A new cricket club forming in Yorkshire is unusual, if not completely unheard of. There are already some 800 or so across the region – so why go to the effort of setting up your own? Starbeck Cricket Club, who finished their first season in Division Eight of the Nidderdale Cricket League as champions, have […]
Yorkshire Cricket Board
Yorkshire Cricket and Lahore Qalanders: Open trial in Bradford
Amid the breathless evolution at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, the news that Yorkshire Cricket and Lahore Qalandars are to hold open trials on 1 October 2023 at Bradford Park Avenue caught my eye. This is part of a longer-term plan between The Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the Lahore Qalandars from the Pakistan Super League […]
Soyeb Kayat: How cricket is inspiring communities across Kirklees
The start of my interview with the Yorkshire Cricket Board’s Soyeb Kayat (below) begins with a question – just not by me. “So…is this going to be like This is Your Life then?” I guess that makes me Michael Aspel if you’re of a certain vintage to recall the TV series from 1955-2003. Do you […]
Kiran Bali: Breaking barriers and encouraging change
It becomes apparent minutes into our conversation that Kiran Bali’s professional and personal journey has been about breaking barriers but also advocating change. The magistrate and community volunteer, who won an MBE in 2008 for her community work in West Yorkshire, has taken those beliefs and brought them into grassroots cricket in Huddersfield. Kiran’s connection […]
Yorkshire (and Lincolnshire) beat Australia at Harrogate
In any given week during the season, there are a frankly staggering array of matches in Yorkshire. I can only cover a fraction but thankfully I get emails from readers all of the time to alert me to interview possibilities, unusual occurrences and eye-catching matches. So, thanks to John Buttle for flagging up this one […]
Talking West Yorkshire Cricket with the YCB’s Steve Archer
You’ve got to hand it to the waitress who keeps sauntering up to take our order but the menus have stayed closed. Since the moment we sat down in this bustling cafe that’s my local default for interviews, we’ve just dived into talking cricket. The cooked breakfast will have to wait. Steve Archer is the […]
The Yorkshire Cricket Collective Awards – Nominations Now Open
Awards season is back! Volunteers within Yorkshire’s clubs, leagues and communities are invited to enter the Cricket Collective Awards 2023. These are the newly named awards, run by the Yorkshire Cricket Board (and other county boards) but with national ECB categories too. They used to be called the YCB Grassroots Cricket Awards in 2022 and […]
League cricket transformation for Yorkshire’s women and girls
Here is an overview of women and girls’ league cricket across Yorkshire, in association with the Yorkshire Cricket Board. New pyramid Yorkshire loves its pyramids and after there was a re-structure in men’s league cricket in 2016, the women and girls’ game has followed suit. A single Premier League at the top and each region […]
Paul Cummins: Taking the helm at the Yorkshire Cricket Board
Paul Cummins, the Yorkshire Cricket Board’s Director of Recreational Cricket, is talking to me from Headingley about what lies ahead. Three months into the job, the honeymoon period (if there is one in that role) has seen him zip around the region, meeting some of the staff and no doubt getting a feel for the […]
Leagues get into bother about where to place new team
ONE of the most stressful things this winter has been for leagues to decide into which divisions their new teams should be placed. The Airedale & Wharfedale League (AKA Aire-Wharfe League) and the Dales Council League have both raises the hackles of member clubs that have been relegated after finishing eighth in 12-team divisions. The […]