Licking cows, special teas and new nets as Pickering visit Pannal

I love grounds like Pannal; secluded from the main road, transporting you away from everyday life, almost suspending normality. There are still the distant sounds of cars travelling on the main road that runs between Harrogate and Leeds, and the occasional blast of the train’s horn to signal its final approach to Pannal Station – both of which can snap you briefly out of that feeling of solitude.

The trainline is around 100m away from one corner of the club, and the more observant visitor will notice that the Pannal club badge features a train.

It’s easy to miss the entrance to the cricket club, with it set back slightly from the road that connects Burn Bridge and the main line to Leeds.

You’ll find the turning just after The Black Swan pub which you pass on your right as you leave the village, and at the point where cars start to speed up from 30 miles per hour to the national speed limit (although you would struggle to get anywhere near that on this narrow, bumpy and bending road).

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A herd of cows eye you suspiciously as you drive into the field, I don’t think I’ve been at the club at any point in the last decade when they weren’t wandering around.

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I’ve often thought that they might wander across and, like the kids who live around football grounds, offer to ‘look after your car mister for 50p’ – or whatever the going rate is these days.

Strange flights of fantasy aside, once parked, the club can be accessed via either the open gate (if you are lucky), or the substantial stile that would allow you to drag a large cricket bag (or in my case a camera bag) over without too much difficulty.

Saturday’s game coincided with Connor’s speech day, so I turned up by myself, and as a result ended up struggling down the boundary rope with my camera hard case, a small step seat, a monopod for the camera, and another bag with the drone in it – much to the amusement, no doubt, of any onlookers. 

Pannal’s fixture was against Pickering seconds, and they were already in the process of warming up. Putting my things down, I straightened up, making the customary old man sounds, and wandered across to introduce myself. 

First introductions complete, I headed towards the Pannal team warming up on the other side of the pitch. The last time I covered the first team at their ground was at the beginning of last season, so as I approached the players, there were quite a few new faces looking towards me.

I asked if the captain was around – to be told that Rob had just disappeared into the pavilion. It was good to hear that Rob Ellis was still playing at Pannal, and someone who I’ve chatted to many times over the years.

After a brief catch-up with Rob, with him remembering my previous visits and asking after Connor, I headed off to capture a few photos of the ground and prepare for the game.

Two sides of the ground have matured trees forming an impressive boundary, and the other two sides are the domain of the cows.

For anyone who lives in and around Harrogate, you may or may not be aware of the Harrogate Ringway. The ringway is a circular walk that runs about 23 miles around most of Harrogate (the relatively new parts of the Killinghall Moor development sit just outside), skirting the edge of Knaresborough, and takes in Pannal and Burn Bridge.

Part of this walk is situated alongside the ground, running behind the pavilion and the newly installed Total Play two-lane practice nets.

It’s not a walk for the fainthearted, as certain parts can be challenging. Going out of the gate; turn left on the ringway and you can walk the few miles to RHS Harlow Carr Gardens; turn right, and you will head towards the main part of the village and the Coop next to Pannal train station – probably an easy 15-minute(ish) walk. 

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The new practice nets have just been completed and look splendid in the corner of the ground. Total Play have been busy in the area, with teams like Harrogate Cricket Club also unveiling their practice nets earlier this summer too.

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Next to the nets, a new building is being put up. This will be a storage area and a place for the scorers to sit and watch the game. The build is progressing quickly, and it certainly will be in operation for next season.

It’s clear that Pannal is going through an ambitious ground improvement programme, providing the facilities to attract and retain players over the next decade. It is wonderful to see this happening.

Pannal’s opponents on Saturday were Pickering’s second-eleven, currently sitting second in the Yorkshire Premier League North – Division Two Galtres. This is the same league as Knaresborough 2nd XI and Ovington 1st XI (who now sit top of Division Two) – I covered their game a few weeks ago.

Pannal won the toss and elected to bat, with openers Rob Ellis and Will Fotherby taking to the crease. I rushed to sit near the sight screen by the open field, dropping my small seat next to the fence, trying to ensure my feet were kept the right side of the boundary line.

Pickering’s bowlers were firing on all cylinders in the opening stages of the innings, pinning the batsmen to their crease and restricting the number of runs hit.

