I am not one for soaking up the sun, hour after hour – whilst watching cricket or doing anything else. Acquiring a tan? Two weeks comatose on a beach? No, thank you. It means cricket grounds lacking shade, to the south and/or the west, must wait for a cloudy day before I’ll visit. Digital satellite […]
Club Cricket
Haworth Cricket Club: A scenic postage stamp
A dapper gentleman shepherds us into a car parking berth in the middle of Haworth. It transpires he is an author and has set up a stall to sell copies. It’s £4 to park all day via the machine or £10 for a copy of his book and the parking included. Rows of cars have […]
Jack Hampshire Cup: Altofts beat Brighouse
How many of the cricket matches you’ve witnessed really stand out in the memory? My visit to Altofts Cricket Club won’t easily be forgotten, simply because it was unusually brief. The Tofts took just two hours, 20 minutes – including the tea interval! – to dispose of Third Division rivals Brighouse in the Bradford Premier […]
NYSD Cricket: Great Ayton edge past Thornaby
According to club president Ken Home, Great Ayton Cricket & Football Club (to use the full and correct name, after a 1976 amalgamation) “punches well above its peers”. Ken’s eminently justifiable claim features on the second line of his welcome piece in the 2022 edition of the annual club brochure, an impressive 28-pager, available – […]
South Yorkshire Alliance Works Midweek League launches
Mark Simmerson rounds up the team news with the debut season for the South Yorkshire Alliance Works Midweek League in 2022. The pandemic has changed the world and cricket has not been immune. The last two seasons have been difficult for local leagues and particularly awkward for midweek cricket leagues. But we have survived and […]
Stokesley topple Richmondshire in NYSD season opener
I’ve got a soft spot for the far corner of Yorkshire which, when I worked on Teesside during the 1990s, was dubbed ‘Cleveland’, an ancient name reinvigorated by the local authority. At the time, I lived at Great Ayton, a pleasant village where the future Captain James Cook went to school. Ayton was an ideal […]
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. […]
Eleven To Watch: Early-Season in Yorkshire [2022]
Andrew Gallon picks his must-watch club cricket matches across Yorkshire in April & May. *** Throughout an unexpectedly sunny, mild March, my anticipation grew, day by day, as the 2022 club cricket season loomed closer. I’ll gloss over the recent snow! It seems Saturday, April 16 is the earliest date to take in a competitive […]
Speed guns, overseas players and cricket teas: Your questions answered
In a moment of madness, I offered to answer any questions relating to cricket that readers might like to ask. Thanks to everyone who emailed or sent them in via social media. It was a lot of fun to record and perhaps we can do more across the cricket season and choose a subject each […]
Recreational cricket: What is in store in 2022?
As we look ahead to recreational cricket outdoors in England during 2022, what will be the trends and challenges for the grassroots game? Coronavirus is still very much with us though we collectively have the experiences of the past 2 years to call upon in managing any future restrictions or setbacks. I’ve said it before […]