Swooping owls, Eton mess and cricket at Duncombe Park

I am not an early bird but Saturday promised adventure and an Owl Experience at the National Centre for Birds of Prey in Duncombe Park.

So it was that Mrs Cricket Yorkshire and I were zipping through the quiet streets of Shipley, Otley and then zooming along past Harrogate and Knaresborough. Traffic was negligible as we headed for the North York Moors National Park.

Today had been months in the planning by which I mean that we’d chosen a day, inked it into the Google Calendar and arranged to bob over to Duncombe Park Cricket Club afterwards to catch some of their match with Ripon 1st XI.

The forecast foretold a high chance of rain all afternoon but the weather apps I use all routinely tell whopping fibs I’ve come to realise.

My wife, who is a pillar of patience, gets to hear on an almost hourly basis how the temperature is either hotter or colder than the pessimistic BBC or eternally optimistic Met Office.

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“It says SEVENTEEN degrees today! Can you bee-leeve that?!”

“Uh, huh.”

“It’s not even close. Must be at least nineteen.”

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After Thirsk, we got to Sutton Bank as the A170 waggles through the Western reaches of the national park. The 1 in 4 gradient is one to do with care, especially a hairpin that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Respect to those who choose to take it on riding a bike as my local pharmacist did, I learnt by strange coincidence, just before writing this.

It was part of the third stage of the Tour de Yorkshire back in 2016; a time where yellow bicycles and sweeping views on telly of our glorious countryside were beamed across the world.

The reward for inhaling smoking brakes from the car on front was the Hambleton Hills and Vale of York rolled out to marvel at. A few miles on and we crossed the River Rye at Helmsley and took the winding drive up to the National Centre for Birds of Prey.

It being 10am, it was quiet and we could watch the cars heading for the Larkin Jamboree in the Duncombe Park Estate (with 450 acres, there’s enough to go around).

It was gigantic. An international event for scouts, guides, explorers and rangers from around the world.

Now, you’re here to read about the cricket. I promise we’ll get to that shortly but indulge me a moment longer to say that the next few hours were a joyous opportunity to get up close and personal with six different owls from ‘Snowdon’ (a beautiful barn owl) to Piccolo (a long-eared owl with plenty of character).

Having an owl land on your arm and peer into your soul is extraordinary, as is the moment they launch off into flight. The staff (Kieran, Amy and Codie) were full of insight while the birds sometimes behaved and sometimes not so much.

At one point, a wild red kite known to the team flew overhead looking for food and on being tossed a tasty morsel, plummeted out of the sky to snatch it off the grass, about ten feet from me. It took a while to get my jaw back off the floor, to be honest.

Add in a flying demo with a cheeky vulture, a ridiculously cute sand burrowing owl and a graceful falcon and you get the idea.

Unforgettable.

It’s well worth a visit to marvel at these incredible birds, learn more and to support the conservation work. They have a captive breeding programme to increase the numbers of declining and endangered species.

Eventually, aware that the overs were ticking on down at Helmsley Recreation Ground, we bid farewell and pootled along the intriguingly-named Baxton’s Sprunt to Duncombe Park Cricket Club.

Ripon 1st XI had chosen to bat first; a decision perhaps influenced by only having ten players, with a withdrawal at short notice due to illness. On a deck that had plenty of carry at times, the visitors were struggling to hang in there.

Chris Warters was bowled by Sam Farrow for 54; a workmanlike half-century concluded when the stumps were splayed. Cue a bellowing roar from Farrow (1-41) that came with a friendly tap on the shoulder for the outgoing batter.

The home skipper, Adam Durrant, used six bowlers with Jonathon Leckenby (2-19) the most economical and Phil Rutter (3-20) getting the most wickets.

Ripon ended on 147-8, off 45 overs, in this Yorkshire Premier League North Division 2 Galtres encounter.

It was perhaps more than I thought they’d manage at one point with an unbeaten 40 by Richard Moss ultimately in vain, shy of any batting points.

The weather began toastily enough in the kind of sizzling sunshine that encourages lizards to sit out and bask. Instead, we opted for a low-hanging tree to watch a few overs and chat with Mark Doherty’s family with Mark stationed across the way photographing the match for me.

