Masham’s title stumble at scenic North Stainley

Driving through the gates of North Stainley Cricket Club on Saturday brought a real smile to my face.

I can remember the first time I visited the club [many moons ago] and I loved the feel to the place. Set in the heart of a picture-postcard North Yorkshire village, the club simply oozes charm.

I’ll not make you wait for the sentence in the closing paragraphs: this is a cricket club to put on your ‘must-visit’ list.

The arc of houses that cup the ground on one side, the alternating coloured roofs, the symmetrically planted trees that help protect windows from flying leather cricket balls, the pastel colour painted buildings, and the quaint names to the houses such as – Boundary Cottage – all add to the setting.

Approaching through the village, neat stone cottages, carefully tended gardens and the village pond[s] create the impression that someone has painstakingly assembled a Yorkshire model village before quietly placing a cricket field in the middle of it.

The pavilion sits commandingly on the edge of the ground, the old scoreboard secluded in one corner has now been superseded by one of those soulless modern alternatives, and outside of the boundary rope a soundtrack of birdsong, quacking of ducks, and the occasional honking of geese.

It is village cricket exactly as many people imagine it should be.

Having been ten years since my previous visit and in that time some grounds can feel very different, but thankfully, North Stainley felt reassuringly familiar.

Before the first ball, there was just enough time to wander with camera in hand, introduce myself to the players, and reacquaint myself with the small details of the ground.

A competitive target

The visitors to North Stainley on Saturday were Masham’s second-eleven; a team riding high in Division Six – in fact sitting top of the league.

With an almost perfect record this season (played eleven, won ten, with only the one loss), and their hosts being around eight places and 80 points below them…I was expecting Masham to be strong favourites.

When play began, there was nothing spectacular about Masham’s innings, instead… a formidable calmness to their approach.

They accumulated runs steadily rather than explosively, hitting boundaries without ever cutting loose.

The forecast suggested the top temperature for the day would be around 26 degrees, and when the sun peeked around the edges of the thin cloud, it felt every bit of that.

On Saturday, there was a good mixture of high altitude gossamer-like, diaphanous clouds.

A gentle breeze punctuated the afternoon’s play, helping to cool players and spectators; although the onlooking cricket fans were making full use of the puddles of shade afforded by the trees encircling the boundary.

We couldn’t have asked for a better summer’s day of weather.

North Stainley’s bowlers worked hard throughout the afternoon, finding ways to disrupt partnerships before they became genuinely damaging.

Paul Ainsley impressed immediately with some penetrative bowling, claiming three of the first four wickets. The fielding backed up the bowler’s efforts, including some great running to deny boundaries.

Meanwhile, Masham captain James Bourne-Arton’s innings of 15 may not sound impressive in itself, but his presence in the centre partnering other batsmen was the vital glue for the visitors early innings.

Wicketkeeper Charlie Greenwood put on an impressive 26 but the standout was Gary Pickard’s unbeaten 49 from 50 deliveries, with some terrific shots as he struck nine fours.

North Stainley’s Paul Ainsley was the pick of the home team’s bowlers with three wickets for just 36 runs; however, all the bowlers contributed with at least one wicket.

By the close of their allotted overs, Masham had reached 162 all out – a total that looked fairly competitive, but didn’t seem out of sight. The sort of target that promised an interesting afternoon rather than settling the contest before tea.

Partnerships rather than heroes

Masham’s innings had built patiently and North Stainley’s reply followed a remarkably similar pattern. Although the home team started off at a slightly higher run rate, it soon fell back slightly to mimic their opponents.

Opener Isaac Horner stroked the ball confidently as he built his innings. He reached 44 from 65 balls before mistiming a swing of the bat, caught by James Bourne-Arton off the superb bowling of Noah Kitson-Burgess.

Eventually, the partnership of captain Michael Armer and Chris Wilkinson became a real problem for the visitors, as the pairing pushed the home team towards the required total.

When Chris was eventually dismissed for 34 runs, the major damage had been done. North Stainley could see the finishing line – and had enough overs and wickets to comfortably cross it.

With around five overs remaining, a four followed by an almighty six took a big bite out of the remaining runs required. Two overs later, another four and a six pushed the home team to the brink of victory.

In the 38th over, North Stainley reached 163-6, winning the game by four wickets to collect a much deserved 20 points.

An afternoon worth remembering

As cameras were packed away and the walk back through the village began, North Stainley looked exactly as it had on arrival.

Children still wandered around the outfield, players enjoyed a few cold beers in front of the pavilion, spectators lingered in conversation and peaceful village life quickly reclaimed centre stage.

Despite the loss, Masham still gathered seven points and more importantly retained their top spot in the league. However, second-placed Whixley closed the gap having won their game and scooped up 19 points.

With this victory, North Stainley climbed one place in the league and they can take a lot of positives. They looked every bit the match of Masham on Saturday. They bowled exceptionally well, fielded brilliantly, and batted with a real confidence.

It’s hard to make sound judgements on how a season will progress based on a snapshot of one game.

That said, both teams will do well in the second half of the 2026 season. Masham look capable of challenging for that top spot, and North Stainley are more than comfortable in that league.

My own takeaway from the afternoon? Well, it was totally about the people I met and chatted to around the ground and of course the setting… did I mention that this ground is one that you absolutely should have on your must-visit list?

What to read more?

Here are all of Mark’s articles and photos on Cricket Yorkshire.

To see more of his photography, you can visit caughtlight.com or he’s @caughtlight on Twitter/X. There’s also the Caught Light Photography Facebook page.

Mark’s excellent blog called Leica Moments includes observations and imagery from days out at grounds around Yorkshire.

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