The simple pleasure of village cricket at Gargrave

Mindful that the last time I was at Gargrave Cricket Club, I’m pretty sure my DNA froze, I am dressed as an Arctic explorer.

This being one of Yorkshire’s drier, warmer Springs I can recall, the woolly hat was probably overkill but I am grateful for various layers at times.

To step out at Gargrave railway station is to feel the weight of the world fall off. After a tough week with immersive, challenging articles like the controversial vote at Rotherham Town, an afternoon in the Yorkshire Dales suited very well.

There’s a responsibility that comes with covering topics and doing both the story justice and those involved. In the case of Rotherham Town, it’s a reminder that journalism can play its part and I hope there’s a happy ending.

Today, I left the Canon DSLR camera and 600m lens at home. A conscious effort to travel light and not photograph and write about a game for a change. Just go along and enjoy the cricket. That was partially successful.

No sooner have I stepped on the country lane by the station than I spy a kestrel sat on some phone lines very close by. The walk into the village is a reminder how attractive Gargrave is. Beautiful stone cottages, the chattering of birds and the smells of the countryside.

I know Gargrave pretty well; we’ve been visiting for years and it was our first holiday quite some time after Covid restrictions lifted. Through its centre runs the constantly busy A65; a wheezing, rattling artery beyond which lies idyllic, peaceful countryside.

Lunch is taken at the Dalesman Cafe; an ivy-covered, Grade II-listed building on the High Street with a sweet shop inside and an old-fashioned, retro theme. My table for two in the far corner has its own name and plaque screwed to the table: Overdale.

It takes me a moment to realise that it’s not a menu in front of me but a children’s book called ‘Gideon: The goat that was bullied.’ A tale for five to ten-year-olds that ends well one hopes.

Assam tea arrives in a plate metal teapot with a satisfying weight. Its stubby stout pouring strong nectar with a Dalesman Cafe branded mug completes the satisfying break. One bacon sandwich and some strawberry bonbons later (the latter almost making the journey back), it’s time to seek out cricket.

My route is not the most direct but definitely the more scenic. Avoiding the A65, instead I amble up Pennine Way, past the village hall to reach the canal at Highland Lock.

The short walk to the back of the cricket ground is to tune into a concerto of birdsong. I use the miraculous and frankly ingenious Merlin App to identify the sounds and what bird is making them.

A throbbing, insistent call turns out to be from a group of rooks clustering in a tree. A dense hedge contains house sparrows dancing across its upper tangles. A sole chaffinch chortles amid the blackbirds who have more chirp than a fast bowler aggrieved at a wicketless over.

Further along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal is the back of Gargrave FC, beyond which is the cricket ground. I had gambled on a cut-through but instead have to scramble over a wall with rocks protruding like shark teeth in an ungainly tumble.

A field to the left houses curious lambs nibbling grass, eyed watchfully by their mum. To approach the cricket club from the back is not its most flattering angle. Almost as if I’m sneaking up on it.

Ground improvements for 2025

To its credit, the club has had a number of upgrades from electronic scoreboard to the parasols and outdoor picnic tables that were packed a few hours later.

My lap of the ground reveals a few things. The ground has low bench seating; a continuous curve sweeping around to the scoreboard over by the grey backs of the houses.

It is a large playing surface, dotted with daisies. Isn’t it weird how growing conditions and wind pollination combine to nurture a specific plant? Back home, the yellow heads of dandelions are everywhere this year. They’ve taken hold and flourished in cracks and verges.

Gargrave also have a number of those gigantic rollers with what looks like a bed frame attached; a snapshot from a bygone era and they are at many club grounds. Partly because what on earth do you do with something that gigantic and heavy other than leave it somewhere to rust?

As I get round to the buzzing A65, separated from the ground by a hedge, a Gargrave batter pumps the ball just shy of the road. Apparently, balls can and do rain down on the traffic as it slows to enter the village.

