Arriving at the village of Goldsborough, to catch their Division One match against Helperby, we saw not one but two red kites. Swooping down low above the car, wings outstretched, it was an extraordinary sight that never dulls. The second bird of prey was moments later as we parked up and stepped out. The clubhouse […]
Cricket Grounds
Blubberhouses: Secluded village cricket by the River Washburn
Mark Doherty shares thoughts and match photos from a visit to Blubberhouses Cricket Club. Saturday and a last-minute change of plans. Cricket Yorkshire’s John Fuller was heading to Goldsborough for a top-of-the-table Theakston Nidderdale League Division One fixture and the Knaresborough Bed Race was taking place as well. Anyone who knows the area understands that […]
Long Lee: Sixes, crocs and a Golden View
The drive from Cricket Yorkshire HQ to Long Lee Cricket Club took us around the edge of the St Ives Estate up a road that felt like we were abseiling. Eventually, you zigzag up and reach the summit with wilderness and farmland for company, along with rolling, verdant valleys. Keighley Road, back at Harden, becomes […]
NYSD Kerridge Cup: Saltburn triumph at Fountains Garth
In my world, Bank Holidays are synonymous with sporting derby matches. Surely, it’s what the damn things were invented for! From a decent selection of fixtures (and after a careful assessment of the weather forecast for each quarter of the Broad Acres), I opted for a first visit to Fountains Garth, where Guisborough Cricket Club […]
What is the hardest cricket ground to find?
We have a lot to thank Google Maps and Street View for, even if it felt at the time as if permission was retrospective. By the way, we’ve mapped your road and house, hope you don’t mind. As someone who seeks out cricket in nooks and crevices across Yorkshire, finding my way to a ground […]
Malton & Old Malton cut down by Stamford Bridge’s Faber
Stuffed olives, smoked cheese, pork and apple pie, samosas, Cornish-style pasties, raspberry cheesecake, fruit scones and chocolate brownies. Eight reasons why we chose Old Malton for our most recent Saturday cricket fix. I say ‘we’. Once my wife realised Malton & Old Malton Cricket Club’s home game with Yorkshire Premier League North, Premier Division rivals […]
Birds of prey, boundaries and beeping phones: Cricket is back
Perhaps inevitably, having no firm plan to see any cricket meant I ended up catching two games in the first full weekend of league action. Saturday was a drive over to Knaresborough; the A658 offering ample opportunity (if you’re not driving) to spot red kites circling. One flew low, perhaps 20 feet above our car, […]
Many cricket leagues postpone their season start in Yorkshire
Nothing gets us quite so fired up as the weather – especially when it affects the cricket season. The North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League’s decision to postpone the start of their cricket season by a week was a big call. Unusual but not quite unprecedented – and sensible given March was the wettest […]
Malton & Old Malton: Ready for the top of Yorkshire’s pyramid
Shaun Harland “can’t wait” to captain Malton & Old Malton Cricket Club’s first team this season as they make their ECB Premier League, Premier Division debut. Shaun’s entire cricketing life, from under-nines to the age of 24, has been spent with Malton & Old Malton, who in 2022 secured promotion, as runners-up to champions Stamford […]
Exploring Remarkable Village Cricket Grounds
In the summer of 2022, I seem to have gravitated to village cricket grounds. From the green slab of St Ives at Harden to whitewashed walls and a stellar tea at Bradshaw, there’s been some real gems. Not to mention Beckwithshaw Cricket Club outside Harrogate and Luddenden Foot up in the heavens above Mytholmroyd. All […]