Relocated pavilion and home baking at Wath & Melmerby

A visit to Wath & Melmerby Cricket Club, North of the city of Ripon, promised a potential deluge, the prospect of a fine cricket tea and the story of a remarkable ground.

Despite various weather apps predicting degrees of dismal rain, the journey over was no hardship scooting around Otley, Knaresborough and onto the A1(M) Northbound for a short while.

Arriving at Witherick Lane is a strange contrast given you have the massive black backs of a fenced-off industrial estate on one side and the bucolic, leafy vision of village cricket on the other.

Plenty of roadside parking too having discounted the car park further up in case an errant six fractured a windscreen.

The cricket club’s flag was fluttering in the breeze; likely from Flying Colours Flagmakers of Knaresborough; a family business who provide flags for the Royal Household, begun by Andy Ormrod, the home team’s captain.

Introductions made, we settle in with a brew, as the sun smiles encouragingly, to learn about the birth of this very attractive cricket ground. Previously sited elsewhere, Wath Cricket Club was, in their own words, gradually made to feel unwelcome by their landlord to the point that I guess it had nowhere to go and folded.

But that wasn’t to be the end.

As I understand things, it was through the vision of Joe Barnett and others, described to me as a drunken conversation one night in the pub, where the idea to create a cricket ground was forged.

Joe provided the land which was a meadow initially and through the hard work of those at the cricket club including groundsman Trevor Kettlewell, what we see as an immaculately maintained cricket surface has emerged.

They’ve been in their current location for years but this Nidderdale League club with one senior team and a midweek XI should be proud of their home. The single-storey wooden pavilion, painted white, has its own tale to tell.

The story goes that Rainton Cricket Club were going to burn their old pavilion with a new one going up in its place. As fate would have it, Wath and Melmerby were happy to take it off their hands, load the structure in one piece onto a lorry and drive it the couple of miles across the A1(M) to Witherick Lane.

The ground itself is a very generous area with the far strip on the square being used today so it requires a gigantic throw from near the pavilion to the stumps at the top end.

In this division five match against Dacre Banks, the hosts’ total is built around Richard Dale’s knock of 31 as opener and latterly Mark Richardson top-scoring with 43 after Luke Snowden was dismissed.

Snowden prospect

Snowden, a slightly-built teen with a beautiful cover drive averages 36 with the bat and looks a very decent prospect. He times the pants off a couple to send the ball rocketing along the billiard table surface to the fence.

Luke has turned out for two different clubs and five teams this season. As is the way when you’re a junior cricketer with an unstoppable appetite for games. You’re a long time retired, as they say.

A total of 165 seems defendable but likely light given the wicket has played true with enough pace and bounce to appease both quicks and aggressive batters who get good value for their efforts.

Dacre Banks’ quartet of bowlers all got wickets with Mark Peachey’s 4-31 the pick. Peachey keen? I’ll get my coat…

Meanwhile, Wath & Melmerby are a friendly bunch who patiently answer my many questions and allow me to photograph every corner of their cricketing heartland.

It’s partly an aide memoire for this article and also some snaps for the very active Cricket Yorkshire Facebook page.

For the first time this season, I bring out the long lens and fire off a few frames with the camera to capture the match action. I am very rusty and creaky of knees but it should give you a sense of the game.

Paper scorebooks

The two scorers are keeping tabs on the game by officiating in paper scorebooks for a nice change. It’ll all get uploaded later to Play-Cricket but in this world of pixels and live scoring, there is still a place for the traditional offline method.

Before Andy ‘Flaggy’ Ormrod is the last wicket to fall, a ferocious drive snaffled one-handed to the astonishment of everyone, I have had a natter with Elaine who does the teas.

Elaine is a home baker. About as valuable to a cricket club as signing Joe Root. A few highlights included chicken goujons with a curry dip, magnificent beef sandwiches and an array of freshly-made cakes that would make you weep with joy.

The almond tart should be served at Bettys. It was that good.

I ate until I resembled a squirrel who has motored through its entire winter stocks in one sitting. All washed down with Yorkshire Tea served from a floral teapot.

I learnt that if the team are away and at a club that doesn’t do teas, Elaine preps food parcels to take on the journey.

Happy days.

All of which serves as the perfect point to nudge all of you including cricket clubs to enter our Cricket Yorkshire Teas of the Year for 2025. Only open for June so get your entries in. Just need some pics or video clip and a mention for the tea / person who made it via the form on the website.

Good luck! I can’t nominate Elaine myself for cakes of the century but I did thank her profusely while clinging to her pinny as she looked a bit bewildered.

There’s also the new ‘View with a Brew’ category where anyone can take a pic of their favourite part of the ground and say what it means to them. Again, a great chance to showcase grounds and clubs. I will share some on our world-famous Facebook page.

Ok, promo over and back to the cricket.

Dacre Banks set about their 166 target with all the gusto of a ravenous cricket writer and one rocket-powered metabolism. Their six-wicket win and 20 points sees them consolidate fourth (82) in Division Five with Walton Park (114) and Killinghall (100) duking it out at the summit.

The top four all contributed with captain Stephen Wyss dismissed one shy of his half century, following a canny stumping by the evergreen Paul Richardson behind the sticks.

Stephen Ellison (28 not out) ensured no wobbles with victory in sight and Wath and Melmerby rotated six bowlers. Joe Barnett, who was a kind host and full of tales for this article, finished with 2-36.

As the sun set on this contest, we had shot off back home with quiet roads consolidating the sense that this was a gem of a day that surprised and delighted in equal measure.

We cover a lot of village cricket here on the website and I was struck how a small cricket club like Wath and Melmerby take such pride in everything they do. If you get a chance to go, pay a visit. Just take a doggy bag.