Harry Brook is used to breaking batting records and earning plaudits at the dizzying speed at which he plays. He can now add England T20 and ODI (white-ball) captain to an impressive CV. Brook said: “It’s a real honour to be named England’s white-ball captain. Ever since I was a kid playing cricket at Burley […]
Aire Wharfe Cricket League
Aire-Wharfe abstentions in spotlight as Pool Cricket Club protest
When is a majority not a majority? That was the question that exercised minds after the Aire-Wharfe League’s special general meeting last Wednesday at Otley RUFC. Pool, unhappy at their second team being relegated when they finished ninth in a 12-team division, forced the meeting at the second attempt by garnering the support of the […]
Aire-Wharfe Cricket: Beckwithshaw vs Bolton Villas
Visiting Beckwithshaw Cricket Club has been on my radar for years. Those of us who hop around cricket club grounds tend to rub shoulders and recommendations get passed on. On a scorching Saturday, it was time to put that right with their Second Eleven at home to Bolton Villas in Inter-Division 5-6 of the Aire-Wharfe […]
The return of strawberry cheesecake and what it means for club cricket
I heard it long before the first white dots moving around Harden Cricket Club’s outfield came into view. An LBW appeal echoed through the trees of St Ives Estate in this leafy quadrant of BD16. Half a minute later, a ‘tock’ of a cricket bat striking leather reached my ears, somewhere off to the left. […]
Aire-Wharfe Cricket: Harden vs Otley
As I walked through the St Ives Estate on this latest Aire-Wharfe cricket pilgrimage, an LBW shout echoed through the trees. It was otherwise eerily quiet for a dry but chilly Yorkshire Day. At Harden Cricket Club, play was underway in this Aire-Wharfe Cricket League Division 4 encounter. After a dousing of hand sanitiser at […]
200 not out: Back to the future for Otley Cricket Club
As Bill Marshall reports, Otley Cricket Club are going back to the future as part of their 200th-anniversary celebrations. The Pool Road club, formed in 1820, is holding a single-wicket competition this summer – an event involving all-rounders that was more prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. Otley CC chairman Chris Smith said: “We are […]
John Heald: My favourite cricket photos of 2019
John Heald is a brilliant cricket photographer whose work regularly appears on Cricket Yorkshire as well as our social media channels. Unusually, he covers the full spectrum from the epic Ashes Test at Headingley to grassroots league action such as Aire Wharfe cricket. I’ll confess…part of the reason for this photo-feature is to encourage you […]
What could a Yorkshire League Knockout Cup look like for 2020?
Each summer, writer and photographer Andrew Gallon explores the length and breadth of Yorkshire cricket and further afield. Having visited hundreds of clubs across the region over the years, he knows his Hanging Heaton from his Holmfirth and Townville from Tickhill. I asked Andrew to ponder the art of the possible around a Yorkshire League […]
Hail and pace at Rawdon Cricket Club
A trip to Rawdon Cricket Club last Saturday to watch their firsts at home to Pool in the Aire-Wharfe Cricket League proved to be an exercise in patience. No sooner had we left the sanctuary of the car than a sooty, pregnant cloud unleashed a brief but biblical ice storm, raining down hail from up […]
Post-first world war: Getting club cricket back on its feet
Author Jeremy Lonsdale examines how Yorkshire cricket clubs faced the challenges of starting again in April 1919, after the First World War. *** Exactly 100 years ago this month, the first cricket season after the First World War got under way as all over Yorkshire local clubs again took to the field. After the […]