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 […]
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B3 Cricket looks to a bold future for cricket bats
After a frenetic pre-Christmas rush to fulfil cricket bat orders while moving their headquarters to an old textile factory in nearby Hucknall, B3 Cricket are relishing all that 2017 has in store. The Nottinghamshire bat company have ambitious plans to set up their own Cricket Academy to coach the current and next generation of cricketers […]
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 […]
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 […]
Meet the cricketers who walked from Headingley to Scarborough
Folk don’t half undertake some daft, ok, admirable challenges for a good cause. By the time you read this, Mark Sugden and Daniel Hill, who play and coach at Rodley Cricket Club, will have completed their charity walk from Headingley to Scarborough in aid of Yorkshire Cancer Research. That’s eighty miles over four days with […]
Who will be crowned the best cricket club in Yorkshire?
After months of fixtures across Yorkshire’s four ECB Premier Leagues stretching back to April, the push to be the champion club is intensifying. Clubs from the Bradford Premier League, ECB Yorkshire League North, ECB Yorkshire South and North Yorkshire South Durham Cricket League are jostling to win their league and qualify for semi-finals at either […]
Yorkshire Cricket Foundation and the power of sporting memories
Until now, I’d never set foot inside the Yorkshire Cricket Museum but as the electric shutters juddered up, a world of memorabilia led me through Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s esteemed history. @YCCC_YCF to celebrate Yorkshire day the great man is bedecked in the colours he created #HappyYorkshireDay pic.twitter.com/XxjTvqklm0 — Melway42 (@Melway42) August 1, 2016 It […]
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 […]
B3 Cricket: Technology with cricket bat craftsmanship
The rain chatters away, bouncing off the roof of the car as we sprint indoors to the B3 Cricket factory where technology and artisan craftsmanship are being expertly combined. I’ve taken the train down to Bulwell, a market town north of Nottingham, where B3 Cricket have been working their magic for years. The batmakers have […]
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 […]