Yesterday was one of those days when the fixtures seem to have been drawn up with me in mind. At the beginning of the season one of my aims was to finish visiting all the grounds in the Premier Division of the NYSD League, not that an onerous a task for the there were only three names on the list and one of those, Thornaby, I had visited earlier in the season. The fixtures for June 29th showed that the first teams of the two remaining clubs, Redcar and Saltburn would both be at home and those readers whose knowledge of geography extends to that part of the world will know the two towns are but a few miles apart.
In the family album there is a photograph of me as a small boy pictured on Redcar sea front. I am aged about four and I am with my dad who is dressed in what passed in those days for 'smart casual'. It would certainly would have gained him entrance to the pavilion at Old Trafford for his only concession to the holiday mood seems to have been that he has left off his habitual trilby. In the next few years we made quite frequent visits to Redcar, usually for organised day trips, but until yesterday, apart from one trip to the races, I don't suppose I had been there for over fifty years. In the meantime it (Redcar) has become rather run down (bit like the blogger you may be thinking) but the cricket ground, which is quite close to the seafront, looked in good shape in yesterday's warm sunshine. A large playing area is surrounded by smartly painted benches, probably enough for yesterday's small crowd to have one each and the boundary is marked by a handsome rope.
Founder members of the league, Redcar regained top flight status when promoted last season and after a sticky start have shown enough improvement to pull away from the relegation places, but faced tough opposition yesterday in Marton CC, who had made the relatively short journey along the A174 from the outskirts of Middlesbrough. Redcar won the toss and elected to field and Marton made only slow progress in front of a growing number of spectators. When I left after a dozen or so overs the first wicket had just fallen. The league website this morning doesn't provide full details but it records an outright win for Marton with Redcar bowled out for 92 chasing 153 to win.
In a posting made earlier in the season Brian described a visit to Darlington made with his sister in which he commented on the influence of the philanthropic Quaker family, the Peases, on the town's fortunes and its fine architecture. The same family is also very much part of Saltburn's history for it was Henry Pease who had the vision in the 1860s to buy land from the Earl of Zetland on which the splendours of the seaside resort were laid out. Driving through the town on my way to the cricket ground Henry's foresight was still very evident.
At the Marske Mill Lane ground Saltburn, also newly promoted, were hosts to Barnard Castle, a club that has come up in the world since my playing days, and after the loss of three early wickets to Faisal Khaliq a strong recovery was in progress with professional Umesh Karunarathna and Chris Hooker putting on 180 for the fourth wicket. 'Barnie' became increasingly frustrated with the one umpire in particular as they conceded ten wides. The ground slopes away from the pavilion and although self contained has tennis, bowls and a large leisure centre as neighbours. On the site of the old pavilion and contiguous with the leisure centre are indoor nets and the whole complex has benefited from lottery money. Pity the architect for the leisure centre wasn't able to take advice from Henry Pease. Barnard Castle fell seventy runs short of Saltburn's total but thanks to 81 not out from James Finch defied the hosts full points.
Next stop the Langbaurgh League and the ground of Skelton Castle CC which is nicely signposted from the Skelton by-pass but alas no cricket: continuous rain on Friday had thwarted Skelton's covering system and the game had been abandoned. Family fun day went ahead with bouncy castle and bbq, but minus the blogger who moved on to another previously unvisited ground in this area, that of Moorsholm CC. It was league cup day in the Langbaurgh but the match between Moorsholm and Thimbleby was a 'dead rubber' game for both teams with neither able to qualify for the semi finals. When I arrived it was tea and the visitors had been bowled out for 60. If I had expectations for this ground then they were far exceeded with an attractive tree surrounded playing area topped off by a new, but traditional, wooden pavilion which is in use and needs just a few finishing touches to be complete. I enjoyed a chat with the groundsman (hope you have been able to find the blog) who explained that Moorsholm were under strength and that the batting order was rather 'upside down' but by the time I left some lusty blows had seen them well on the way to victory.
As I drove home I heard an interview on local radio with the captain of Whitby CC who joined the NYSD just five years ago but currently top Division 1 and have designs on promotion to the Premier next season. And there was me thinking I had completed the list of member clubs. As one day shuts......
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