This interview with Hoylandswaine Cricket Club is about big-name signings, paying players, junior development and the swirling debate over ambition and fast-tracking success. The club’s secretary Tony Harrison was on good form, answering any and all questions, however blunt I was, sometimes with a dead bat or with a flourish through the covers. We start […]
Club cricket
Village Cup defeat but lease, grants and facilities boost at Hensall
There is a lot happening at Hensall Cricket Club, as I discovered when visiting their Bird Lane ground to watch a preliminary round tie in the 2025 Voneus National Village Cup. Hensall, who this season will play at tier four – Division One Ebor – of Yorkshire Premier League North (YPLN), gave Group Three (North […]
Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League: Our preview
In this look at the latest from the Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League, we’ll have club and player news as well as early fixtures. The Yorkshire Women & Girls Cricket League has expanded for the 2025 season to eight teams with Yapham and Tickhill the newcomers. It is a quirky point of note that […]
Iggy’s Fund: Remembering a gentle giant and apple crumble
I spotted a LinkedIn post and it gave me pause to smile, think of a friend who is no longer with us, his wonderful family and the legacy he has left behind. It also prompted fond flashbacks of apple crumble but we’ll come to that. Alan Igglesden (above right), known to everyone as Iggy, played […]
Five blockbuster Premier League transfers for 2025
We’ve covered winter transfers quite a bit on the website given the interest in player moves – so, this is a last wrap on a few names that caught my eye, as we head into the UK outdoor season. 🏏 Matthew Weston (Woodlands) Unusually for Woodlands of the Bradford Premier League, they have changed their […]
Josh Smith: Meet the professional groundsman at 15
Josh Smith turns 16 in May and he is already Head Groundsman at three Huddersfield Premier Cricket League clubs: Kirkburton, Shepley and Kirkheaton. His story is one of talent, accelerated learning and responsibility in the world of grass; one we’ll dive into with the help of his dad Jonny and a word with Josh too. […]
University cricket: The secret of the Christie Cup
Adrian Wykes fills us in on a little-known university cross-sports competition and the success of Leeds women’s cricket. ** The Christie Cup between Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Universities is the second oldest varsity competition in the world (after Oxford and Cambridge). It involves 1,500 students in 32 sports. Leeds were the 2024 winners and successfully retained the overall […]
Untangling the spaghetti: Mapping out cricket fixtures
Tom Jenkins shares the incredible annual feat of how cricket fixtures at grassroots need to knit together, creating 2,000+ over his winter. Where do I start trying to describe the winter of 2024-25 that I’ve had. As I write this I’m sunbathing in Gran Canaria. I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to fixtures. […]
Sessay & Raskelf join forces in groundshare partnership
Sessay Cricket Club and Raskelf Cricket Club have announced a partnership that will see a sharing of player talent and grounds. There will be no change to Sessay in the YPLN – with the club sharing a new signing in Jacob Wintle, an Australian-born pace bowler who took 35 wickets for Boyne Hill in the […]
Yorkshire clubs aim high as National Club Championship returns
In the 2025 edition of the ECB National Club Championship, Sunday 13 April is Preliminary Round 1 as clubs begin to lock horns in their respective groups. In this preview, we’ll look at which Yorkshire cricket clubs are playing and their early-season battles. After group stages and regional finals, we move to the national stages […]