As the frost crackles the leaves and we all cross our fingers against winter floods, spare a thought for the groundsmen around the country safeguarding sporting facilities from the elements. Based in Northampton, the company total-play has been working with those professional and amateur groundsmen, designing and installing top-quality sports surfaces, including cricket covers, since […]
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Dickie Bird: My Life in Cricket
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 […]
Three cracking cup finals in a day at Scotton
While not my final destination, the 9.54 Sunday service through to Knaresborough was swelled with Yorkshire fans off to watch their heroes against Surrey in the cup semi at Headingley. As we all gathered waiting for permission to board, a man caught my eye for his commendable T-shirt with YORKSHIRE plastered across his belly in […]
English cricket needs your help, why not have your say?
I had wandered down to my cricket club on Sunday to watch the seconds do a decent job of keeping the opposition under wraps en route to the cup final. It was sappingly humid and the rain fell at stages but that didn’t stop folk supporting their club and getting stuck into the tinnies and […]
Yorkshire V Cancer at the Ingilby Shield
The forecast bleakly predicted rain. Siling it down, as they say here in Yorkshire. The graphic on my smartphone was prophesising a light soaking building to the kind of downpour where you anxiously seek higher ground. Sunday’s Theakston Nidderdale Cricket League Ingilby Shield fixture – pitting a League Representative XI against a team of overseas […]
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 […]
Yorkshire Club Day: England vs Sri Lanka
Everyday we all get bombarded with marketing messages. Do this. Buy this. Think this. The trouble with that, apart from being relentless and exhausting, is that you can miss the outstanding deals when they come along. Yorkshire County Cricket Club are offering club cricketers from across the county the chance to enjoy a day of […]
Sunburn on the coldest day for cricket imaginable
The two-carriage industrial tinbox destined for Harrogate is popular this particular Sunday morning at Leeds station. Little wonder as it’s the third day of the Investec Test match at Headingley between England and New Zealand. Clusters of cricket fans loiter at each of the entrances to the train, waiting for the doors to open and […]
Meet the cricket pitch with artificial intelligence
When you picture a cricket pitch, what comes to mind? Is it an immaculate grass surface full of runs that does a bit for the bowler? How you answer might well depend on your particular skillset. As a league bowler of ever diminishing pace down the years, a green top that got the ball seaming […]
SM Cricket Revolution in Northampton
In a corner of Northamptonshire, a cricket revolution of sorts is flourishing. Cricket Deal Direct, run by Ian Anderson, is the vehicle behind Indian brand, SM, which is quietly getting a thumbs-up from more and more UK cricketers.