A good summer

posted by John Winn

Wet weather dominated my summary of the 2012 season but there is a little doubt that 2013 will go down as fitting the title of this posting. Even back in April and May when it was at times very cold the pcw could go to cricket at least confident that it would be dry and that he or she would see some play. And how things improved after that. There were even lovely days at Weetwood.  When one looks back hot summers tend to stick in the mind and I think this year will retain our affections for some years to come. Unless, of course 2014 proves even hotter. Now that's a nice thought to hold as the nights draw in.

Not surprisingly given the weeks of unbroken sunshine I saw lots of cricket and in terms of county cricket at its various levels I saw more than ever before. Regular readers may be familiar with my aim of seeing every county play every other county at least once in championship cricket and having ticked off eight this year just twelve remain on my 'wants list'. The various promotions and relegations have made seven of the twelve available for next season.There are some long journeys involved but I am hopeful that I can manage five or six at least, although Hampshire v Glamorgan, whether at Southampton or Cardiff is a long trip from North Yorkshire.

My Saturday league cricket ambitions  rather petered out towards the end of the season but I did visit 43 new grounds, five more than last year and as far apart as Glasgow and Nottinghamshire and across twelve different leagues. There are now at least six leagues where I need very few to complete the full set and each could be tidied up without too much travelling. In addition I have dipped my toe into some new areas including the West of Scotland, the Bassetlaw, the Derbyshire and the new Durham Cricket League.

One aim this season was to see some Minor Counties action and this was achieved and where better than at Sedbergh and Jesmond. I struck Sedbergh on a rather chilly day but it did not disappoint, even though The Red Lion was closed. At the almost secret ground of Jesmond the sun shone and that too fulfilled any expectations I had.

In addition to the many new grounds there are also old favourites that never disappoint like Feethams, the lovely ground in the centre of my home town and where things will never be the same for work has finally begun on the development of the old football ground. This photograph was taken on the final day of the season with the tin shed serving as a sightscreen for the last time, a job it has done since 1960.
Scarborough has been high in my affections all my cricket watching life and has it ever had four better days' weather than for the Durham match this year?
The result probably decided the championship and although my immediate loyalty lies north of the Tees it is a nice feeling to be a member of the top two counties in the championship.

Finally this seems like a good time to thank our readers for their continued interest in the blog. The number of hits continues to rise and whilst I wouldn't say we had gone viral it is very encouraging to see our number of readers grow. Postings inevitably will be reduced in the close season but I am sure we will find things to write about as we did last winter so please keep logging on