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.