visiting fellow constituents

posted by John Winn

After a long drive back from Herefordshire on Friday I kept fairly close to home yesterday and within the parliamentary constituency of Selby and Ainsty, a rather oddly shaped affair stretching from the Lower Ure Valley round the south of York to Selby.

My first visit was to Selby CC and a York Senior league match with Stamford Bridge the visitors. Selby have played at Sandhill Lane since 1936 and share the facility with tle local rugby union club. I fell into conversation with a visiting supporter who had considerable knowledge of cricket grounds in the East Riding. Sewerby was her particular recommendation. She would have been pleased that her son's team ran out winners by eight wickets

As I left, Selby III were beginning a York Vale League game against Heworth III on the adjacent pitch. A neat bit of design provides electronic scoreboards for both matches.

 

The York Vale League is well represented in the Selby area and my next visit took me just a couple of miles down the A19 to the village of Burn. Having held up the quite busy traffic whilst I negotiated the very tight entrance to the small but nicely maintained ground I took a bench seat alongside a Dunnington supporter whose son was playing for their thirds who were taking on Burn II. Although he had lived in York for many years his county of birth was Herefordshire and we spent time discussing places I had visited on my short holiday. This was very much a 'lads and dads' match typified by the contrasting ages and sizes of the Dunnington openers. By some distance the younger and shorter of the two was twelve year old Harrison Mussles who exhibited some delightful strokes as the partnership flourished. A name for the future and possibly a headline writer's dream..  

 

It was pleasing to watch cricket  which, from the boundary at least, appeared to being played in a good spirit. Alas such is not always the case in the league for the website describes a number of cases where the administration has had to take action against miscreants.

 

Another short drive took me to Thorpe Willoughby and as I made the ten minute or so journey local radio informed me that this was the last 'Summer Saturday', not fortunately the weather forecast but a reminder that as from next week their Saturday afternoon schedule will be devoted to coverage of York City.  The ground at Thorpe Willoughby is on the outskirts of the village and shares a large playing field with the local football club, and, as if to emphasise Radio York's message there was a football match underway on a pitch quite separate from the large cricket playing area.

 

The cricket match in progress was a second division game with Thorpe hosting North Duffield. The home team were batting and were struggling a bit at 39 for 4. They currently occupy last position in the division and may find themselves in the third tier next year when the league will reduce from five divisions to four, a reflection of some losses in membership this year and last. My last stop of the afternoon was at The Riverside ground of Kelfield CC and a Division One game with Burn the visitors. Two mid table sides in action here with very few points between them before yesterday's match. As its name suggests the ground is close to the River Ouse and a nice touch are the stone flower troughs at each corner of the ground. Disappointingly however the enclosure is a little short on seating and I had to stand while watching Burn batting.

 

During the afternoon I had received a text informing me that my name was up in chalk at Ouseburn CC as match ball sponsor so I felt I should show my face at my local club. Arriving at tea I was dismayed to see that visitors Bishop Thornton had racked up 290 but was informed by groundsman Edward Pearson that the proximity of the wicket to the pavilion very much favoured batsmen and that such a total was gettable. As  is so frequently the case the Parker brothers got Ouseburn's reply off to a flier which had the added bonus of silencing the opposition's chirping and the website this morning shows a five wicket win thus retaining the home team's position at the top of the league. The York Vale website as yet (10:00 Sunday) does not have the results of yesterday's games.

 

A fairly quiet week ahead until Yorkshire take on the returning to form Warwickshire at Headingley with of course both teams minus their test players. The Bears have won their last two championship matches and are quite bullish about their prospects of retaining their championship. The recent hot weather seems likely to be replaced by more unsettled conditions but let's hope that it doesn't spoil the entertainment for what is sure to be a large crowd.