Winter Warmers

Posted by John Winn

If you really can't wait until April 1st to see some cricket then here are two games you might like to consider

Saturday Jan 3rd at St Chad's Headingley  wickets pitched 12 noon a charity match in aid of Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice

Sunday 11th Jan the traditional Malhamdale v Appletreewick match. Meet at Buck Inn Malhamdale 12:30: wickets pitched later than 12:30. Your guess is as good as anybody's

Thanks to Tony Hutton for passing these on to me.

Happy New Year

 

 

The tea room pictured in my last posting will have been familiar to many pcws. It was of course the famous Red Cabin at Todmorden CC

Canadian Capers

posted by John Winn

Film and TV have not always been kind to sport. After all, actors are not athletes nor vice versa and while Chariots of Fire won 4 Oscars these were for the story and  Vangelis' music rather  than Nigel Havers' running style. Cricket has made occasional screen appearances. I seem to remember somebody being murdered in the score box on Midsomer Murders and of course FS Trueman made a memorable appearance in an episode of Dad's Army. (The Test 1970). One of my favourite TV moments  centred on cricket comes in an episode of Ever Decreasing Circles from 1984 when Martin Brice's next door neighbour, the gentleman amateur and Cambridge Blue, Paul, played by Peter Egan with the late Richard Briers as Martin, strikes the ball to all parts to win the match. Egan had never played cricket but clever camera work almost makes you think you might be watching Ted Dexter. Almost.

On the big screen I recall 'The Final Test' from 1954 starring Jack Warner as Sam Palmer, an ageing cricketer rather than an ageing policeman, playing his last test match. Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Alec Bedser, Godfrey Evans, Jim Laker, Cyril Washbrook and John Arlott all playing themselves make up a decent supporting cast and the substance of a decent cricket team. My clearest memory of this film, not seen for years, is when Richard Wattis (credited as cricket fan in stand), is asked by an enthusiastic American if the game is going to be exciting. Wattis replies in the sardonic style of which he was the master, 'I hope not'.

Somewhere between the sitcom and the cinema screen is the TV movie and here my favourite is a film by the late husband of Maureen Lipman, Jack Rosenthal, with the perhaps puzzling title, P'tang, Yang Kipperbang. This early Channel Four film gets an airing now and again and is a delightful comedy starring Alison Steadman. The story centres on young Alan Duckworth, and his largely unrequited love for his classmate Ann. Quack Quack Duckworth (get it?) is a keen cricketer and a sub plot in the story centres on an affair between his English teacher (Steadman) and the school grounds man. In his fantasies, other than those he has about Ann, Duckworth, surely the name is no coincidence for Rosenthal was a Lancastrian, sees himself as an England cricketer playing against Miller and Lindwall in the 1948 series with commentary by, you've guessed, John Arlott. Wonderful!

My most recent experience of cricket on screen came just before Christmas at my local film society at Ripon. The film, Le Grande Seduction, a French Canadian production was billed as a comedy which indeed it was. The action is set on a remote island off the Quebec coast. In order to be chosen as a site for a new factory the islanders need to recruit a doctor and the film describes their attempts to seduce a young doctor from Montreal to take up full-time residency. In advance they learn that he is a cricket enthusiast and try to dupe him into believing they are like minded, which they categorically are not, and their attempts to do so are very funny. Alas the scriptwriter seems to have learned his cricket from baseball for bowlers are pitchers and when, on a tv screen in a bar, we see footage of Ramprakash batting against N'tini, his sumptuous cover drive pierces 'the right field'. The natives can't wait to turn back to the ice hockey. Still the whole thing went down well with the Ripon audience and if you don't mind subtitles I can recommend the film not just for its cricket content.

Season's Greeting to our readers, today is 37 seconds longer than yesterday, all at the end of the day, so the evenings are drawing out and if you accept April 1st as the start of the 2015 season then the there are just over 13 weeks to go. If that is not enough to get you excited then why not dazzle friends and family with movie trivia by letting them know that Richard Wattis was born in Wednesbury and his uncle was MP for Walsall from 1924 to 29. Be honest you didn't expect to learn that when you started reading what purports to be a cricket blog.

 

 

Spot the tea room. Answer next time. 

CRICKET ROUND THE WORLD

By Brian Sanderson

Christmas day comes alive for me when I can settle down to watch some Test cricket. The first match at 10 P.M was New Zealand against Sri Lanka on a new Test ground.This was the Hagley  Oval in Canterbury which seemed a beautiful ground with grass mounds that people could watch the match. On the first ball Lamal fell over on the green pitch.This was followed by Eranga falling over on his first ball causing a ten minute break for the ground staff to try and solve the problem.I was able to see Kane Williamson for a few overs before watching the Australian Test match against Pakistan in Melbourne.

I thought I would have the pleasure of watching Warner scoring quick runs but he was soon out caught by a good slip catch  by Dhawan of Yadav. So I was left to watch Chris Rogers ex Middlesex and Shane Watson. By 12.30 I had enough and went to bed.

Boxing Day these days is Northern Cricket Society against North Leeds . After picking my sister up ,I found North Leeds struggling.

The photograph shows the score when we arrived in a twenty over match. However I had the pleasure then to watch Rob Winter for North Leeds score 98 not out in a total of 144.It would have been fit for him to score a century.

At the end of the first innings I had to leave to go home for Boxing Day lunch.After which I watched the first day of South Africa against the West Indies at Port Elizabeth which had also grass mounds for the spectators.I watched Dean Elgar score his highest Test score of 121.Looking at his career it follows the path of a lot of South Africans  ie Gloucestershire Seconds, Nottinghamshire Seconds and Somerset.

The photograph at the beginning of the blog is Boxing Day Cup together we a good bottle of whisky to warm people up.

Next match is 3 January at St. Chads , Otley Road on the 3 January at 12.00 for charity . Please come along.

Swaledale dries up

posted by John Winn

Not for the first time I am indebted to my neighbour. Mrs June Sanderson, for providing me with source material for a posting. In 2012 she kindly loaned me memorabilia connected with the Hessay and District League, long gone the way of many small cricket leagues, which gave me some inspiration and just last week in researching her family history June came across details of a match played in August 1797 between Wetherby and Scruton.

