Named Schools Coach of the Year at the 2024 Chance to Shine Awards, Owen Batchelor has an intriguing background you likely won’t know. We catch up on Zoom; a rare moment of quiet for a teacher who has taken his love of cricket and channelled it into inspiring kids across Scarborough & Ryedale. Owen is […]
Interviews
Anthony McGrath: Q&As, club cricket and digital scouting
Anthony McGrath, Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s new Men’s Head Coach, is discussing the fact that he’s only just arrived but is already going on tour. It was announced in October that the former Essex Director of Cricket had signed a five-year contract with Yorkshire. His pedigree speaks for itself with the Double of the County […]
Interview: Grace Pearson, Head of Women & Girls for YCB
Grace Pearson is Head of Women & Girls for the Yorkshire Cricket Board and is my guest on the Cricket Yorkshire Podcast for this episode. We discuss her role overseeing the strategic vision, as well as looking back at some of key moments from this year and thinking ahead to 2025. PLAY INTERVIEW (14 MINS) […]
The joy of cricket books with The Grove Bookshop
Mike Sansbury is General Manager of The Grove Bookshop in Ilkley and my latest guest on the Cricket Yorkshire Podcast. Half an hour whistles by as he discusses the importance of independent bookshops, some of his favourite cricket books and playing the game over the years. If you like books, cricket, browsing bookshops, hearing about […]
Rachael Mackenzie: Inspiring women and girls in cricket and life
Rachael Mackenzie has an extraordinary story to tell. A thai boxing class at university ultimately led to incredible success in a rise to the top of the women’s world rankings in two weight categories. A switch to boxing was no less impressive as she became England boxing champion and is now a keynote speaker on […]
Meet the village cricketer who took 10 wickets for 1 run
In an interview on the Cricket Yorkshire Podcast, Sam Potter of Eryholme Cricket Club, chats about his extraordinary performance where he scored 50 with the bat then bagged all 10 wickets for just one run against Spennithorne & Harmby. The home side were bundled out for 18 to lose by 108 runs. 🎤 PODCAST EPISODE: […]
Grass half full: Keith Boyce on cricket pitches at New Rover
Keith Boyce, Head Groundsman at New Rover Cricket Club since 1999, knows a thing or two about cricket pitches. The former groundsman at Yorkshire County Cricket Club for 30 years (below right) is talking about plotting safe passage across a boggy outfield to get the heavy equipment on: “It’s very restricted getting machinery out to […]
Going back to school: A fun lesson in playing Table Cricket
Table Cricket is an adapted form of the game for children with disabilities, played in schools across the UK on a table tennis table. It’s been on my radar for a while to learn more about this inclusive game of strategy – and where better than the 2023 Yorkshire Champions: Beckfoot School in Bingley? So, […]
Deepa Chukkapalli: From Lancashire to Spain (via Bradford)
Deepa Chukkapalli, a 13-year-old cricketer who plays for Bradford Park Avenue Ladies, has been selected for the Spanish National Women’s cricket squad. Spanish Ladies head to Brescia in May to face Italy in a T10 series and Chukkapalli, picked by Spain for the first time, is expected to make her debut, according to Cricket España. […]
The power of Super 1s disability cricket with Shakil Manir
Shakil Manir smiles back at me over Zoom, while snow carpets the garden and we discuss disability cricket. As the Yorkshire Cricket Board’s Disability Development Manager, Shakil has his finger on the pulse when it comes to current programmes and what’s coming up in 2024. Disability cricket in Yorkshire includes table cricket as well as […]