This, is my England: Evening league cricket at Burton Agnes

It is probably fair to say Burton Agnes, an East Riding village set amid the rolling Wolds, is better known for its Elizabethan manor house than for its cricket club.

As it happens, manor house and cricket ground, sites separated by the narrow Rudston Road, are barely a couple of hundred yards apart – and linked by a marvellous story.

Legend has it that Queen Victoria, who had arranged (heck, it’s not like you and I booking Travelodge!) her first – and only – overnight stay at Burton Agnes Hall, was approaching the grand estate, from the north, on a perfect summer evening.

As the Royal entourage of horse-drawn carriages neared Burton Agnes’s gatehouse, the Queen demanded that her retinue halt, in order that she might admire a view of the Wolds, stretching away as seductively as, possibly, only the sleepy Wolds are capable.

In the foreground, Burton Agnes’s menfolk were busily engaged in a cricket match. Absorbing the picturesque scene, for a minute or so, the Queen is said to have remarked: “This, is my England.”

Echoing the Victoria legend (fact or fancy?), the Burton Agnes ground is called Victoria Fields or, prosaically, Burton Agnes Sports Club (because archers, flat green bowlers and footballers are in residence also; clay pigeon shooting is a thing of the past).

Recreating that Royal moment, even in 2025, is not too difficult although, admittedly, our VW Polo doubtless lacks a little of the opulence of Queen Victoria’s carriage.

After exploring every nook and cranny of Burton Agnes Hall, we found a wheat field alongside which to picnic – and were treated to two wildlife ‘experiences’.

An antlered deer, bounding up the obscured near end of the field, executed a sharp left turn, feet scraping on the hard soil, having spotted our presence, before springing away, towards a farm, in the direction of the main road into Bridlington.

We were still on our sandwich course when, shortly afterwards, two playful hares sauntered onto the quiet back road next to the field. They seemed to be teasing each other, gently, before vanishing into the thigh-high wheat. 

A phone call to Burton Agnes’s playcricket.com contact assured us their home game with Flamborough, in Division One of the Bridlington and District Evening Cricket League, was going ahead, allowing a leisurely completion to our picnic.

From both Rudston Road and cricket ground, tree growth and high summer’s thick foliage have partly obscured Queen Victoria’s westward view of the Wolds. 

But, if you are prepared to poke your head through gaps in a hedge, at the far end of the cricket pitch, there it is. In its shimmering, golden wheat field after wheat field glory.

These days, owing to a steady contraction of leagues and the disappearance of many clubs, only midweek cricket is played at Burton Agnes.

The sports club is tended immaculately. On the evening of our visit, both cricketers and bowlers had a match. There are separate, super-tidy pavilions for the two sports.

The bowlers, of a certain age, behind a tall hedge heard but not seen, certainly ‘out-chirped’ the cricketers. A constant stream of advice was shouted across the green. “Perfect line, just a yard short.” Should I save bowling for my life’s autumn years?

Behind the bowling green is a colourful, glorious wildflower meadow, in which clouds of cabbage whites were eagerly pollinating. Well, they do say 2025 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for butterfly numbers.

Cricket and football pitches overlap. On the eastern touchline of the latter, hard against a hedge, there is a small, wooden and lean-to rickety shelter (signed Telegraph FC), capable of seating in comfort no more than four.

The cricket square occupies a crown, with the pitch sloping markedly down to its western end. Surrounding trees, shrubs and hedges provide a sense of enclosure. 

To the east, the ornate chimneys, on our visit glowing a rich red in the lowering sun, of Burton Agnes Hall are visible. To the south, wind turbines dominate.

The hall – very much a ‘lived-in’ home – has been in the same family, the Boyntons, since it was built in 1598, as the successor to a partly extant Norman manor house. 

On occasion, Burton Agnes passed through the female line. Present occupants are the Cunliffe-Listers, Simon and Olivia.

All in all, Victoria Fields is a lovely place to watch cricket – not least on such a pleasant evening, the first that had been properly sunny in eight days.

Burton Agnes went into the Flamborough match two points behind the Division One leaders, Driffield Rugby Union Club. The previous Thursday, Burton Agnes had kept alive the title battle after beating, by six wickets, at Driffield Rec, the rugby union lads.

With the nights starting to draw in (sorry, but there it is), the Flamborough game, hallmarked by some impressive catches from each side, was reduced to 18 overs.

Burton Agnes elected to bat. Their innings was far from plain sailing. Stefan Madden took 3-28 as the hosts were dismissed, for 118, off the penultimate ball of the final over. Marley Ward top-scored, with 32.

It didn’t look a particularly challenging total, but it soon became clear Flamborough would struggle to get anywhere near it.

Flamborough lost two wickets inside the first two overs. Visiting captain Luke Dixon stood firm, however, as team-mates came and went, to contribute a defiant 44.

The catch of the night, a stunning, one-handed effort, right on the hall end boundary, finally ended Dixon’s resistance. As skipper Dixon, denied a half-century, trudged back to the pavilion, a team-mate remarked: “You can’t be mad, getting out like that.”

Right-arm medium pacer Jordan Zamunda’s 3-9 included two wickets in the 15th over. A team-mate admired the delivery that shattered the stumps: “Very nasty, that.”

Just when it looked as though Flamborough would see out their 18 overs, the final wicket – bowled – went down off the evening’s last delivery.

Driffield Rugby Union Club maintained their two-point cushion, with a 21-run victory at Wetwang. Driving home, we passed the Wetwang ground, where convivial socialising was taking place, outside the pavilion, as dusk edged inexorably towards darkness.

I doubt the likelihood of finishing second will much concern the players of Burton Agnes, where having fun with friends is the cricketing priority. Each game sees the award of a bottle of port, for doing something (‘Port Moment’) either dazzling or daft.

In the Bridlington and District Evening League season’s final two rounds of fixtures (July 31 and August 7), Burton Agnes host Middleton & North Dalton then travel to Grindale while Driffield Rugby Union Club entertain Grindale before visiting Flamborough.

It seemed unlikely we would top the day’s wildlife highlight – the deer in the wheat field – but approaching Fridaythorpe, a barn owl swooped across our bonnet then kept pace, to the left of the windscreen, for a few seconds, before banking away into the gloom.

Enjoyed the read?

You can check out other club visits by Andrew in his column, Miles Per Gallon.

Here are all of our club cricket articles, with the latest first.