Early August means one thing to the club cricket enthusiast: a mega choice of cup finals. Unfortunately (and I’m sure there must be a good reason), many are staged on the same Sunday. Which poses a dilemma for the neutral. Where to go? I opted, as I have several times in recent seasons, for the […]
Aire Wharfe Cricket
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. […]
Paying club cricketers: Blurring the lines
Paying cricketers has to be the single most contentious issue in club cricket and is discussed here on Cricket Yorkshire. Editor’s Note: This article has been refreshed for 2022. Do club cricketers get paid? Yes, they do – but not everyone. The majority of amateur cricketers who play in clubs and leagues are not paid. […]
How cricket clubs can fund a Flicx cricket pitch
Cricket clubs can fund their Flicx pitch in all kinds of ways from grants to crowdfunding campaigns but sponsorship can be very effective. Shadwell Cricket Club teamed up with Harpo’s Pizza to enable them to buy a 2G Flicx pitch. It’s an obvious route for recreational cricket to tread and for clubs to leverage local […]
Ben Rhydding joins Nidderdale Cricket League in 2021
Alex Miller, a committee member at Ben Rhydding Cricket Club, explains his club’s move to the Nidderdale Cricket League. Cricket clubs do change cricket leagues. It’s not revolutionary but there’s been two interesting examples with cricket clubs opting for something different in 2021. Ben Rhydding swapping Aire-Wharfe cricket for the Nidderdale Cricket League caught my […]
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 […]
Cricket grounds: How has it been for club cricket during lockdown?
I recently caught up with Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club’s groundsman of many years, David Hodgson, to get a feel for what life has been like at cricket grounds. Coronavirus has prevented club cricket across the country and seen us indoors for months. As an earlier Cricket Yorkshire feature showed, groundsmen like Hodgy have continued to […]
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 […]