Harold “Dickie” Bird, he of the iconic white umpire’s cap and mischievous humour wrapped in a broad Barnsley accent, has had many honours bestowed over the years from MBE and OBE to Yorkshire County Cricket Club President. The latest focus on the charismatic octagenarian sees an exhibition entitled ‘Dickie Bird: My Life in Cricket’ in […]
Interviews
Hodgy: watercolour-painting, ukulele-playing Yorkshire groundsman
The phone chimes up just at the moment that I am making a conscious effort to burn dinner. It’s groundsman David Hodgson – universally known in cricketing circles as ‘Hodgy’ – who has returned my call around an interview after a day at a turf management exhibition in Harrogate. Discarding carbon-infused chicken in favour of […]
Maryam Ali inspires girls to play cricket
We all know a cricket coach that has proved pivotal whether for a team we support, our own relationship with the game or who has been instrumental for someone we know. For Leeds-based community coach Maryam Ali, her journey in cricket is only really starting but yet for those girls whom she’s encouraging to connect […]
Meet the man at the ECB tasked with reviving grassroots cricket
Even before my debut question to Matt Dwyer, Director of Participation & Growth at the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), there is a surprise. He asks me what I think about the recreational game in Yorkshire. It’s pleasantly unusual. This from the ECB, the governing body who so irk cricket fans and are routinely […]
Going in to bat for Yorkshire visually impaired cricket
What must it be like to play cricket if you’re visually impaired? It was a thought preoccupying me on the walk up to the Indoor Cricket Centre at Yorkshire County Cricket Club to watch a taster session run by Yorkshire VICC. I’ve written about VI cricket before with Cricket Yorkshire but it has been a […]
Why Adil Rashid isn’t playing for Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s 13-man squad to face Middlesex at Lord’s in the most important game of their season has provoked howls of protest and got everyone talking. The stakes could not be higher. Win against Middlesex and a third successive County Championship is in the bag and so the welcome availability of Adil Rashid, […]
The cricket umpire whose DNA was damaged by the sun
David Barnes will be known to many in league cricket across West Yorkshire, and his story, told to me when we met at a cup final last month, is a cautionary tale worth heeding. After retiring from Southport Trinity Cricket Club in the South West Lancashire League, he began a distinguished career as an umpire first […]
A morning with YCF Ambassador Joe Root
The train from Sheffield to Dore and Totley bounced along the track as we huffed and puffed along the Hope Valley line. It’s only a short walk from the railway station to Abbeydale Sports Club, with the path leading uphill past the shock pink and blue hockey astroturf and a building on the left that […]
Lauren Winfield: Big Bash League and Women’s Cricket Super League
Yorkshire and England cricketer Lauren Winfield has had quite the winter. Snapped up by Brisbane Heat for the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), the 25-year-old from York swapped soggy Yorkshire for Australian sunshine. In the same squad as England team mate Kate Cross and opener Beth Mooney, who played for Yorkshire Women last summer, […]
Alex Lees: Captaincy, cooking and career development
As Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s one-day captain, Alex Lees, stands bolt upright, prepped for interview, the shrieks of young cricketers bounce off the walls of the Indoor Cricket Centre at Headingley. We’re at the launch of the Drax Cup, the country’s biggest under 9 tournament, and the 2015 winners Greenhill Primary School from Sheffield are […]