Last Saturday, I returned to covering the Theakston Nidderdale League when I headed down to Pannal to cover their firsts playing second-placed West Tanfield. Both teams impressed on the day for different reasons. I have been meaning to get to cover Goldsborough this season, preferably at their ground, but with us entering the final few […]
Nidderdale Cricket League
Leaders Embsay blown off course against Bolton Abbey
Embsay Cricket Club passed the ultimate test with flying colours. Sometimes I tell a club I’m coming and sometimes, I’m a tad disorganised, decide on the day or change my mind and we just hit the road. From the moment we parked up outside the gates, the Embsay flag not so much fluttering as writhing […]
Flames, trains and cow-whispering at Newton-le-Willows
Reading the stories written by John and Andrew in the past week, it appears last weekend was a nightmare of plans made and then broken due to the band of bad weather that swept the UK and Ireland from the south up to the north. As the week went on, the weather improved and although […]
Relocated pavilion and home baking at Wath & Melmerby
A visit to Wath & Melmerby Cricket Club, North of the city of Ripon, promised a potential deluge, the prospect of a fine cricket tea and the story of a remarkable ground. Despite various weather apps predicting degrees of dismal rain, the journey over was no hardship scooting around Otley, Knaresborough and onto the A1(M) […]
Little Ribston Cricket Club in the land of glaciers and Knights
Mark Doherty heads to Little Ribston Cricket Club where their 1st XI hosted Knaresborough Forest CC 3rd XI in this Theakston Nidderdale League Division Seven fixture. It’s a Bit Chilly – Not! If I had found myself standing where I was at 1pm on Saturday 31st May…maybe 20,000 years ago…Little Ribston’s ground would potentially have been […]
Lofthouse and Middlesmoor: Sawdust and scenic Nidderdale
As Douglas Adams wrote in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… “Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not be in any way exacerbated, that the following facts now be revealed in advance.” It did in fact rain […]
Glasshouses pull out of the Nidderdale League
In news that saddened me, I learnt that Glasshouses Cricket Club had withdrawn from the Theakston Nidderdale Cricket League – due to a lack of players. Importantly, the cricket club will not fold but for now, it has no players and no fixtures. Mothballed if you will but with future plans that we’ll come to. […]
Season off to a flier at Pannal amid cake and conversations
Our first outing of the 2025 club cricket season involved a trip to Pannal Cricket Club to watch Pannal play Pannal. The inter-club friendly was a gentle way to catch some overs on a day that promised a bit of warmth, while also keeping a keen ear flapping for any gossip and presenting Penny Barrett […]
Sessay & Raskelf join forces in groundshare partnership
Sessay Cricket Club and Raskelf Cricket Club have announced a partnership that will see a sharing of player talent and grounds. There will be no change to Sessay in the YPLN – with the club sharing a new signing in Jacob Wintle, an Australian-born pace bowler who took 35 wickets for Boyne Hill in the […]
Caught Light: Reflections from a busy club cricket season
A rough count of grassroots cricket games I’ve been to this season, seems to come out at around 65. That is a personal best for a single season in the last decade, and I must admit for the vast majority of visits, it has been a real pleasure. As October arrives, I wanted to sit […]