posted by John Winn
In a posting last summer I remarked on a peculiarity of making contributions to the blog was that one could not be sure if they were read by anybody and even if they were, who that person or persons might be. I did mention that some readers had been kind enough to say at the end of the season that they enjoyed the postings which was encouraging but yesterday however I discovered that with a little delving there is very detailed information available about the popularity of the site and the composition its readership.
Since its inception in May 2009 the blog has had almost 15000 'page views'*, 62% from the UK, 15% from USA, 3% from The Netherlands and almost as many from Russia! The peak month for 'hits' was July 2011 when there were over 1500 page views,devotees seeking a refuge from T20?, and perhaps most remarkably there have been over 400 pageviews already in 2012, including 75 in the last week. We may well have a Republican in our midst for there is one hit recorded at 3:00 pm on December 25th.
Postings are also listed by their popularity with number one being by Tony Hutton in 2009 describing cricket under the heading 'A wet bank holiday weekend', which had 264 page views. Perhaps not surprisingly four of the top ten have been for the monthly fixture lists provided by Tony.
Encouraged by all this I attach a few bits of information which might be considered the real business of the blog.
Most counties have published their second eleven fixtures although Durham appear to be keeping theirs a secret and in some cases venues are still to be confirmed. Yorkshire were quick off the mark and it is good to see Harrogate with four days cricket in April when Leicestershire will be the visitors.
With first class cricket beginning on 31st March and the championship a few days later, there a number of friendlies scheduled including Essex against Surrey on 21st March. For those who prefer their cricket in warmer climes and had better luck than I had at Wetherby Races last week, then YCCC start their pre-season tour of Barbados with a practice match on March 15th, full details of packages are available on the club website. Nearer to home and almost certainly colder, The Riverside hosts a two day friendly between Durham and Yorkshire starting on April 1st.
League cricket fixtures are also available with most competitions beginning on April 21st although I note that the NYSD Sunday league begins the previous week, i.e. April 15th.
If you can add any additions, clarifications or corrections to this fixture information then please use the comments section.
* apparently a 'pageview' is not the same as a 'hit' but you probably get the idea.
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Tuesday 10 January 2012
'Hallowed Homes of Cricket'
posted by John Winn
Happy New Year and I hope this mild January finds you well and looking forward to the 2012 season which begins in just 81 days. Father Christmas was kind to me, in particular because he delivered Chris Arnot's lovely nostalgic book 'Britain's Lost Cricket Grounds'. The front cover of the book shows the Central Ground at Hastings where I was fortunate enough to play on a number of occasions and to be present when the last first class fixture was played between Sussex and Middlesex in 1989. Although the ground sustained club cricket until 1994 it is now a shopping centre.The book was previewed via this blog in October by Tony Hutton and Tony described how he was approached by the author when he was researching the loss of the Fartown ground in Huddersfield.Tony's contribution to the text appears on page 161.
The idea behind Arnot's book is a simple one: find forty cricket grounds where the game is no longer played, visit the site of each one,talk to people who recall when cricket was played there and illustrate with photographs showing how it was and how it is now, the sort of idea that might have produced a mundane book with a few very familiar photographs. Fortunately Arnot's book is not like that. It is the work of a craftsman who has thoroughly researched the project, cares deeply that such grounds have been lost and he has used many lovely photographs which I suspect in many cases will be new to readers, especially those from the Edwardian era. Photographs, not readers!
Back to Hastings, which occupies the first chapter and in which two photographs commemorate the remarkable achievements of Denis Compton in 1947 when he eclipsed both Hayward's aggregate of 3518 runs and Jack Hobbs' record of sixteen centuries in a first class season. Compton achieved both these landmarks at the Hastings Festival that year. First he beat Hobbs' record when scoring 101 against the touring South Africans for the South of England and a few days later and again representing the South, this time against Pelham Warner's XI, Compton scored the 35 runs necessary to beat Hayward.How those large post war crowds must have enjoyed that week's cricket.