The match was played at York Gate in Leeming Lane. York Gate appears on today's maps adjacent to the A1*, a little north of its junction with the A61. Wetherby were under the patronage of the Hon George Motson while Scruton relied on the support of a mere commoner, Mr Millburn. The purse for the match was a hundred guineas aside, an astonishing sum of money to be waged on a cricket match at that time. 'The match continued two days, and the contest (which was a severe one) terminated in favour of the Wetherby Club by several notches.' The use of the term 'notches' refers of course to the practice of recording scores by carving notches in a piece of wood. A far cry from Total Cricket Scorer. Cricinfo's brief history of cricket records the first use of 'scorecards' at Sevenoaks Vine in 1776.

A further trip to Darlington  has, I think, brought me to the end of the road in my research into the history of The Swaledale League for last week a morning spent going through back copies of The Darlington and Stockton Times for 1966 and 1967 has led me to conclude that the last matches in the league, which was founded in 1921, were played in July 1966. The league had begun the season with just seven clubs, an awkward number and five of the sides competing were 'works teams' from Darlington. The two village clubs were Barton II and Constable Burton. Barton who play today in The Darlington and District League, lies just south west of Darlington and can hardly considered part of Swaledale, and Constable Burton had for many years been stalwarts of The Wensleydale League, which geographically was their natural home. Here they are circa 1957, a year in which only Middleham kept them off the bottom of the league, Wensleydale that is.

Reports of the 1966 season cease in July but alas there is no final table. The difficulties presented by having seven teams had been solved when Darlington Corporation Transport dropped out in early July having conceded a number of fixtures. How one would love to say this was because of transport problems but the explanation lay in the shift patterns of employees making it difficult for them to raise an XI. There are no scores or fixtures recorded in 1967 so one can only assume that the matches played in late July 66 were the last. A further piece of evidence is that Constable Burton are back in Wensleydale action in 1967, this time only Gilling West denying them the wooden spoon.

Before I finally draw a line under this project there is one last source to explore and that is via phone numbers I have been given of two stalwarts of Barton CC who may, as very young men,  just have played in that 'final season'. Here's hoping.

*Known as The Great North Road at the time of the match.

Getting fixed up

posted by John Winn

What a pleasant surprise to switch on the laptop yesterday and find a well considered response to an emotive topic from a new blogger. Thank you Steve.

Even though for very good reason the publication of the next year's fixtures was delayed by 24 hours pcws have had the weekend to start planning next season's cricket watching. Yorkshire supporters may feel a little disappointed that the champions start with two away games, but New Road and Trent Bridge number among many people's favourite grounds and I suspect that hoteliers and guest house keepers in Worcester have already had  enquiries about vacancies for the week beginning April 12th. For those of the white rose persuasion who do not travel, then they must wait until the 26th when the Bears come to Headingley, an appetising prospect.

Even with my dual nationality and unless I am prepared to travel, I will need to exercise some patience, for like Yorkshire, Durham are not at home until the end of April when Sussex will be at The Riverside and their supporters will be huddled in the long room for warmth. This match of course clashes with Yorkshire's Headingley opener, the first of four such occasions when the two counties are at home at the same time, disappointing for there was only one such clash last year. Championship cricket at The Riverside is rather top and bottom loaded for after the visit of Notts in early May there are only three  games in 14 weeks  before things finish in a hurry with three out of the last four games at home beginning with Middlesex on August 21st.

Only one of my 'must see' matches is on the menu this season, Derbyshire v Lancashire, their first championship meeting since 2005 and lo and behold who should be the first visitors to the County Ground but Lancashire on Sunday April 19th, an early opportunity to tick this fixture off. And should circumstances prevent me making the journey the reverse fixture has the added bonus of being played at Southport, a ground I have never visited.

Plenty to get excited about then, and with just three weeks to go before the sun starts its return journey from the southern hemisphere it will not be too long before  'this season' means 2015. Roll on.

BOUNCER TRAGEDY -A DEATH WAITING TO HAPPEN

By Steve Bindman

Despite the extreme rareness of such injurious deaths, the recent tragedy in first-class cricket was a death waiting to happen.

Before about 1975, the bowling of bouncers was an exploit used sparingly - apart from the occurance of "bodyline" in the 1930s. It is the over-competitiveness of modern sport which tends to forget the notion that sport needs to have being friendly game as its impregnably strongbasis which ultimately is responsible for the situation ,there was an escalation of the short pitched ball usuage during the Lillee and Thompson period of Australian Test cricket,then the West Indies for quite a period had a cluster of great fast bowlers but at times they bowled 3 to 5 bounchers in an over and the balance of West Indian cricket with their traditional use of spinners as well as quickies sadly declined.

Now a lot of focus is about knowledge. Every team knows and works on the slight weaknesses of individuals opponents and Philip Hughs was said to have a weakness against the bouncer.

I would like to see this terrible tragedy enable a stronger sense of sportsmanship to come back into the game that if a batsman has such a weakness it is simply not exploited in the way it has been in recent years. Fred Trueman and Brian Statham of England and Wesley Hall of West Indies in the 50s and 60s (and Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller of Australia before that) used the bouncer sparingly and prefered to get the batsman out with cricketing skill.

It is also about temptation. Batsmen are tempted to play the hook shot which is a valid and correct run-getting shot- and their preparedness to play this shot even when they are not quite sure they are going to make contact with the bat encourges the bowler to put the fielder in position at long leg for a boundary catch and bowl more short balls than normal wisdom would dictate. Coaches need to teach safety first against the short ball so that the hook is only attempted when the batsman knows he has swayed out of the balls line and is not going to get hit.

I am not imputing any blame whatsoever to the individual players involved who were clearly the best of friends with the victim (their former team-mate) -in particular the unfortunate bowler.It is just that they themselves have become an inescapable part of cricket,s modern ethos. They are victims too!
Umpires are now instructed to try and limit the number of short pitched balls per over but this directive is difficult to apply consistently.

