Spring in my step

With the sun shining in the Lower Ure Valley, plants flowering that ought to be flowering and the river back to its proper level it is hard for the pcw not to be getting a tad excited about the new season. Just four weeks today, weather permitting, there will be cricket at Headingley and no matter how many  layers of clothing it takes I will be there and the pcw's equivalent of the first cuckoo of spring, 'hope you have wintered well' will be heard. Let's hope we all have.

Looking a little beyond that key date in the diary there are plenty of other rites of passage close behind. The first cricket at The Riverside the following week, the start of the championship on the 13th of April, Palm Sunday, although nothing on offer in these parts, and, for most competitions, the start of league cricket on Saturday 19th. Next day Durham and Yorkshire are both at home, an unfortunate clash but the only one of the season.I'm not sure about the Sunday starts but I suppose I will get used to them.

One or two things to look out before bat strikes ball. The Cricket Paper returns from its hibernation this Friday, the seventh, and contrary to previous information the Pudsey St Lawrence website is showing that there will be a Jim the Cat lunch in March when on the spring equinox, the 21st, the speaker will be David Normanton of the Halifax League. Noon for 1:00 pm at Tofts Road.

Finally an eye catching piece of news from the Central Yorkshire League is that Thornhill CC have folded with immediate effect, a decision taken at an egm last month. Sad to see a club that can trace its roots back almost 150 years, that has played its cricket on the same ground since 1887 and apart from six seasons in the Huddersfield Central, have been members of the CYL since 1944, fold.

The  proximity of the decision so close to the start of the season will leave clubs with blank Saturdays. Their name has been removed from the list of clubs and the fixtures on the website.

The website also has a report that Adwalton CC have sought permission to approach other leagues. Read more at cyclweb.com

Well not quite finally for I thought readers might like this from The Guardian in August 1979 when  Bishan Bedi was described 'bowling in a sky-blue parka'.