There is somebody out there

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.