The bouncer has long been a worry in the game. I remember seeing Colin Cowdrey brave an assult from Charlie Griffith in the 1966 Nottingham Test Match to score 96 whilst Tom Graveney played a  brilliant untroubled 109 showing a hugh contrast in their batting styles and confidence against the shorter ball. Many thought Griffith threw his bouncer and this was a constant source of speculation and controversy. I do not doubt though that the more confident player -a Graveney even-could yet get hit and be subject to danger. Iam not sure where the correct balance lies between safety and a healthy contest- but it will be obviously have to move more in the direction of safety.At the same time as Mike Selvey has pointed out in his excellent  article in Tuesday Guardian ,some thought obviously needs to be given to the re-design of the batting helmet. Could it be extended to cover the brain stem towards the neck?Would this prove practicable ?He reminds us however that no protective equipment has a guaranteed safety-an fatalities can occur when other parts of the body than the head are struck -  and have occured to fielders and umpires as well as batsmen.

WHAT DO YOU DO DURING WINTER ?

By Brian Sanderson,

I was reading todays Daily Telegraph sport section. The headlines were ECB shocked by sharp drop in club numbers. A survey shown that numbers who played cricket dropped from 908,000 in 2013 to 844,000 in 2014.

Yesterday I had a telephone call to say that Woodhouse cricket club is no longer in the Airedale and Wharfedale Cricket League. This was a club that the late and great Mick Bourne  used to visit  as it was near his house.We will have to see what happens to the club now. During the same telephone conversation , I heard that Great Horton club will be no longer playing in the Bradford League next year.

On Tuesday this week, I was asked to trace a match between Farley and Pudsey St. Lawerence in 1949 when the league was very strong.One of the young player for Farsley was Raymond Illingworth who was seventeen at the time. The match was played over five nights and went as follow,

27th JUNE   Farsley scored 250 for 4 innings suspended.

28 th JUNE  Pudsey 132 for 1  Hamer 111 not out.

29th JUNE Farsley 267 FOR 7  with Illingworth 81 not out.

30th  JUNE Farsley 394 all out with Illingworth 148 not out with 17 fours and 1 six.

4th   JULY  Pudsey 298 all out with Waterhouse taking 6 for 74.

Farsley went on to play Yeadon in the final at Bradford Park Avenue. Yeadon won the match with Bryan Stott  scoring 9 at the age of 14.

Both Illingwoth and Stott both went on to better things during their careers.

How things have changed.

Post  scrip in connection with the loss of clubs , Steve James in the Sunday Telegraph has written another article about the state of league cricket. His headline was "Village cricket is dying,and with it goes our way of life ".

He quotes the following stats:

27 %  could play more but the game,s format does not suit them

27% believe games finish too late.

5% matches forfeited by teams unable to raise a team.

47 % want to play more but do not have the time.

I am sure the situation will get worse next season. So more facts to come.

Fixtures out next week

Posted by John Winn

The ECB will release the 2015 county cricket fixtures at 10:30 am on Thursday November 27th, an important date in any pcw's calendar. Make sure you've got your 2015 diary to hand.

 

We will remember them

posted by John Winn

Last Saturday I attended a special ceremony at the village church my family attended when I was a young boy. St Andrew's, built circa 1125 in the village of Haughton le Skerne (absorbed in to the Borough of Darlington in 1930) is a fine Norman church, the oldest in Darlington, and the occasion that prompted my visit had been arranged by the local history society to commemorate the 18 men of the village who were killed in the first World War and whose names are on the war memorial at the church gates and on a plaque inside the church.

Amongst the fallen was an older brother of my father, Reginald Anthony Winn, who was killed at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916 and his name is at the head of  the family gravestone in a quiet corner of the church yard. The small cross was placed there by the history society. I have made a note for my next visit to take some gardening tools with which to tackle the ivy.

 

If you are  wondering what  the relevance of this is to a cricket blog the answer lies in an email I received from Carol Atkinson, the seemingly tireless secretary of the society who has spent many hours researching the backgrounds of the village casualties and in so doing unearthed an article from The Evening  Despatch* of 1915 reporting the death of Sgt G E White (DLI). The article quotes from a letter written by Bob Bamlett, a Haughton boy, to his parents in which he describes the events leading up to White's death from a sniper's bullet. In the same trench with the letter writer and the unfortunate Sergeant was Uncle Reg, three lads from the same small village in County Durham.

The Evening Despatch concludes its article with the following 'It may be recalled that Sergt White for many years was a member of Haughton Cricket Club, and in 1909 he won the bowling prize taking 24 wickets at a cost of 1.75 runs per wicket which was a very creditable performance. Later he became connected with the Railway Athlete(sic) Club for whom he was always a good scorer. He was also secretary of the Haughton Hockey Club for a memorable number of years.'

I assume the Railway Athlete Club is a reference to Darlington RA and that 'a good scorer' is a reference to his skill with the bat rather than the pencil.

  What puzzles me about this is that I have three photographs of the village team from that era, 1906, 1907 and 1912, on none of which does George White appear. Below is a picture of the 1912 team by which time he may have moved to the RA's predecessors, Darlington North Road
.

Whether Uncle Reg was a cricketer is not known but given that his father (my grandfather) and at least two of his brothers were good players it seems very unlikely that he would not have played. The local press of that time did print scores of some of Haughton's matches and a search may throw up information about Uncle Reg and Sergeant White. A railwayman by trade, White's death is also listed on a memorial to the several Darlington men from that industry killed in the war.

I had lunch yesterday with Brian Sanderson, David Thorpe and Tony Hutton, 'Jim the Thoroughbred' as David described the meeting, and cricket dominated the conversation. The light at the end of the November tunnel is the publication of the first class fixtures, on or about the 25th it is thought, but Tony has discovered that some of the Minor Counties have rather jumped the gun and their fixtures are available on their websites. Amongst these are Cheshire who have published dates but as yet without venues.

*a former sister paper of The Northern Echo known also as The Northern Despatch

Wetherby chairman fights his corner

posted by John Winn

Since my posting 'Whither Wetherby' at the end of September in which I raised the issue of the number of clubs seeking to leave the Wetherby League and the description of this trend by league chairman Zai Ali as a 'blip', the publication of next season's fixtures for The Aire Wharfe has confirmed that Old Mods have joined Whixley and Great Preston in going through the exit door. Old Mods will start life in their new surroundings with a home game on April 18th when Menston will be the visitors.

At an 'All Clubs' meeting of The Wetherby League on October 9th the 'blip' was addressed in the context of the nationwide problem in the decline in the number of people playing cricket using data from the recent ECB Players Survey which shows 7% fewer players and fixtures in 2014. The minutes of this meeting are available at wetherbyleague.co.uk where the reasons for the departure of Whixley, Great Preston and Old Mods are spelt out. The minutes also show that two other clubs have expressed a wish to change leagues with St Chads having made an unsuccessful application to the Aire Wharfe, and Wetherby CC having sought permission to negotiate with at least two other leagues.

