posted by John Winn
My local weekly paper The Harrogate Advertiser in this week's edition carried lengthy articles on two village cricket teams east of the A1. Two articles that brought very contrasting pieces of news. First the good news which was about Whixley CC, just a mile from where I live and now the recipient of a £50K grant from Olympic legacy funding. In 2005 Whixley's pavilion was destroyed in an arson attack and eight years on they still change and take tea in temporary accommodation. During this difficult time the club has not let the grass grow under its feet, far from it for they have bought, levelled and sown a sizeable extension to the playing area. The legacy grant will go towards replacing and improving the facilities that were destroyed eight years ago.
Strongly supported by the local community the club has a thriving junior section, with a waiting list that can be accommodated by the expansion of facilities. More money is required and the next event will be on April 13th, just a week ahead of the playing season, when the club will celebrate the award of the £50K with a dinner in the village hall.
Whixley run two teams in the Wetherby league and the 'bad news' article features another club from that league and a sharper contrast in fortunes could not be imagined. Rufforth CC near York, rather than thinking about expansion are facing extinction. Their recent AGM attracted only six members and led the club to decide to do without a second XI in 2013 but Ed White's article draws an even bleaker picture, namely that the club may not be able to raise even one team. It is not just a question of finding eleven blokes to take the field in eleven weeks time, the club has no captain, treasurer or secretary. Bleak indeed and another blow to The Wetherby League whose loss of clubs I have commented on in previous postings. The fixtures on the league website show a sixth and bottom division of just six teams and one of those is the now folded Rufforth II. Should the first team also disappear this will have ramifications for clubs from Division III downwards and leave the management committee with some awkward decisions.
Let's hope that the worst does not happen, for it would mean the end of cricket on the village airfield where the game has been played since 1946, ten years before the club embraced league cricket. It is hard, however, to see how such problems could be overcome. Rufforth youth set up finished four years ago and there is no shortage of other clubs in that area. This perhaps accounts for 'a spate of player departures' a major factor in the club's demise. I note that the ECB has this week begun a campaign to address the problem of 'teen drop off' and there is an online survey inviting clubs to comment on this problem.
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1 comment:
only just seen this, but i am now Rufforth CC first team captain, we have been able to field 2 teams this year and so far both teams are undefeated. We had a high tur out in our second meeting and through recruitment e now have a squad of about 30 members!
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