Yorkshire's clubs get cold snap

Yorkshire’s cricket clubs are no strangers to the slings and arrows of outrageous weather. But as I hunker down and roll my eyes at the temperature reaching -11°C in Bingley, thoughts turn to volunteers.

In my neck of the woods, Bradford & Bingley Cricket Club (who are well versed in dealing with massive and regular flooding) got hit on 1 January. Happy New Year! (You’ll need to swim or canoe to reach the rugby clubhouse).

The strange thing is that it hasn’t felt like a particularly wet past month here but, as you can see, we had a sudden deluge over days, as others parts of Yorkshire did at the start of 2025, with flood warnings issued by the Met Office.

Those cricket clubs who have experience of being flooded know the drill. They have systems in place, a flood plan, suitable insurance and have thought about designing their spaces for minimal disruption.

Even so, it must be difficult for the volunteers who have to watch this play out on repeat, knowing there’s work to be done yet again to clear the mess afterwards and tackle the admin.

For those who look after cricket grounds, this is often a time where they are still dormant before pre-season prep begins in earnest. Beyond any snow-related clear-up, there’s also the impact on our cricket pitches.

Apparently, even snow mould is a thing. (Thanks to Dave Hodgson at Kirkstall Educational CC for that nugget).

In our corner of the world, the last week or so has brought quite a bit of snow (foot and a half), which partially melted before refreezing and transforming pavements, paths and roads into ice rinks.

We can get quite cavalier (or cynical) about our weather in the UK because records seemingly tumble on a daily basis. All I’ll say is that I can’t recall it being as cold.

It has snowed more and for longer but average temperatures during the day have been well South (or should that be North?) of zero.

Dealing with -5°C to -10°C is not what we’re typically set up for.

The advantage of working from home is that I can choose not to travel and I’m grateful I have the flexibility when it’s like this to just wait it out.

shipley providence cricket club in the snow

Thaw(ny) problems

Snow in January in the UK is not exactly a shocker. Yet, cricket clubs have quite a few plates to spin from judging whether to open at all to travel around winter nets and then the big thaw.

Dramatic swings in temperatures over a 24-hour period have become normal but where I live, Monday should see us heading towards 10°C. All of that snow and ice has to go somewhere.

When it melts, another problem presents itself. This is where drainage and the quirks of each ground’s topography comes to the fore.

To take you back to Wagon Lane, Bradford & Bingley’s HQ, they’ll have had floods, snow and maybe more to contend with yet.

It’s not all doom and gloom by any means. The snowfall and ice offers plenty of chance to get out and have fun too from sledging (not that kind) to a bit of creativity.

At Northowram Fields Cricket Club, they took to Instagram to show off their new signing.

This cold snap has only lasted a week (it’s felt longer) and a shoutout to all the club volunteers who work tirelessly in all weather to shovel or soak up whatever the weather throws their way.