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Sunday arrived and I was certainly worried about the weather. The forecast over the weekend was very unsettled, with threats of drizzle and longer showers, potentially disrupting games scheduled on both days.
I’d looked at the fixture lists for the next few weeks on Monday, pencilling in various destinations, trying to ensure that I continued to head to grounds I haven’t been to in a long time, or cover teams that I have never seen play before (or haven’t covered in over five years).
Knaresborough Forest’s ground is one of those little gems of a ground that I simply love visiting. It’s situated on the edge of Knaresborough, accessed from the main road by driving through the car park of The Cricketers pub that overlooks the club at one end.
There is ample parking around the edge of the ground, although you will park your car there with the understanding that due to it being one of the smaller grounds – it will be in the line of fire!
When driving into the ground, you head down a small concrete path, past the brightly painted pavilion on your left and down onto the grass ledge that runs around the outside of the playing surface.
Cricket oval by the Nidd
Trees run along the left side and in front of you, masking your view of the River Nidd that is only around 50m from the ground, and which you can access by taking the public footpath through a gap in the boundary.
The cricket oval sits in a natural bowl, with sandstone rock exposed to your right, forming a formidable boundary. The Cricketers Pub towers above the ground behind you and is a great place to stand and have a drink while watching the action below.
Knaresborough Forest CC Women were entertaining Richmondshire CC Women in the Hambleton Women’s Outdoor Soft Ball League (West), a format of cricket that I have watched my daughter play a few times last season.
For those not familiar with this particular format of the game…a quick recap of the rules.
Each team has 12 players and the batters come out in pairs. Each pair bat for four overs, with a total of eight players batting per innings (there are 16 overs in an innings).
Each over comprises of six balls and there are no rebowls. If there is a no ball, then the batting team get two runs added to their total. If a ball is considered a wide, then the batting team also get two runs.
Each bowler bowls for a maximum of three overs and if they get a wicket, the batting team lose five runs. If a wicket falls, the batters change strike.
The winning team is the one with the most runs at the end of their innings.
All very simple and I honestly believe that this is a fun and inclusive format of cricket, I’ve certainly enjoyed watching games played in this format over the past two seasons.
It is accessible to most people, with a low barrier for entry (given that players don’t need much equipment to play – just wickets, ball and bat).
Fast and competitive
But don’t think for a minute that this isn’t competitive!
Arriving at the ground early, I spoke to both teams and although a little nervous at introducing myself to a new league and a new set of players, I was pleasantly surprised at the warm welcome I got, with both teams happy for me to be there to cover the game.
Forest won the toss and elected to bat.
The one thing that has always stuck me about this format is how quickly it is played.
I knew that I would need to be on my toes, working my way around the boundary markers with some intent, to get different angles I needed for the pictures.
Knaresborough batted well, running singles and getting a few boundaries, to help push the score over the starting point of 200. Wickets fell regularly [as they do in this format], so the score fluctuated both up and down.
By the end of the 16 overs, the home team had scored 66, but with the number of wickets taken (ten in total), the net score was 216.
At the break in the innings, I was stood close to where Knaresborough Forest were warming up and discussing how they would field. I must admit, I was impressed by the clear and concise coaching advice being given, again helping to simplify the game and make it more enjoyable.
A quick changeover and Richmondshire came out to bat, and they were really impressive!
The visitors were hitting boundaries more often and this helped them to add to their starting score of 200. The slightly better strike rate and fewer wickets falling meant that as the 16th over approached, it was clear they were going to win.
At the end of their innings, Richmondshire had managed to score 114, losing only three wickets. This meant their net score had reached a massive total of 299 runs!
At the close of play on Sunday, Bedale CC sit top of the league (they had won their game against Masham) with 28 points from ten games, Knaresborough Forest are in second place with 20 points from 11 games, and Richmondshire are tucked in just behind, in third with 17 points from nine games.
The afternoon had been a wonderful exhibition of cricket, with plenty of smiles and enjoyment for players and spectators alike; but it had also been competitive, with both teams clearly wanting to win, and a number of players from both sides impressing with the way in which they played.
I’ve written before how I am probably looked upon with some derision by purists, since I hold the opinion that the various newer formats of cricket are a welcome addition to Test cricket.
Accessible formats
I believe that the game simply needs to evolve and become more accessible to all, and with the various formats, can appeal and attract a different and most likely new demographic.
At a time when clubs are struggling to retain and recruit players; a combination of work, time and cost pressures mean people may be unable to commit to playing 40 or 50 over cricket; I honestly believe that the various new formats are a great way to encourage a new generation to take up the game.
Some of these formats remind me of when I had just moved to Yorkshire as a young dinosaur and would play cricket with my friends in the street; someone would bring their bat and tennis ball, and our wickets were the brown telephone pole in the turning circle.
With just a bat and a ball, the game was simple, fun and we all wanted to win…taking pleasure in slogging the ball into a neighbour’s garden and running nine runs as one of the fielders negotiated a fence or gate, sneaking across the garden to retrieve the bright yellow ball from the middle of a lawn.
Watching the two teams play on Sunday gave me similar vibes, I was watching the players’ sheer enjoyment of not only taking part but competing, and knowing that this is potentially a great route into different formats of the game.
📸 MATCH PHOTOS
Want to read more?
Thanks to Mark for his snapshot of league cricket from Knaresborough Forest.
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.
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