The Rec at Helmsley was notable in that we’re all used to the cricket boundary going right up to the pavilion where here the action was flagged off some distance away.

The pavilion is a shared facility for Helmsley Sports Club; a charity that maintains the site and hosts cricket, tennis, bowls and football clubs. I was impressed to see an outdoor gym for anyone to use.

Ever polite, we waited a bit before heading in to buy a tea but the gannets had already descended; little wonder as DPCC are famed for theirs.

They have twice been shortlisted for the Cricket Yorkshire Tea of the Year and Kirsty Durrant, Lucy Witty and Dawn Butler have helped the club to cement quite the reputation.

On the day, I can testify to the fruit-filled Eton mess (it felt rude to take the whole bowl but the thought did cross my mind fleetingly) while Mrs CY gave a thumbs-up to the eclairs.

Can I also applaud the humble egg mayonnaise roll? (You might call them a bun, bap, cob, teacake, or barmcake). Sandwiches are also acceptable. The point is that egg mayo done well (as on Saturday) is a marvel.

After a natter with Mark D about photography, life and the universe (but mainly cricket), we returned to catch the second half.

Amid a bit of light rain and grumbling grey clouds, I took a stroll to talk to the home skipper Adam and former captain Phil.

It has been a puzzling season for their firsts who have scooped up plenty of batting bonus points but also finished the wrong side of nine defeats.

No relegation

It struck me that Yorkshire Premier League North is a whopper of a league that seems to get bigger and bigger.

Division 2 Galtres is a 12-team division with Ovington, Pickering and New Earswick currently in the three promotion spots up for grabs.

It is all change in time for next season.

The top three sides in each division will be promoted to Division 1, plus the next two teams with the next highest number of league points across all three divisions. For 2025, Colton Institute join from the Aire-Wharfe League into Division 1.

This reshuffle is down to the fact that the league is going to have a second ECB Premier Division in 2025.

Fortunately for Duncombe Park and others in jeopardy across divisions, there is no relegation this season – except for the bottom two clubs at the very top moving down to what will be called the ECB Premier Division II.

Captaincy and rolling duties

We discuss captaincy and at this level at least, the fact that it extends far beyond just picking players. Duncombe Park seem to be able to rely upon a core availability but there are other jobs, not least rolling and cutting the square.

I learnt Adam’s wife (aforementioned Kirsty) sometimes helps out with the roller, although when I was in touch the week of the game, she had her hands full prepping pizza dough.

The club sounds like it’s in good fettle. Shirt sponsors are Helmsley Garage, Helmsley Wines, Gibsons Countrywear and the Fairfax Arms.

It’s a very pleasant ground to catch a game with snippets of Helmsley Castle while the wooden scoreboard could be described kindly as in need of TLC or characterful. Or both.

I actually really liked it though tricky to see the scores from angles; I know these things take time, funds and thought to upgrade. Perhaps one for my website partner Bespoke Scoreboards.

On the playing side, their teams include a midweek eleven in the Ryedale Beckett League that Andrew reported on for this very website a couple of years back.

There’s also a women’s team who play in the Scarborough & Ryedale Softball League where they’re third in the eight-team set-up. Sunday 4 August sees a double-header with games against Skelton Castle and Wykeham.

Other club news includes the fact that funding has been secured for a refurb in the pavilion and there’s a charity game to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust which is set for Sunday 15 September.

Just to tie off the match report, the home side breezed to a comfortable seven-wicket win, reaching 149-3 off 29.3 overs to claim ten points.

Opener Kit Saggers top-scored with a rapid 39. Percy Harwood (37) played his part in an opening stand of 60 which set the foundation for the win – but everyone chipped in.

Chris Hazzard (1-27 off 12 overs) was the standout for Ripon as runs leaked at a fair pace across the rest of the attack. A smart run out by Stu Stocks was some fast work but Alex Snowball’s 36 off 26 balls closed out the victory.

MATCH PHOTOS

Thanks to the club for their hospitality and to Mark of Caught Light Photography for the images of this match. You can get in touch via caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter.