A rewarding day

posted by John Winn

Wednesday morning saw me driving up a foggy A1 to Richmond to call on a stalwart of Gilling West CC, Doug Deighton.

Doug began playing for Gilling during WWII as an eleven year old in junior cricket and on finishing playing he coached the club's juniors as well as running The White Swan, one of the village's two pubs.  Gilling were members of The Swaledale League and Doug remembers it as a league of small grounds, decent wickets but rough outfields and small pavilions. Opponents included Richmond II, Scorton, Arkengarthdale, Brompton on Swale, Barningham and Hutton Magna. In the immediate post war period the team always included a number of farmers and  transport was not a problem and when Doug entered the fruit and vegetable business his van (AKU 4543 he readily remembered) could accommodate the full XI at a pinch!

Doug has a fine collection of memorobilia relating to his time as a player and junior cricket coach and I enjoyed looking at press cuttings. photographs and most of all, old scorebooks. The oldest of these produced from his loft  began in 1932 when in addition to the clubs mentioned above matches were played against the likes of United Bus Company, Richmond Post Office, Skeeby and Wensley. Unfortunately it was not possible to distinguish between league, cup and friendly fixtures, but low scores were characteristic of the period. The unpredictably of the wickets is illustrated by a match taken from the 1958 book.It showed what Doug called a 'score draw' with Gilling 27 all out and home team Hutton Magna dismissed for the same score on what he described as a 'desperate' wicket. The following week on the Gilling ground Barningham were cleaned up for 18, a total which suggests that the Hutton Magna had not cornered the market in desperation.

When the Swaledale League folded circa 1965 Gilling also packed up, only to restart some years later as members of the Darlington and District League. The league tables show them as members of that league in 1996 but that may have been their last season for on the village website in 2010 reference was made to 'the return of cricket ...after an absence of 14/15 years'. This was not however Gilling's third coming but related to the use of the Gilling ground by Richmond IV team.

On leaving Doug's house in Richmond I drove the few miles to Gilling and going through the village found the ground behind a high stone wall on the left as I drove out of the village. (Gilling had previously played on another ground in a field across the road from the existing ground). This area suffered particularly badly in the floods at the end of last month and much of the ground is still under water and while it has drained from the wicket it has left behind a muddy mess such that, even at this time of the year, it is very difficult to imagine cricket being played there next season.

My afternoon call was in the village of Scruton, near Northallerton where I was welcomed by their chairman Trevor Howe who had laid out a display of the club's history in his conservatory with more scorebooks, press cuttings etc,. Scruton's past is rather like Gilling's in that they had a long period of inaction but revived as members of the Wensleydale League and Trevor has a fixture card for the 1957 season fot this competition. On the closure of The Wensleydale league Scruton took advantage of a vacancy in the Langbaurgh League and they remain members of that competition. After taking me through the history of the club we went to the other end of the village to see Trevor's pride and joy, the club's splendid pavilion, which was opened in 2000. I had previously visited the ground in 2010 when Scruton were playing Chop Gate and been invited to view the museum which is housed in the attic of the building. This time I had a guided tour by its inspiration and curator, club chairman, village historian and parish councillor, Mr Trevor Howe, a great character.

Leaving Scruton I made the short journey to the county archive at Northallerton where I looked at a collection of letters on microfilm to and by the secretary of Reeth CC in the late nineteenth century. Letters written to arrange fixtures, no telephones of course but there is a photocopy of a telegram sent from a team in Richmond, reluctantly cancelling a fixture. The letters give a clear picture of Reeth's opponents at that time, many of whom at a later date they would face in The Swaledale League. Amongst others there are letters from the secretaries of Redmire, Bedale, Middleham, Leyburn and Kirby Stephen. One is struck by the clear handwriting and the formality, (I remain, sir, your servant) of the letters. A far cry  from the language of email, text and twitter.

Gone with the wind

posted by John Winn

In a posting I made in April (At the centre of things)I referred to some information I had had from a neighbour about Hessay Cricket Club. The village of Hessay is about five miles west of York, just off the A59 and very much in The Vale of York and by Ordnance Survey's calculations the very centre of Yorkshire.

My neighbour, Mrs June Sanderson, has in the past week loaned me three fixture cards from the immediate post war era (1947, 1950 and 1951) when Hessay played in The Hessay and District League and The Hessay and District Evening League. June's maiden name was Abbey and her family were very much involved in Hessay cricket. The 1951 card shows L Abbey as Secretary and W H Abbey as a committee member.

Plot the participating clubs on a map and in the main they follow the A59 on its journey westward from York towards Green Hammerton with appropriately Hessay pretty much in the middle. Several of the clubs on the fixture card  are no longer in existence and it may have been their demise that hastened the end of The Hessay League. Some still take the field today, mainly in The York Vale but some found The Wetherby League more convenient.  Members of the group labelled 'gone but not forgotten' include Nun Monkton and Knapton while Green Hammerton and Rufforth are amongst those who still fly the flag.

The 1947 card is particularly interesting for it includes fixtures against Marston R.A. F. and Rufforth R.A.F. both of which were wartime airfields. The most celebrated serviceman at Marston was Hollywood star Clark Gable. It is not known whether he batted or bowled. 'Frankly my dear I don't give a damn'.

The front page of the fixture cards shows the officers of the league. President in 1947 was D Lycett Green, a member of the wealthy Wakefield family who were responsible for the restoration of The Treasurer's House in York, now a National Trust Property. The Vice Presidents in 1947 include a major, a reverend, an army captain and a colonel. Amongst these and rising to President in 1952 was Capt W. Riley Smith whose family owned John Smith's brewery and who commissioned the Riley Smith Hall in Tadcaster in 1924. Fom a cricketing viewpoint the most interesting of the VPs is Colonel Ronald Stanyforth, four times England test cricketer and who died at Kirk Hammerton Hall in 1964. He actually captained his country before he played county cricket.

Evening League fixtures are listed along with Saturday's matches and were played on Mondays from mid May to mid July. This league seems to have gone into decline before the Saturday League for Hessay played only 6 such matches in 1952. Reports of the leagues can be found in the archive of The York Press.

Some readers may be aware that I am doing some research into former cricket leagues in North Yorkshire and I have been busy this last week contacting people who I think may be able to help and the response has been most encouraging. One such league is The Swaledale and I have an appointment this week to visit a gentleman in Richmond who is over ninety and who I hope will be able to answer some questions about that league. Some documents pertaining to this league are held at The Swaledale Museum in Reeth and they have kindly offered to include a small piece in their newsletter about my research that I hope will elicit further contacts. I have also got leads into a number of other leagues including The Wensleydale, The Wath and The Vale of Mowbray, enough to be going on with.!

Be careful what you wish for

posted by John Winn

In a posting I made in August (Have your say) I made reference to an on line survey by the ecb which gave cricket followers the opportunity to comment on the structure of the first class game and partly in response to the more than 25000 who completed the questionnaire, yesterday they announced a revamp of the county game for 2014. I suspect that by now most readers of this post will have seen the recommendations so I will spare you the details.

In the  August posting I outlined suggestions I had made in the free comment space at the end of the survey and it would appear that two of the points I  made were shared by others. These were that as far as possible championship matches  should have a fixed starting day and linked to this T20 games should be identified with a particular night of the week. From 2014 until the closing stages of the season the four day game (and there will still be sixteen of these) will begin on Sundays and most T20s will be on Fridays. So you would think I would be happy with the revamp, well to a degree but what I had not reckoned with was that the start day would be Sunday, or if I had, had I had not thought through the consequences. I can see that this will suit many, especially those unable to see championship cricket on weekdays and that it might increase attendances and even attract a new audience.

I have, however just deleted two paragraphs which on reading were little more than a whinge about the logistics of getting from The Lower Ure valley to Chester le Street on Sundays by public transport, which although not inconsiderable are not insurmountable and although Sunday would not be my preferred day for the start of four day matches things could have been a lot worse. For example counties resisted pressure to reduce by two the number of championship matches  and with Sundays and Fridays as fixed points for most of the season, it will at least have a recognisable and in time, familiar structure which I think will be of benefit to the game.

The wet season

posted by John Winn

Yesterday saw the end of my cricket watching for 2012 and I estimate it will be a little over twenty weeks before there will be a chance to resume. When the end came it was swift. One minute I was enjoying warm October sunshine and the increasingly boisterous company of pcws who were in something of a end of term mood, next the temperature dropped sharply, the rain started and I joined the exodus for the gate and the busy road that passes Arthington CC. Thanks to Brian for sticking it out and giving us the scores.

2012 has of course been dominated by the weather. Lots of experienced watchers have said it has been the wettest they can remember and nobody has contradicted them. Not just the number of days lost but the intensity of the downpours and the misery it has caused to those whose homes and businesses have been flooded. Their travails put abandoned cricket matches into perspective, no matter how many of the latter there may  have been.

Despite the rain, on totting up I have actually seen more 'representative cricket'( county first and second XIs, age group cricket etc), than in 2011 but it has been my nomadic Saturday watching round the leagues that has been most affected, just 38 new grounds compared with well over 50 the previous year.  May, June and July saw Saturday after Saturday blighted by flood waters to such depths that clubs could only stand and wait until they subsided. The hardest to bear were those Saturdays when the sun shone, but only on  lakes formed earlier in the week.

In the County Championship, still my preferred option, the highlights have been Yorkshire's strong finish to gain promotion with the thrilling if contrived final day at Scarborough and three sun filled days at Headingley which saw Glamorgan put to the sword and the confidence from these two wins taken forward to the last game with Essex and another win to clinch promotion. Where now the man who at 11:45 on the opening day of the Headingley season was heard to say 'forget promotion'? A convenient case of amnesia I suspect.

 I was also able to draw satisfaction from Durham's reversal of form which brought them five wins from the last six games and under Collingwood's captaincy steered them well clear of the rocks of relegation. Some readers will be aware of my pursuit of seeing each county play every other county in the Championship at least once, a total of 153 matches. This I have now reduced to twenty and 2013 will provide the chance to see 11 of these. Lancashire's relegation brings Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Northants to Old Trafford or Liverpool and with Derbyshire passing the red rose st the pavilion gates their elevation after many years in Div 2 will see them play Somerset at The County Ground or Queen's Park, another outstanding 'listed match'.

Despite the blank or truncated Saturdays there have nevertheless been some memorable moments  to dwell on over the next few months. Londesborough Park was a case of being in the right place at the right time, a beautiful ground on a beautiful day and Thornton in Craven was not far behind and of course reaching 'the holy grail' of Hartlepool Power Station.

The lows have been the many days lost to  total washouts and the bitter cold of cricket at Marske-by-the-Sea and Scarborough in early May. Cricket was never meant to be played so close to The North Sea so early in the summer.

The end of the season inevitably means the blog will enter a quiet period but last year's winter postings averaged almost one a week and that should at least be matched. We'll do our best.

Finally belated congratulations to Yorkshire Over 60s who won the County Plate competition for their age group. The final against Devon Over 60s was played at Malvern on Sunday 30th September and Yorkshire won by ten runs. Thanks to team manager Dave Todd for keeping me up to date with fixtures and results form this competition. Well done Dave and the team.

FINAL MATCHES OF 2012

By Brian Sanderson,

A tale told by Alan Suddart at Pudsey on Friday. October is a month that a cricket follower finds that his wife left him in April.

This weekend was the final matches at Arthington.On Saturday I travelled through rain to the match against Cambridge Methodist.They were playing  and  there was a few spectators as some were watching football and Brian was at Melton jazz weekend.Addington were batting with and were only one wicket down.Steve Bindman was bowling for Methodists and bowled four overs of good lob bowling.Steve will play for any side that is one short and plays for three indoor cricket sides. I was with Michael Swaby who was the son of Alan who I  knew for over forty years but had died on Wednesday.

Michael like all new visitors is impressed by the views and the entertaining cricket in October.Arthington scored 188 and won the match by forty runs with the match finishing after six o,clock.

To-day I set of in sunshine to watch Hawksworth playing  which may be their last match  as there is talk of them joining Arthington next season.They play at the moment in the Dales League and batted first to-day.They were soon losing wickets to Denis Nash and Mel Wood.Spectators included the missing supporters from yesterday together with three people from Lancashire together with Steve Bindman who cried off playing due to flu.Also two twins from Doncaster who we found out work for Rington Tea.
During the first over their was thirteen players on the field and in the second over was transferred to Hawksworth making a twelve man match.

Hawkswoth reached 144 in the forty over due to a good tenth wicket partnreship of  forty runs.Mick  Bourne went round with ticket for the raffle with the money going to Arthington.After tea  the rain came in which forced a number of spectators to leave which two people missed  two prizes in the raffle.During the innings we could see numerous rain-bows in the distance which caused the team off the field twice.It became very cold by the time Arthington won the match by six wickets.

Rain was falling heavily as we left with summed up the cricket season of 2012.

A different experience

posted by John Winn

'Eclectic: selecting or choosing from various sources' and an ideal word to describe the conversation among pcws at Arthington yesterday where in sunshine even better than Saturday's a crowd of over fifty saw the game between Arthington and Doghouse CC from the Middlesbrough area. The visitors were accompanied by a number of female spectators, presumably the keepers of the keys to the doghouse. Otherwise it was the great and good of West Yorkshire with representation from Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Pudsey and all stations west plus the odd intruder from North Yorkshire, the border of which is just a couple of miles from the ground.

Such was the press for seats that as the afternoon wore on chairs were brought from car boots to provide extra seating and topics under discussion included Shostakovitch's Seventh (too many notes the majority view), the cost of taking a dog on a day's outing from Penzance to The Isles of Scilly (£25 would you believe), Leeds Rhinos' success the evening before,  the Papua New Guinea chess team and from time to time matters of a cricketing interest.

In the match itself Doghouse batted first and rattled up just short of two hundred by tea. Supplying so many with refreshments taxed even the indefatigable Liz and when play resumed Arthington lost early wickets, not helped by a run out which left the victim understandably rueful and eventually they were dismissed a little short of three figures*.The last pair were back in the kennel not long  after half past five, by which time the temperature was such as to remind us that it is a week into October and even on a day like yesterday the cold soon gets into mature bones.

There  is one more weekend for such a congregation to meet again and enjoy cricket this season. Next Saturday's visitors to Arthington are Cambridge Road Methodists and on Sunday ground sharers Hawksworth will bring the festival to an end. Wouldn't it be wonderful to think that the sun would shine again like it did yesterday and that there could be another such good turn out of pcws? For as Peter France, whose first visit it was yesterday, so splendidly described the afternoon 'it is a different experience', indeed it is.

* Apologies to those looking for more details of the scores but what with trying to keep people up to date with the T20 Final in Colombo and at the same time keep it from Brian Senior I failed to take much notice of events on the field.

Spectators 7 Players 1

posted by John Winn

Two weeks since I visited Arthington and bemoaned the speed with which winter seemed to have come upon us. Not so. Yesterday was the 'season of mists' at its best with warm sunshine and the trees doing their best to make this little corner of Yorkshire look like New England. Only one thing was missing as five of us assembled shortly before the one o'clock start: there was no cricket .Rain earleir in the week had caused the game to be called off on Friday. Ian from The Duchy of Lancaster had travelled furthest and arrived first and had already inspected the wicket before the rest of us arrived. He was able to confirm that there was standing water on an adjacent wicket.

Following a demonstration of motor cross from Mr Bindman we considered what alternatives the afternoon might offer. Ian knew that there was no game at Harewood which ruled out cricket. By this time Martin Binks had arrived to say that he had phoned a number of people to let them know that the game had been cancelled  and expressed his regret that he was unable to get in touch with everybody. To try and prevent unnecessary journeys in the future, particularly this afternoon,  he kindly passed on his mobile number.

Just as we were dispersing, Eddie and June arrived to swell the crowd  to seven, excluding Martin that is. I settled for going home and mowing the grass for what I hope will be the last time this year and to follow the fortunes of Darlington 1883* on twitter. Outside it is a beautiful autumn morning so let's hope that the sun is strong enough to make play against Doghouse CC possible this afternoon.

Whilst I can bring you no description of events on the field there is plenty to keep the game to the front of the mind of the pcw. It is  T20 finals in Sri Lanka today of course and as I type Yorkshire are playing a warm up game in South Africa as preparation for their part in The Champions League T20 where they start in earnest on Tuesday with a game against Sri Lankan side Uva Next. For those with access to Sky this game can  be seen live on British Eurosport 2 at 12:20 pm. Whether their involvement in the tournament will prevent Yorkshire signing another pace bowler this week remanis to be seen.

Interesting piece in The Cricket Paper this week by Paul Nixon drawing comparisons between Saj Mahmood and Yorkshire's latest signing Liam Plunkett. 'The perfect move for all concerned' says Nixon of Plunkett's arrival at Headingley.Mmmm says me. Good for Plunkett ? Yes, given Durham were going to ship him out anyway. Good for Durham? Yes a big earner off the payroll who only bowled twelve overs in the championship this summer and who even if he had been fit would not, I suspect,  have fitted into Admiral Collingwood's side where the emphasis has been on bowlers who can exercise control. Good for Yorkshire? Only time will tell but I remember clearly an afternoon at Headingley in 2003 when an 18 year old Plunkett took four wickets in nine balls to open the door to Durham's first championship win over Yorkshire in  eleven attempts. Ten years on it may be too much to expect Plunkett to achieve those kind of feats again but he is no mean no 8 or 9 bat and a good fielder. After all  he was born south of the River Tees so 'coming home' may just be the ticket that will get him  to the front of those queueing to take the new ball. Perm any one from four, Sidebottom, Patterson, Ashraf and Brooks and that assumes Shahzad won't be coming back.

No sign of next year's domestic fixtures yet but bit by bit the season's structure is emerging with dates announced for T20 and CB 40 finals. It seems likely that the season will start a week later this year, with the first championship matches on or about the 9th of April, and go on a week later in September. Meteorologically speaking the merits of this are, of course, impossible to call but personally I still prefer the idea of watching in mid September to the first week in April. The rain should be warmer if nothing else.

* OK if you insist, they won 7-1

IN THE PRESENCE OF AUTHORS

By Brian Sanderson,

On the return from five days break in the London area it was nice to get back to  village cricket.The forecast was sunny but a strong westerly wind at Arthington were they were playing The Jesters who are based round Leeds.One of the first people I met was Tony Hutton who was very pleased to tell me  he had just received three books from Brian Levinson who has recently published a book called All in a Day,s Cricket in which  a story is included from "Off the beaten track" which was written by Tony ,Brian and Mick.One of the nice things was in the index Tony Hutton name was next to Len Hutton.

Back to the match The Jester bowled first with a young Goldthorpe bowling.He is the son of James Goldthorpe who plays for Yeadon and was at the match to see two of his sons play in the match.Another playing in the team was Mel Wood who played for Arthington last week.After the rain last week the pitch was soft and Arthington struggled to score quickly.They managed to score 132 for 9 in the forty overs.

At tea-time Mick Bourne and Brian Senior arrived after watching a match at Harewood a few miles away so they collected their own private copy of the Levinson book.The openers for The Jesters were Matin Ivill and his son who was also the wicket-keeper.Martin plays for Yorkshire over 60,s together with Mel Wood and to-day he topped scored with fifty-four not out .The bowling was not of the highest standard so the match finished about five forty-five plenty of time to see the rugby league.Just to remind people Leeds are in the Grand Final next week after a hard match at Wigan.

Forecast for to-morrow is rain so the match with King James must be questionable.