Like marriage changing leagues is 'not to be undertaken lightly' especially where it involves giving up years of tradition and healthy rivalries built up with other clubs but the Wetherby questions whether the departing clubs have 'really considered these other leagues properly' and goes on to list the drawbacks of membership of the Nidderdale, Aire Wharfe, and York Senior Leagues. Issues raised include the amount of travelling, lack of umpires, computerised scoring, matches being conceded and the quality of the cricket being played. Surely no club would apply to another league without full knowledge and discussion of these kind of things.

To its credit The Wetherby League does accept it has had a problem with teams conceding, especially second eleven matches and the October 9th meeting discussed how this might be overcome.. A reduction in the number of overs from the current 45 being one suggestion with the possibility that this might be trialled in Div 5 next year. And of course the Wetherby is not alone in suffering a reduction in its membership: my last posting focussed on the same problem on an even larger scale in the Huddersfield Central. Similarly other leagues suffer from the problem, especially towards the end of season, of non fulfilment of fixtures. 

The twitter accounts of the departing clubs speak of 'new adventures' and 'new challenges' and several of those they leave behind wish them well. Perhaps this time next year the blog might conduct a short survey of those who have sought outfields new asking for their reflections on their first season in their new leagues?

Departures from Huddersfield Central

posted by John Winn

Following my posting last month, 'Whither Wetherby', in which I described the possible loss of four clubs this winter from The Wetherby League I was alerted to similar problems being faced by The Huddersfield Central League. Sure enough 'google' turned up an article from The Huddersfield Examiner dated August 14th listing five clubs who will play their cricket elsewhere in 2015.

Leaving for The Halifax, the league that gives you extra, are Upper Hopton whose acceptance into their new home was confirmed  in July. Crossbank Methodists, who had made representations to The Central Yorkshire League as far back as March 2013 have now satisfied CYL Management that they are fit and proper persons and they will be joined in their new league by Great Preston, one of the clubs leaving The Wetherby League. The third and fourth clubs quitting HCCL, Woolley and Silkstone, have both been accepted into The South Yorkshire League and the fifth, Crigglestone CC, have joined The Pontefract League.

These changes would be bad enough news for HCCL but things are worse than they seem for they come on top of the departure of four clubs at the end of the 2013 season when Birkby Rose Hill, Upperthong (pictured below), Cartworth Moor, and Thurstonland all left for The Huddersfield League where they joined Almonbury Wesleyans, Denby, Denby Dale and Moorlands who had made the same journey a year before. All of which means that The HCCL may find itself with just three divisions next season instead of its present four and it is unlikely that this year's departures will mark the end of the league's downsizing for  the minutes of its Mangagement Board Meeting held in September record a request by Heckmondwike and Carlinghow CC to secure early release. This  was refused but presumably this will only delay their departure for twelve months. A full league and management board meeting is being held at Flockton tomorrow evening where it seems reasonable to assume these matters will be discussed.

 

As a footnote the four clubs who switched between the two Huddersfield Leagues for 2014 had mixed fortunes. All played in the third (Conference) tier of their new home with Thurstonland faring best finishing fifth (of twelve), Cartworth Moor were seventh, Upperthong tenth and Birkby Rose Hill just avoided the wooden spoon, finishing one place above bottom club Paddock.

David Rayvern Allen 1938-2014 Shafto Gerald Strachan Pawle 1914-1977

posted by John Winn

The death of David Rayvern Allen has been announced. Radio producer, prolific cricket author, historian, archivist and musician, David died last week after a long illness during which he continued to contribute to the MCC Archive Project. Several of his books are on my shelves including the authorised biography of John Arlott and Cricket on the Air, a selection from fifty years of radio broadcasts.

By coincidence just the day before David died, I was reading extracts from his book, 'Cricket's Silver Lining', an anthology of cricket writings. One essay I particularly enjoyed was by Gerald Pawle, one time cricket writer on The Yorkshire Post. Pawle was brought up in Hertfordshire but boarded at St Peter's York until his father, a stockbroker was ruined by the Clarence Hatry scandal (and it is worth putting that fraudster's name in a search engine). The dramatic change in the Pawle family circumstances caused Gerald to apply to the YP for a job and he was engaged for the sum of £1 a week. His account of his time on the paper shows just how poor cricket coverage has become for Pawle's job was to essentially shadow Yorkshire II, an assignment which took him to places as disparate as Brighouse, Walsall, Redcar and Skegness. What wouldn't we give for that sort of coverage now?

After an interesting wartime career in the Navy, his book The Secret War 1939 to 45 is still available, Pawle was persuaded to return to cricket writing by EW Swanton. One suspects that EW was a hard man to refuse, for despite living in Cornwall and having married the daughter of a Marquess, a week after EW's 'phone call Pawle found himself at Taunton covering Somerset v Yorkshire. Gerald also wrote for The Sunday Times, was author of  a biography of England cricketer Bob Wyatt,  an England squash international and a playing member of MCC. He died in 1991 aged 77 and I'd never heard of him before reading Rayvern Allen's book. I was in touch with Tony Hutton yesterday and he recommends another of Allen's books, 'Cricket:An Illustrated History', 'one of the best cricket books I have ever seen' is Tony's opinion. Praise indeed and copies are available on Amazon.

They think it's all over......it is now

posted by John Winn

Since about the end of August friends have been asking 'What will you do now that cricket's over?' Finally the question can be answered without having to try and explain that county cricket would not finish until almost the end of September and that the Arthington Festival would take us well into October before stumps would be pulled for the final time.

 

Umpire await the sides at Arthington yesterday.

 

Brian has described the details of yesterday's match when another sunny Sunday allowed a gaggle of pcws to squeeze the last drop out of what has been an enjoyable season. The usual suspects were gathered in the north west corner but as the shadows lengthened even a seat in the sun did not guarantee warmth: a reminder that this week we reach the middle of the tenth month. Clocks go back in a couple of weeks and then it's bonfire night and all downhill, or uphill if you prefer, to Christmas.
All of which can be a bit depressing so let's remind ourselves that next season's first class fixtures should be published in about six weeks at which point we can start planning our 2015 watching.

