Nidderdale League: North Stainley and Studley Royal swap fortunes

Joe Hudson reports from North Stainley with its quirky Nidderdale backdrop for the game with Division 3 opponents Studley Royal.

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North Stainley’s ground is remarkable. It doesn’t quite look real somehow, almost like a Hollywood movie set where the producers don’t quite understand the notion of village cricket, or one of those Chinese theme parks you see on social media where they’ve recreated entire cities and towns on a whim.

The ground is half-ringed by homes with an uncanny valley element to them – built with a quintessential village look, but not quite weather-worn enough to be as old as you’d expect.

Though, with how close they are to the boundary edge, they’re ideal for the casual resident who likes nothing more than spending time in their garden, watching a bit of cricket.

When I first get to the grand clubhouse, which doubles as the Village Hall, and introduce myself to North Stainley’s scorer, Paul, I confirm my suspicions that the homes aren’t as old as they’d seem on the surface.

Can I have my ball back, please?

“I started scoring here 20 years ago, and it was all fields.” Paul explains, the houses having been built in the mid-2000s. “The house on the end, closest to the old scoreboard, had an old lady in who moved in during the winter and didn’t even realise there was a cricket pitch! Regularly, players would have to knock on her door to get the ball back!”

I ask him about the metal grills in front of some, but not all, of the windows on the homes. His response perhaps shows the owners’ variety of views on the ability of the cricketers to hit sixes hard enough to put the glass at risk: “They all got given metal grills, it’s up to them if they put them up or not.”

Half-a-dozen or so clearly don’t see the Nidderdale & District Amateur Cricket League Division 3 as enough of a risk to expend the effort…

Speaking of the scoreboard, the old wooden building has been put of action, used just as the groundskeeper’s stores now – although I don’t think the last man’s 420 is a reflection of the last game it was used in.

It’s been replaced by a mobile electronic one, much easier to use but perhaps not with quite the same charm. Indeed, it was while looking at the scoreboard that I got an early insight into North Stainley’s opponents Studley Royal, chatting to a couple of their volunteers.

In a season that’s had ups and downs for the second XI – taking on North Stainley’s firsts – I’m told that the squad have been there or thereabouts in most games this season, with each game having either a strong batting performance or a strong bowling performance – just not quite both at the same time.

Too close to call

That’s something you can see from the form guide on Play-Cricket. Both having had their most recent matches abandoned because of the weather, the hosts won their last four, while the visitors lost their last four.

Indeed, heading into the first weekend of September, North Stainley had an almost balanced record with eight wins, eight losses, two either cancelled or abandoned, and one tie – finishing on 154 all out, chasing 154 all out against Bolton Abbey back in June – to leave them fourth, but losing touch with the top spots.

Not helped by Thornton-Le-Moor winning 18 of 20 games, the other two being abandoned or cancelled.

At the other end of the table, Studley Royal’s seconds are looking over their shoulders slightly, having won seven but lost 10 in a league where – apart from just three-time winners Sessay and the Thornton table toppers – there’s a lot of teams with a relatively similar record all squabbling for placings with just a few more weekends to go.

Quackers

Studley Royal were put into bat and the green-topped wicket seemed to be ideal for bowling. With a cacophony of laughter-like quacking from the pair of duck ponds just behind the sight screen on one end of the ground, North Stainley’s bowlers were bowling a very consistent line and length – keeping scoring to a minimum.

Neil Bourne-Arton and James Kelly opened the bowling at their respective ends and after the first 10 of the 40 scheduled overs, they had restricted the visitors to 20/2.

Indeed, come the 23rd over – highlighted by a remarkable run-out with a throw square-on to the stumps which hit them dead on – Studley Royal were entering a tricky second half of the innings on 68/4.

Middle order make hay

But then it seemed like the middle order had been told to swing with abandon and see what score they could get on the board. Suddenly, fours and sixes were going everywhere – with one of the latter taking out a few branches on one of the trees straight down the ground that had already started turning brown and shedding its leaves.

By the final over, which featured three boundaries and a pause to find a ball lost in a lavender bush outside one of the boundary cottages, the visitors had added 103 runs in 16 overs to finish with an impressive 171/8.

When it came to chasing down that target, the North Stainley innings started slowly. One maiden over became two, and then three. The first runs came in the fourth, with a neatly flicked and then a slogged four. By the 10th over, and the first wicket – a lovely stooping catch from captain Gary Nicholson – the score was just 15/1.

In between the rumble of motorbikes heading out into the Dales, the scoreboard was still just about ticking – the next 10 overs added just another 16 runs for the loss of another two wickets. Come the 24th over, and North Stainley were staring down the barrel of a first defeat since July when they lost their sixth wicket with just 41 on the board.

From there, that same sense of reckless abandon in the mid-order took hold of the middle order – including ace opening bowler Neil Bourne-Arton – elected to slog anything that looked even remotely hittable to the boundary.

Despite that big hitting, wickets were still tumbling with North Stainley all out for 122 in the 36th over.

A defeat then, to confirm what will more than likely be another season of mid-table obscurity for the village next to Lightwater Valley. Victory, and moving up to seventh in the league, might just be enough to make sure Studley Royal doesn’t suffer a second relegation in as many years.

✍️ Many thanks to Joe Hudson for his coverage from North Stainley Cricket Club, as well as his stellar photography.

📸 You can check out his images at joehudsonphoto.com and he’s @joe_hudson on Instagram.