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The first real major thing to happen in the opening five overs of the game, was when I had my shoulder licked by a cow. I’m not too sure how it happened, I mean cows aren’t known for being stealthy…but somehow, one of them had wandered over to just behind me and decided to see if I tasted better than the grass it had been eating by the gate.

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Turning indignantly, I looked the cow in the eyes as it disdainfully stepped back, obviously realising that the grass did indeed taste better, and wandered back to the others in the herd – probably to tell them the news.

Cow-related excitement over, my attention turned back to the game, with Rob and Will having a little more success with the bat. Rob had hit a big six and was following that up with finding the boundary for a number of fours, pushing his score up over 30.

He seemed to be settling and I thought heading towards a half century, when a mistimed attempt at sending the little red ball for six in the 15th over, saw it soar high and drop into the infield where it was gratefully grabbed by Evan Morris.

Rob had reached 32 from 45 balls, including five fours, and one six.

From that point, wickets seemed to fall every few overs, with Pickering’s accurate bowling causing a lot of problems for the home team’s batsmen.

By the 37th over, Tom Fotherby was caught by Daniel Harper off the bowling of Dan Hardey, and Pannal had struggled to 99 all out.

I’ve often argued that bowling is probably the most important part of the game – if you’ve got a set of great bowlers, they can win you games on their own. Pickering’s bowlers had excelled in this game.

The sides headed in for tea and I completed my walk around the boundary, heading towards the pavilion. I had been invited [before the game started] to get some tea and as I looked in past the queue of players,

I was amazed at the spread that had been laid out – with the savoury items along the counter at the back of the small room, and a plethora of cakes on a table at the front, temptingly within reach from the doorway.

I planned to be back, once the queue reduced and I had dropped my camera back into the bag.

On my way, I stopped at the Cow Shed and ordered a pint of Cold Bath Brewery Lager and wandered back to the seat next to my camera bag. At that point, Connor appeared by the gate, followed by Monica [my wife] and Aibhlínn [my daughter].

You may be asking Ai…what? Aibhlínn is an Irish name and is pronounced as two separate parts – ‘Ave’…’Lean’. Okay, ‘enough!’ I hear you say, ‘get back to the game!’

Pint finished [it went down really well], and a conversation with Connor about how speech day went – apparently Roger Black was the guest speaker – I noticed the players were taking to the field once more, so my chance at some tea had slipped by and my attention needed to turn back to the response by Pickering.

It quickly became evident that the visitors were looking to finish the game as soon as possible, trying to hit big right from the off.

Dan Hardey had been good with the ball – but seemed to be every bit as good with the bat as well! Dan ended the game unbeaten on 36 from 39 balls, hitting eight fours.

Pannal did manage to pick up the wickets of Colin Frank (four from ten), and Sam Batty (20 runs from 22 balls); however, 19 runs from 27 deliveries by Sam Hill and the final run hit appropriately by Dan was enough to see the visitors get over the finishing line, winning the game by eight wickets.

It’s clear why Pickering and Ovington are at the top of the league this season (both teams on 88 points), with them having an impressive batting and bowling record. I’ll be honest, if these two continue with their current form, they will finish as the top two – but I am not sure in which order.

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Pannal is one of my local clubs, and I have to say, probably one of the most welcoming and friendliest in the district. They have one of the largest junior sections in the area, and with the plans they have in place, it is clear that this club is looking to the future and thriving.

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So far in 2024, I have recommended that if you, the reader, are near any of the clubs I have written about, that you should visit them – and I really do mean that. I have yet to experience a club that isn’t welcoming.

However, I would suggest that if you want to create a Yorkshire top ten cricket club groundhopping bucket list – then Pannal should be on it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I will try to get down again this summer to cover either their second or evening league team.

So another Saturday game covered, and as we headed back to the car, the cows had decided to ensure that we left their field in an orderly manner…almost acting like parking valets, showing people to their cars. To be fair, I wasn’t going to argue with them!

📸 MATCH PHOTOS

Want to read more?

Thanks to Mark for his snapshot of league cricket from Pannal.

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.

I also highly recommend his blog called Leica Moments that include days out at grounds around North Yorkshire.