Summing up 2014 it can be said that for the second year running the weather has been good with high temperatures and long dry spells. Even on the 26th of September, when Yorkshire and Somerset kept us on edge to the last ball of the championship season, the sun was warm enough to encourage the use of Factor 30 cream, although to be fair to the opponents of such a late finish to the season the previous day had been cold enough to make watching cricket an uncomfortable experience. For this blogger it has been a memorable year; seeing more cricket than ever before, a member of two trophy winning counties, my local club champions of the Nidderdale League and managing to see at least part of all of the seven 'must see' matches that were available. This leaves only five such games to complete the 153 necessary to have seen each county play every other county at least once.

During the season I have completed the full set for Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Surrey, Northants, Notts and Worcestershire. Inevitably after such a feast there follows famine and 2015 provides only one of my outstanding five, Derbyshire v Lancashire, so a big reduction in travelling unless of course another project comes to mind. In the meantime my research into Yorkshire's 'lost leagues' continues and yesterday I spoke to Frank Siddle *on the telephone and he was able to supply information about the grounds used by The Northern Echo and The Northern Despatch in the 1965 Swaledale league season. Not surprisingly the two newspaper teams ground shared using the 'Rocket' ground on Thompson Street East, Darlington. The ground belonged to Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns, locomotive builders, whose factory was close by. 'Stivvies' as the company was colloquially known, was not far from where I lived as a boy and we could hear the buzzer calling its large labour force to work. Locomotive building ceased at the works in 1964 and the sports ground has long since gone to housing. Travelling north by train you would pass the site on your right hand side about a mile out of Darlington station.

Finally I have the dates for the Jim the Cat cricket lunches for this winter. JTC has moved his basket to Elland CC and the first meeting was held last Friday. Future dates are Friday November 14th, Friday 12th December, Friday 9th January, Friday 13th February and Friday 13th March. Doors open at 12 noon and lunch is at 1:00. I will publish the names of the speakers when I know them.

 

 

* see last week's posting 'Siddle holds the key'

HAVE A GOOD WINTER

By Brian Sanderson,

As I was driving to Arthington for the last time this year , the fog was just breaking up and the sun came out to celebrate the final match of 2014 season at The Cricket festival. The opposition was St .Georges who are based at Harewood and are photographed before the match.

Arthington batted first and soon found themselves at 25 for 3 with the wicket making batting difficult .It was the same one as yesterday but had been left open to the  night dew causing it to be soft. Only Andy Stoddart could cope with the bowling finishing with 77 out of 152.

This is the photograph of Andy coming off the ground after his innings. The usual crowd arrived with their chairs and included a person from Lancashire who had come over by coach .Brian Cobb and Harry went round the boundary for the final time this season. After a good cup of tea and a piece of cake St. Georges started their innings. Again they found it hard to stay in against the opening attack of Nash and Lord.
Denis Nash again two wickets which included a caught and bowled which can not be bad for a seventy eight player.

It was left up to my neighbour Hodkinson to top score with 23. There was a team hat trick in the middle of the innings when three wickets fell to two bowlers in three balls .The last wicket partnership of father and son

of Rupert and D. Jones to extend the innings to 123 . The photograph is of both of them batting with Rupert at the non-strikers end who is also the chess champion of Papua New Guinea .The innings finished just before six o,clock and everybody wished each other a good winter and hope to meet next season.

The photograph is at the end of the match with Denis Nash and Rupert Jones saying well done. I have been requested by Brian Cobb to put more stories on the blog during the winter and this will happen ,with also John Winn adding has thoughts on cricket history and  stories .So please keep  reading the blog during in the coming months.

400 RUNS IN OCTOBER

By Brian Sanderson,

Today the sun was shining giving people a chance to watch another match at Arthington  Cricket festival.To day match was against Cambridge Methodist or Steve Bindman X1. On Friday they were down to six cricketers but because of Steve,s effort eleven players turn out.

Arthington batted first with Geoff Barker and Joe Nash with threat of rain in the air.They were both batting well when the rain came  however there was only a five minute break.There were about twenty spectators enjoying the cricket and cricket talk.Joe Nash was the first of Mel Woods wicket when the score was 142.

The above photograph is of Joe Nash and Geoff Barker at drinks break.Mel Wood is the brother of   Barry ex Yorkshire, Lancashire and England.Mel plays for Ossett and Yorkshire over 60,s.Today he bowled his spin bowling which collected six wickets for forty runs.Also it slowed the Arthington scoring rate and after forty overs they achieved 204 .

This is photograph of Mel coming off the field after he batted in the dark.At teatime the Cambridge Meths team which had just been brought together yesterday with a big task to win the match.They started to attack the opening bowling including Denis Nash, father of the opening batsman and aged seventy eight. A number of catches were put down which enabled Cambridge Meths to keep up with the run rate. It was left up to a batsman called Abdul to score 61 to help them win the match. By time the church clock had struck six they had Cambridge won the match with eight wickets down and overs to spare. Steve Bindman was batted up to win the match but was not required.

The photograph at the start of the blog is the washing line for Mrs Nash tea towels. One more match tomorrow against St. Georges and let us hope the sun will shine.

What could be better than this sight in October with the sunshining.

Siddle holds the key

posted by John Winn

En route to Heritage Park, Bishop Auckland on Saturday where Darlington FC are in temporary accommodation, I spent a couple of hours in the local studies room at Darlington Library picking up where I left off in March with my research into The Swaledale League.

My enquiries had taken me to the end of the 1964 when  the league had six clubs: Gilling West, Scorton, Browns, Middleton Tyas, Northern Echo and Hutton Magna. Browns were a works team from Darlington but who played their matches in Catterick where the Catterick Garden Centre stands today. The Northern Echo, the Darlington based morning  paper, had joined the league in 1963 but had not created much in the way of headlines winning just three games in '64 and finishing second bottom. The fourth estate were not deterred, however for in the following season they were joined by the now defunct Northern Despatch, an evening paper out of the same stable. Other newcomers were NESCO, another Darlington based works team and  Barton II. NESCO were I think a furniture manufacturing business specialising in equipment for schools. They had an unhappy season finishing bottom without a win and on least one occasion defaulting on a fixture. The arrival of these three sides was offset by the departure of Middleton Tyas to the VOM* and meant that eight clubs started the '65 campaign but their distribution meant that the title 'Swaledale' was hardly apt.

