including three maidens.

Blubberhouses bank the points

Blubberhouses looked really good with the bat, their total probably being the best I’ve seen at this level this season. With the win, they had earned 17 points and slightly increased their lead in the table over Birstwith to 16 points…with three games remaining.

The hosts showed some really intelligent game management, earning a maximum bowling and batting bonus, to take a respectable [and deserved] ten points from the game.

Birstwith and Blubberhouses sit comfortably in the middle of the table, and with three games to go, neither team are concerned with issues such as avoiding relegation.

Division One is headed by Arthington who are one win away from being crowned champions, although they did go down to a shock defeat at the hands of fifth-placed Goldsborough on Saturday, so will have to wait until next week to claim the title.

As we reach September, we’re losing light rapidly at the end of games; I believe from next week, games will start half an hour earlier to help allow them to finish before blue hour sets in.

Final thoughts

This was probably one of the best games I’ve seen this season, with both teams being competitive. Ultimately, the comprehensive display of batting by Blubberhouses earned them the win, but intelligent game management by Birstwith showed how to minimise a loss and maximise the number of points taken.

If you like to visit grounds around Yorkshire and haven’t considered Birstwith…then pop it on your list. Pick a day when the forecast is good and take a sunhat…you will love this little gem of a club secreted by the side of the Nidd.

MATCH PHOTOS

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Thanks to Mark for capturing the highlights of Birstwith vs Blubberhouses in Theakston Nidderdale Division One.

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X.

There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments that includes days out at grounds around North Yorkshire.