At the same time as Compton was entertaining seaside crowds in Sussex the Scarborough Festival was in progress at North Marine Road. When the original fixture list was published it had featured a match between Leveson Gower's XI and the South Africans but 'shipping conditions' compelled the men from the veld to return home early and the fixtures were rearranged with a North v South match taking the place of the tourists' match. The final match of that year's festival was between The Players, captained by Hutton, who comfortably beat The Gentlemen. One little peculiarity is that the 'Indisposition of Brennan left The Gentlemen without a wicketkeeper and (J.L.) Cheetham of Bridlington took his place'. This was to be Cheetham's only first class match and almost 10% of The Players' runs came in byes but he could perhaps have gained consolation from the fact that his only victim was England opener Cyril Washbrook, caught behind for 7.
In closing I should point out that Arnot's book is not just about the demise of county grounds like Hastings and Fartown, for these are in the minority, although they do include The Circle at Hull where Yoekshire played until the 1990s. Many of the lost grounds described were works' and village grounds. Arnot's description of such grounds will equally bring a tear to the eye of those who played and watched cricket there and perhaps to those who just love the game.
Happy New Year and I hope this mild January finds you well and looking forward to the 2012 season which begins in just 81 days. Father Christmas was kind to me, in particular because he delivered Chris Arnot's lovely nostalgic book 'Britain's Lost Cricket Grounds'. The front cover of the book shows the Central Ground at Hastings where I was fortunate enough to play on a number of occasions and to be present when the last first class fixture was played between Sussex and Middlesex in 1989. Although the ground sustained club cricket until 1994 it is now a shopping centre.The book was previewed via this blog in October by Tony Hutton and Tony described how he was approached by the author when he was researching the loss of the Fartown ground in Huddersfield.Tony's contribution to the text appears on page 161.
The idea behind Arnot's book is a simple one: find forty cricket grounds where the game is no longer played, visit the site of each one,talk to people who recall when cricket was played there and illustrate with photographs showing how it was and how it is now, the sort of idea that might have produced a mundane book with a few very familiar photographs. Fortunately Arnot's book is not like that. It is the work of a craftsman who has thoroughly researched the project, cares deeply that such grounds have been lost and he has used many lovely photographs which I suspect in many cases will be new to readers, especially those from the Edwardian era. Photographs, not readers!
Back to Hastings, which occupies the first chapter and in which two photographs commemorate the remarkable achievements of Denis Compton in 1947 when he eclipsed both Hayward's aggregate of 3518 runs and Jack Hobbs' record of sixteen centuries in a first class season. Compton achieved both these landmarks at the Hastings Festival that year. First he beat Hobbs' record when scoring 101 against the touring South Africans for the South of England and a few days later and again representing the South, this time against Pelham Warner's XI, Compton scored the 35 runs necessary to beat Hayward.How those large post war crowds must have enjoyed that week's cricket.
At the same time as Compton was entertaining seaside crowds in Sussex the Scarborough Festival was in progress at North Marine Road. When the original fixture list was published it had featured a match between Leveson Gower's XI and the South Africans but 'shipping conditions' compelled the men from the veld to return home early and the fixtures were rearranged with a North v South match taking the place of the tourists' match. The final match of that year's festival was between The Players, captained by Hutton, who comfortably beat The Gentlemen. One little peculiarity is that the 'Indisposition of Brennan left The Gentlemen without a wicketkeeper and (J.L.) Cheetham of Bridlington took his place'. This was to be Cheetham's only first class match and almost 10% of The Players' runs came in byes but he could perhaps have gained consolation from the fact that his only victim was England opener Cyril Washbrook, caught behind for 7.
In closing I should point out that Arnot's book is not just about the demise of county grounds like Hastings and Fartown, for these are in the minority, although they do include The Circle at Hull where Yoekshire played until the 1990s. Many of the lost grounds described were works' and village grounds. Arnot's description of such grounds will equally bring a tear to the eye of those who played and watched cricket there and perhaps to those who just love the game.
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