The Darlington and Stockton Times, on which I rely for this research, covered the league somewhat patchily at this time but most weeks the fixtures and results were published and less frequently the league table. The final table printed on the 4th of September showed a three way tie for first place with Gilling, Browns and Scorton all having 24 points and a play off was arranged with a game between Browns and Scorton fixed for the 11th. Scorton, however could not raise a team leaving Gilling and Browns to play off at the Barton ground the following week which 'despite heavy overnight rain provided an excellent wicket'. Sadly the match did not justify the efforts of the Barton groundsman for Browns were all out for 45 and worse was to follow when nine man Gilling were all out for 13.

That one of the three best teams could not turn out a side for a title playoff and that Gilling entered the decider two men short is, I think, indicative of the league's travails at this point and I strongly suspect that further research will reveal that Gilling's 13 runs were the last scored in the league's 44 year history. Help in the shape of a player from that era may be at hand for tucked away in the report of a match between Northern Despatch and Brown's the bowling figures for the former include 'Siddle 5 for 20' and this may well be Frank of that ilk, the sage of Allens West, and well known to pcws at The Riverside and Headingley.  Further support for this idea is that one F Siddle took 4-34 for Northern Despatch against Scorton.

Two contrasting shots of the Gilling West ground, the first taken during the winter of 2012-13 and the second the following summer. I learned yesterday that the ground will be vacant again next year when the current users Richmondshire CC will transfer their IV and V XI matches to a pitch at Richmond School.

* Vale of Mowbray League which served clubs in the Catterick and Thirsk areas

And finally the unidentified player in the photograph of Lancashire in 1950 which provided  entertainment at Arthington yesterday was Alan Wilson, a long serving wicketkeeper and still alive at 94. Thanks to Tony Hutton for this missing piece of information. Tony actually saw Wilson play for Lancs at Edgbaston in 1951.

FIRST MATCH OF THE SEASON

By Brian Sanderson,

  Today 5th October Doghouse club from the Middlesbrough area played  their first match of the season at Arthington.Last week was the Michael Bourne match and I was able this afternoon to take a photograph of the seat in memory of him.

There were the usual spectators of about  fifteen people gathered for the match including Ian from Lancaster who has being coming to the cricket festival for thirty years and has seen over two hundred matches this season.The home side batted first on another sunny afternoon after the rain of yesterday.It was left up to Chris Binks to top score with 41 against a team consisted of players from Norton  and Normanby Hall in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League.However it was Lord and Barraclough who put on a excellent 6th wicket stand of 73.

As the photograph shows the trees are just starting to turn red whilst Arthington struggled to reach 193 with the help of 40 extras. It is the first time I have seen three wicket keepers for a side not wearing wicket keeping pads
.

At tea break it was a chance to have a cup of tea and a piece of cake awaiting Doghouse's side to start their innings.I was given some photographs that used to belong to Michael Bourne including a Lancashire side of 1950. So it was an interesting hour working out the name of the players whilst Fenby and Brown were putting a second wicket partnership of 98.Fenby was the top run scorer for Norton in 2013 with 1692 runs  and average of 41.33 so  he was too good for the Arthington weak bowling attack. He finished on 80 not out  and Doghouses winning easily.Hope they come back next year.


One more weekend to go before the festival finishes for another season. Photograph of Fenby coming off the pitch.

Norton back where they left off

posted by John Winn

Norton, a village within the borough of Stockton on Tees can boast of a cricket club since 1847 and no idle boast for they have been champions of the NYSD 11 times, a total only exceeded by Darlington and Guisborough and yet the club has been absent from the top division since 1999. At that point they decided to try their luck as founder members of the North East Premier.

Things at that higher level did not work out and they were relegated to the Durham Senior League. Two seasons ago they rejoined the NYSD but have had to work their passage to the Premier Division. In an exciting finish to the season they clinched the Division One title with a victory over Hartlepool II finishing clear of second place Normanby Hall who will join them in the top flight next year. It feels right that the Station Road club, who joined the NYSD in 1898, just the sixth year of its existence should resume local derbies with the likes of Middlesbrough and Redcar. A year after becoming the fourth County Durham club to join the NYSD they hit up 549 against Darlington in a cup match at Feethams: not for nothing were they known as 'Invincible Norton'. The meetings of these two sides next season will be keenly awaited next season.

The mention of Normanby Hall above also adds a nice touch for in a posting in May 2013 I described how the Middlesbrough suburban  club had to play all their matches away that season following storm damage to the square at Cricket Lane. Not surprisingly they were relegated but having  finishing runners up to Norton they too will be back where I suspect they think they belong, for their name appears five times on this trophy, the last being in 1997.

To finish on a sadder note I refer to the experience of another NYSD club, members since 1919 and three times champions, Darlington Railway Athletic who last year celebrated their centenary. Formed as its name suggests to cater for Darlington's large population of railway workers the club played originally as Darlington North Road but became RA on moving to their present Brinkburn Road ground in the Cockerton area of the town in 1913. They were elected to the NYSD in 1914 but there was no league cricket until 1919. They were relegated from the top division for the first time in 1996, and things have not been quite the same since. This year for the second time they have been relegated to the league's third tier and more worryingly had to withdraw their second XI from the league. What has happened to the optimism expressed in the centenary publication in 2013? A town the size of Darlington (100,000+) should be able to support two teams at this level. Let's hope things pick up for RA in 2015.

Whither Wetherby

posted by John Winn

Special men deserve special days and as Brian has described so well the weather and the cricket combined yesterday to the extent that Mick's Memorial will live long in the memories of those who were there. I would have liked to post a photograph of the splendid bench Catherine has purchased in Mick's memory but never found a time when one or more pcws were not trying it for size.

It was a rather uninspiring morning in the Lower Ure Valley but my brother telephoned from North Derbyshire to say the sun was shining and as I crossed the River Wharfe on my way to Arthington the skies were brighter and as I stepped from the car the air felt warmer. Minutes later the sun came out and stayed with us for most of the afternoon and equally important the stars came out too in the form of two men who just two days earlier had been playing for Northants in the county championship. After what has been a difficult season for them how gratifying that they were prepared to give up a free Sunday to play in the match.

