Cricket Diary 2009 - County 2nd XI cricket

Welbeck Colliery cricket ground

Posted by Tony Hutton

Tuesday 12th May - Having introduced you at some length to the delights of Minor Counties cricket allow me to tell you something about county second eleven cricket. It is very similar in some ways, being played on attractive club grounds in front of small crowds of real cricket enthusiasts.

In other ways it is very different in that it is a proving ground for ambitious young professionals wishing to make cricket a career and also sometimes where the seasoned players come to end their playing time while passing on their acquired knowledge to the youngsters.

Having been foiled by the weather last week when Yorkshire's three day game with Middlesex at Todmorden was rained off on all three days it was off to pastures new once more.

Today provides the opportunity of visiting yet another new ground for me that of Welbeck Colliery cricket club in Nottinghamshire on the outskirts of Market Warsop, where Notts 2nd XI are taking on Leicestershire 2nd XI in a three day match. This is a fairly new sports complex built two or three years ago by a local benefactor and is a very impressive place with a huge pavilion, including a banqueting suite, two cricket grounds, bowling green, soccer pitches etc etc.

The problem for cricket watchers remains the strong easterly winds from which there is no escape, so eventually a retreat to watch from the car is called for. The first problem at such games is to find out the details of the players, often no official scorecard is provided. Today however the Notts scorer runs of a detailed team sheet on his computer and everyone is happy.

A good number of regular cricket watchers from Yorkshire have made the short journey over the border into Notts to watch and probably out number the locals. The visitors are pleasantly suprised to find no less than three former Yorkshire academy boys in the line ups. Greg Wood, a very good batsman/wicketkeeper asked to be released at the end of last season because of the lack of first team opportunities is here keeping wicket for Notts, who do not appear at present to have a regular deputy for first team captain Chris Read.

Leicester have two former Yorkshire academy players in Chris Allinson a clean hitting left hand bat from Guisborough who lost form last season and allegedly gave up his cricketing ambitions to get 'a proper job'. Perhaps he has changed his mind and is trying his hand with Leicester together with another Teeside product, Alex Roberts, who had done the rounds of county second teams and is also playing Minor Counties for Cumberland.

Roberts top scores with 49 in Leicester's somewhat disappointing all out total of 205, but Allinson sadly does not stay long. I remember his splendid straight driving in the under 17s cup final some three years ago now and wish him well. Greg Wood rounds off the innings with a good catch behind the stumps and hopefully some runs tomorrow may help to resurect his career too.