Cricket Grounds

August promises to be an eventful time at Conisbrough Cricket Club. On the month’s opening Saturday, I dropped by the club’s St Peter’s Drive ground to watch an absorbing third-versus-first Yorkshire Cricket Southern Premier League clash with Division One promotion rivals Oughtibridge War Memorial, who edged a close encounter, by three wickets, with a little […]

I had two potential destinations to choose from on Saturday, one being an Airedale & Wharfedale Senior Cricket League game, and the other in the Theakston Nidderdale League. As I passed Blubberhouses’ ground on the A59, heading up to the recently re-opened Kex Gill pass, the discussion between Connor [my son] and myself was still […]

I am not an early bird but Saturday promised adventure and an Owl Experience at the National Centre for Birds of Prey in Duncombe Park.   So it was that Mrs Cricket Yorkshire and I were zipping through the quiet streets of Shipley, Otley and then zooming along past Harrogate and Knaresborough. Traffic was negligible as […]

I am a big fan of club cricket leagues’ internal cup competitions.  Come the second half of the season, when many league games are becoming dead rubbers, they offer meaningful fixtures. I do like a bit of jeopardy. Better still, most of these cup matches take place on Sundays, providing extra spectating opportunities. It is […]

Not so much a battle but a skirmish. I can hear the collective groan, “Not Harrogate again! You only visited there last week!”. I know…I know. Apologies, but hear me out. I headed to St. George’s Road last week when the weather was poor, knowing I had two potential games to cover, in two different […]

I’ve certainly struck gold with my T20 cricket spectating this season.  Augmenting a list of exciting finishes, a second midweek excursion, in 24 hours, to the scenic Wolds, this time to Wetwang Cricket Club, was rewarded with a last-ball finish. Some controversy. With the scores tied, and the bat crowded, Burton Agnes, Wetwang’s Bridlington & […]

Lurking on my ‘groundhopping’ bucket list for years, a visit to the sublime, sleepy setting of Thixendale Cricket Club lived up to – nay, exceeded – expectations. Put simply, it was a slice of sporting serendipity: when each piece of the jigsaw slotted neatly into place. The weather, in what is proving to be a […]

I’m not obsessed by the weather, but by the very nature of my job, I have to keep an eye on the forecast to ensure that I have the correct coats, boots and hats to hand…as well as ensuring I pick up the correct camera equipment and rain covers. These past two years have seemingly […]

‘Spofforth is the centre of the universe’ – a schoolfriend once said in all seriousness to answer a question posed by the young unsuspecting geography teacher during a lesson one Thursday afternoon at Harrogate Grammar School. Now, being totally honest, he probably knew that wasn’t the case, but watching the reactions of the only adult […]