This photograph shows a group of pcws in the sunniest corner of the ground and good to have Tony Hutton back in our midst (third from the right)

On Tony's left is Brian Levinson compiler of 'All In A Day's Cricket, An anthology of outstanding cricket writing' and which contains on  pages 51 and 52 an extract from 'Off the beaten track', the diary of the 2006 season written by Mick Bourne, Tony and Brian Senior.

 

Away from Arthington, however all is not well in local league cricket for on Friday a friend passed to me a copy of this week's Knaresborough Post with an article describing a meeting of clubs in the Wetherby League held last week where league chairman Zai Ali dismissed concerns that an outflow of clubs constituted a crisis. Over the four seasons I have been posting on the blog I have made references to the net loss of clubs from the league including the transfer of Spofforth in 2010 to the Nidderdale League. The Post's article relates how Great Preston and Whixley will join new leagues in 2015 (Central Yorkshire and Nidderdale respectively) and adds that Old Mods and Wetherby are also expected to leave. Mr Ali describes the possible loss of four clubs as a 'blip', and the meeting discussed a number of changes to its organisation and rules which it is hoped will allay clubs fears that the departures constitute a crisis.

 

To lose two out of the top division's top four seems to an outsider more than a 'blip'.  Should four clubs leave, the league will have 31 members, 26 of which have an LS postcode. Time for a new name?

 

 



LAUREL AND HARDY HELP TO WIN THE MATCH

By Brian Sanderson,

Today was a special Sunday as it was the Mick Bourne memorial match between Arthington X1 and The Michael Bourne Stragglers.Just as we arrived to the ground  as ordered the sun came out. There was a big crowd with all the Professional Cricket Watchers of West Yorkshire turned out as a tribute to a great man.

The Stragglers X1 included James and Ralph Middlebrook and Mohammed Azharullah  who won the toss and batted. James Middlebrook ,ex Northants and Yorkshire, opened the batting with Terry Mc Grath who was Michael,s son -in-law. The two of them put on opening stand of 89 before James retired after scoring 50.

Two of the main Arthington Bowlers were Andy Stoddart and Geoff Barker who took four wickets between them. Comment from the media centre at Arthington was it was just like Laurel and Hardy bowling.

 The Stragglers were kept to 158 in the forty overs with James Middlebrook scoring 52.At tea time he two teams came out to allow a photograph call including the umpire and scorer.

When Arthington batted Geoff Barker was soon out but Brennan and Sprey soon took control of the match.Brennan, who usually plays for Horforth in the Airedale and Wharfedale League shown no repect for the bowling to score 83 and Sprey scored 31.. It was left to Andy Stoddart to score the winning runs off Ralph Middlebrook.

It was a pleasure to  sitting with good company  in a beautiful setting for a cricket ground. The  result did not matter but the match was a excellent tribute to Michael Bourne  who would have enjoyed the afternoon as we all did.

HEROES AND VILLAINS

 
By Brian Sanderson,

It has been a busy three days at Headingley which finished with a thrilling finish to the 2014 season.

Andrew from London has been up ,yesterday was Wombwell Cricket Society A.G.M. so tonight was the first chance to put some comments about the match. All through the four days in the Long Room at lunchtime different cricket Yorkshire personalities have been photographed with the First Division Champioship cup.

On the second day we were treated to 156 by Nick Compton after Yorkshire was bowled out for 253.He was finally bowled by Yorkshire best bowler Steven Patterson after a 232 ball stay which included 23 fours and a six.Youngster Thomas Benjamin Abell, who was born in Taunton,made hi third Championship half century of the season.Yorkshire used a total of seven bowlers including Lyth and Root.Somerset had a lead of 66 and looked favorites.

On the third day Yorkshire enjoyed a better day with Yorkshire finishing 36 runs behind.Somerset  who were dismissed for 437 with Rashid cleaning up the tail.Lyth celebrated his 27 th  birthday leading  Division One leading run scorer and took his tally to 1489 , at average of 67.38. Somerset bowlers failed to make a early break through. Alfonso Thomas went off injured and Jamie Overton dropped a sitter.

Fourth day started with drizzle and then Ballance and Root put on 57  for the third wicket,before Root and Bairstow teamed up to score 110 in 17.4 overs. Then Yorkshire lost their last six wickets for 52 to leave Somerset a realistic run chase of 182 in 44 overs. Peter Trego finished with career best bowling figures 7 for 84 .

Somerset were now favorites. Trescothick looked set to lead the visitors to victory with 44 before been caught and bowled by Rashid.Then the middle order had a dramatic collapse as three wickets fell in four balls , with Jack  Brooks taking 3 for 46.It was left to Thomas and Overton to see out the last six overs.

If all cricket matches finished like this match I am sure the crowds would come through the gates eventhough a lot of the spectators could not work out when tea should be taken. I can now destroy my Cricketers  fixturec list for 2014. The season seem to fly by and the car can take a rest over winter.

Away in Wales

Posted by John Winn

Back from two days in Cardiff and my seventh 'must see' match of the season, Glamorgan v Hants, and with Hampshire sealing promotion this afternoon pleased that I had made the effort for who knows when these two sides might meet again. For them to do so seems dependent on the south coast county slipping back into the second division, at least that is the view of the Glamorgan supporters I spoke with whilst at the SWALEC stadium. Such is their pessimism that Gloomorgan seems more appropriate than Glamorgan. Another undistinguished season has closed today with a heavy defeat and the feeling  that next year will be no better; a feeling probably shared with the members of Leicestershire and Gloucestershire and possibly other second division county members.. How do you break out of  a cycle of  losing promising players to wealthier counties and dwindling membership? Answers to Grace Road.

Despite Lancashire's efforts today it is still likely that the two teams promoted last season will be the two to go back down, The most surprising promotion in recent years, Derbyshire in 2012, lasted just one season and Worcestershire set some kind of record in 2013 by moving neither up nor down. Northants were widely tipped to struggle in Div 1 this season but even the most pessimistic Wantage Road regular could not have envisaged the series of heavy defeats they have suffered culminating in their abject performance at The Riverside last week. Their response has been to sweep the dressing room with a very large brush: one wonders if frying pans and fires have crossed Josh Cobb's mind this last week.