There is a new scorer’s hut for this season; essentially a garden shed where scorers Isla and Tony had the windows open. Imagine it gets stuffy in there when Yorkshire warms up. A fridge with cold drinks or ice cream machine in there as the next club development?

The pavilion at Gargrave is imposing; befitting a former Yorkshire 2nd XI ground. It is lined with benches with the usual gap in the middle for cricketers to clatter down to the grass in their spikes. Established in 1852, Gargrave CC has been on this site since the late 1800s when it was known as Gargrave Airebank Cricket Club.

Usually, I let a cricket club know I’m coming. But having agonised over where to go on the morning of the game, Gargrave was a late decision and one that is feeling increasingly inspired.

The welcome by the batting team is generous. Various Gargrave players stop to have a natter, ask about what I’m up to and we lapse into that contented cricket chat that comes with common interests.

It is a precious commodity as a stranger to be put at ease immediately. As is so often the case with Cricket Yorkshire, I discover all kinds of golden nuggets.

The Winter Tour couldn’t go ahead because of snow. No, Gargrave didn’t organise a trip to Austria in December. That’s the annual match between Appletreewick and Malhamdale that takes place, outdoors obviously, at the start of each year.

It was snowed off – a rare blip because generally they play in all weather and think nothing of jumping into the river at Appletreewick to fetch the ball while the batters scamper another run. Local rules.

I chat to Callum who has moved to Yorkshire from Somerset, charting my own migration, albeit I had a decade playing club cricket in South-West London in between.

I throw out one of the clubs I played for many moons ago (Dunster) and sure enough, he had a game there last year for Stogumber. A small world indeed.

Inside, Joe (Wood) shows me the many photos of Gargrave over the decades; a sense of pride in their history and a few links with Yorkshire CCC. I think I spot an Ashley Metcalfe testimonial photo.

The Wynn Cup and the Craven League trophy are there in the window, alongside others. A cricket ball juts out of the top of a smaller trophy next to the TV remote. It resembles a red boiled egg with the horizontal seam looking a bit frayed. A past match ball perhaps?

Covid League 2020 Group E winners. Poignant to be reminded of an extraordinary time not so long ago.

Groundskeeper Chris is on duty behind the bar. Not playing today due to a rugby injury. They land a bumper windfall when I buy a 50p mug of tea. I believe the bar is a recent renovation and looks smart. Cider on tap I note.

Clubs without a bar – even a makeshift one – are watching vital funds go elsewhere. It adds up. At Bingley Congs near me, everyone used to disappear into town to celebrate or commiserate post-match but now they stay for hours, socialise and spend at the club.

Let’s wrap up this travelogue with a few recent triumphs and a milestone.

Gargrave 1st XI only returned to Division One (the top tier of the Craven Cricket League) in 2022, finishing fifth. That was followed by second place in 2023 and champions and Wynn Cup winners in a 2024 double. They retained the Wynn Cup in August with a win over Bowling Baptists at Thornton-in-Craven.

In this game, Gargrave were mighty winners by 155 runs. I hung about to watch the tail-end of their batting heroics underpinned by Lee Barrett carrying his bat for 118 not out at the top of the order.

The Craven League is 45 overs which seems a bit long but there you go. ECB Premier Leagues only play five more overs an innings. As I left around 4.45pm, the tea break beckoned so quite a long day after a 1pm start.

Barrett feasted off anything short with rasping cuts rapping the benches or whistling into the foliage of the hedge. The surface was not particularly malevolent but it had some serious bounce (chest or head-high) when taller bowlers bent their backs.

Zain Naeem (3-46) and Vincent Grant (2-42) were most successful for Bradley. It didn’t pan out in reply as they were rushed out for 53 with Gargrave’s Joe Wood (5-22) and Thomas Storr (5-29) the chief architects.

All the best to both clubs; an afternoon in the Craven Cricket League was ever bit as good as I thought it would be.