Disappointed in Derbyshire

Posted by John Winn
A family celebration took my wife and me to her home village of Tideswell near Buxton today. Reading the 'Village Voice' I noted that Tideswell CC were due to play a team from the Manchester area in a friendly match this afternoon. So after lunch we strolled down to the cricket ground only to find the square roped off and a distinct end of season feeling in the air. The article from which I had drawn the information about today's intended game lamented that there had been a number of fixtures cancelled lately because opponents could not raise an eleven. A look at Tideswell's website reveals that they only play friendly cricket restricted to Sunday fixtures. It looks as though today's fixture had joined the list of cancellations and it is puzzling to me ,that Tideswell, a village of more than 1500 population should not play league cricket. Enquiries will be made.
There is an thriving league in the area. 'The Yorkshire and Derbyshire League' this season welcomed 6 new teams and 5 new clubs to 'boost numbers' to record levels. The 5 divisions cover 56 teams spread over Sheffield, North East Derbyshire and The Peak District.
In today's Observer a back page article by Vic Marks describes a 'gripping climax to the county season' with the championship, promotion and relegation issues still in the balance with two rounds of matches to go. Marks is a staunch champion of the county championship and in his article says that the 'two men and a dog' image of county cricket is unfair and that decent crowds do attend the matches whether at 'Worcester or Taunton, Liverpool or Headingley.'The photograph accompanying the article is of just such 'a decent crowd' at Scarborough for the match against Worcestershire in July. There is a degree of irony in the choice of photograph because it is of the popular side, probably the least tenanted part of the ground. Indeed one can imagine some editors using the same photograph to make just the opposite point. Marks also writes in The Guardian, The Observer's sister paper, whose coverage of county cricket in general and the championship in particular, is very poor. Perhaps Victor might have a word with his sports editor and point out to him or her just how fascinating a prospect the next two weeks hold.