The Swalec  clock, which seemed to stop when Anderson and Panesar were batting out time against Australia in 2009.

Despite the mismatch between the teams the two days I saw produced some interesting cricket with a stand of over 200 between Vince and Ervine rescuing Hants from 53 for 5 on the first day but with Wallace batting as high as three Glamorgan's batting struggled and one suspects that the only thing that saved the home side from an innings defeat was Hampshire's decision not to enforce the follow on. With umpires called Lloyds and Lloyd the ecb had done its best to give the match a Welsh flavour but the crowd was very small and had no doubt how far up the glass the water reached. The loyal few will probably not regret that the season has ended a day early. 

HISTORIC DAY AT HEADINGLEY

 By Brian Sanderson,

  Today was the first day of the Championship match between Yorkshire and Somerset. After Yorkshire had won the league against Nottingham, this gave the Yorkshire faithful chance to see the trophy and to have your photograph taken with the Yorkshire captain and the cup.

Yorkshire won the toss and batted which surprised me at 10.30 on a green wicket. Lyth and Ballance were soon out  to Thomas ,one of the better South African players.Lees had a couple of chances but it was Root to go next to a loose shot against Overton. He seems to have shorten his run up but still produced some bounch and movement..Bairtow was soon out to Trego playing another loose shot.

During the afternoon it was left Jack Leaning to play a steady innings which he did. At tea Yorkshire were 206 for 8 and then I had a chance to talk to Gerald Smithson family about his cricketing career. They brought some private photographs and his tour with the M.C.C to West Indies in 1947-48. It was great to go back to the 1940,s.Gerald played 39 matches for Yorkshire from 1946-50. The above photograph is of Gerald on the left.

While we were talking , Yorkshire lost ten overs due to bad light and finished on 241 for 9 with Leaning not out 50. During the morning Alex Lees was given his county cap but it would have been nice to be able to take a photograph of the presentation.

Bad light has last say

posted by John Winn

Non-cricketing business took me to Darlington on Saturday, a dismal drizzly day when the prospects for cricket did not look good. Arriving at the Feethams ground after 2:00 I was pleased to see the captains of Darlington and Richmondshire tossing the coin followed by the announcement that a 35 over match would begin in twenty minutes.

A couple of weeks ago it looked as though as this match would decide the league title but a win for Darlington last week while their opponents could only draw meant that Saturday would be a celebration of their first NYSD championship since 1990. The trophy was ready for presentation by League President Chris West.

 Before the match began I had a word with club President, John Edwardson, a childhood friend of mine and who has 40 years continuous committee service at Feethams. We pronounced ourselves satisfied with the score at half way from Lord's and expressed cautious optimism about Durham's prospects of getting the runs.

On a wicket that offered encouragement to seam bowling but with the ball picking up moisture from the outfield Darlington lost early wickets to go 34 for 3 but a stand between Dobson and Mulholland turned things round and Dobson went on to make 60 before being bowled by Richmond pro Dissanayake, who next year will wear Hartlepool's colours. Tea was reached at 169 for 7.

 

 Led by skipper Gary Pratt, Richmond set off at a hectic pace but bad light forced the umpires to call a halt when they were 144 for 4 with 8 overs remaining and the cloud that had hung over the north east for much of the  week had the final say. The afternoon had turned cold, a reminder that we are half way between midsummer and the shortest day and that September cricket does not always enjoy the kind of temperatures we had at Trent Bridge ten days ago. As I left to catch my train I was advised to 'winter well', my first such wish of the season. Six months or so before anybody is likely to ask if I have been successful.

Some of cricket's headlines last week were concerned with Leicestershire for both good and bad. The exit of two more of their squad coupled with Northants' dismal show at The Riverside brough the structuralists out of the closet with suggestions that the number of counties be reduced, to as few as ten by one sage. While that tired old hare was limping round the course Leicestershire's second XI were completing a clean sweep of the three relevant competitions with victory on first innings over Essex II, in a game where the last day was washed out by rain.

And finally just a word about Durham. Those who know me may be surprised that I wasn't at Lord's on Saturday but I did get home from Darlington in time to see that most splendid of men, Gareth Breeze, hit the winning runs. An excellent excuse to bring out the Bombay Sapphire, if one were needed. Membership of Yorkshire and Durham? Money well spent. 

 

START OF THE ARTHINGTON FESTIVAL

By Brian Sanderson,

   Yesterday were the last league matches in the Leeds area but there is still some more cricket to be seen into October.The Arthington  ground is situated between Pool in Wharfedale and Harewood and they play in the Nidderdale League.

Today's opponent were Halifax Nomads who just play friendlies on a Sunday afternoon. I remember playing  this club in the late 1960s when I played for Yorkshire Bank at the Moortown ground.The match should have started at 1.00P.M but it was ten minutes late when Halifax came out to bat and unfortunatly Arthington were two men short.The crowd consisted of  ten people which was very disappointing.Denis Nash again opened the bowling even though he is in his seventies and just recovering from injuries.

His run up may be a bit shorter than last year but he was still economical with his spell of bowling. His figures being 8-2-14-2. The two Halifax batsmen R.Harland and J.Tetley put on a stand of 105 with Harland especially playing some nice shots. At the end of the forty overs they had scored 187.

Tea was taken in the shade of the trees however there was a cool breeze blowing which caused it to be cold.
The total seem to be too much for Arthington with only nine men. Andy Stoddart anf Geoff Barker tried hard to keep the home side in the match.By the twenty over they had scored 83 for 1.

Geoff Barker,above, has played in this festival for a number of years and I last saw him playing for Yorkshire Gentlemen at Escrick Park in April.Looking at the club's averages he played 17 matches and finishing with average of 56.11. Today he scored 57 before he was run out from a direct throw.

Arthington brought the total to 151 for 7 at the end of the overs  and Denis Nash was batting. Another two matches next weekend and let us hope the weather keeps fine to help support this fine club.

Mick Bourne Memorial Match

A reminder that the Michael Bourne Memorial Match will be played next Sunday, September 28th at Arthington wickets pitched 1:00pm

Please come along and enjoy what should be a most enjoyable afternoon and nostalgic occasion. For those who have not yet contributed to the fund for the commemorative bench there will be an opportunity to do so. Look forward to seeing you there. The season does not end at Headingley on Friday