Leicestershire 8 for 6

posted by John Winn

A must see match at Northampton  today and a suggestion of settled weather sent me down the A1 on Saturday morning to explore some grounds in Leicestershire beginning in the Vale of Belvoir with a  match in the South Notts Div B league  between Belvoir II and Nottingham side Calverton II. Belvoir can boast the Duke of Rutland as their President and Jonathan Agnew, who had decided there was more important business at Lord's, as a patron.

My first sight on entering the ground with its view of Belvoir Castle in the background was of the covers being put on but gradually the usual rites of the boundary rope being unreeled, creases being marked, stumps being pitched and an outbreak of buttering in the kitchen were gone through and play began only 25 minutes late. Whilst these preparations were on going I enjoyed looking at the photographs in the pavilion amongst among which were souvenirs of benefit games for such Notts' luminaries as Derek Randall, Clive Rice and Sir Richard Hadlee. One scorecard showed the recently deceased RT Simpson opening the batting.

Behind the pavilion a second ground was ready for action and after allowing for the wicketkeeper to fit his contact lenses the call of play was heard, but this time for a Div L match with Belvoir III hosting Wymeswold II, who if they are not cheeses makers, at least ought to think about it. Enquiries revealed that there are three divisions below this level, M,N and P.

 

Time to move on and a  zig zag journey to the main attraction: a Leicestershire Premier Division game between leaders Kibworth and second place Loughborough Town. The journey took me to the edge of Melton Mowbray where I passed a ground hosting Thorpe Arnold v Cropston. Here I enjoyed a chat with the visitors' scorer who when I said I lived in the York area recalled how they had lost to Woodhouse Grange in the Village Cup semi final two years ago. The two scoreboards were slightly out of kilter; one showing Thorpe Arnold 36 for2, the other 476 for 2. Given the late start I favoured the former.

I arrived at Kibworth in time for tea where spectators are asked to wait until the players have finished before helping themselves for which a minimum donation of £1 is requested: an arrangement that would appeal to certain pcws. Kibworth had batted first and scored 312 off 47 overs, an impressive total and Loughborough fell well short but the last pair held out to deprive Kibworth of an outright victory. Opening the bowling for the home team was Luke Evans who after leaving Durham spent some time at Northants. Purists would say this is not a pavilion but it is nevertheless a splendid facility.

 

A short distance away I visited Langtons CC in the village of East Langton for a Leicestershire and Rutland Div 4 East match with Langtons II taking on Rothley Park II. Rothley Park were batting but alas I can tell you little more. The score box was empty, the board was not being operated and only one book was being kept and that somewhat reluctantly. From this attractive tree lined ground with its large playing area I moved to my final venue, the Fairfield Road ground of Market Harborough CC, a club with a history dating back to 1840. This was a match between MHCC II and Loughborough Carillon I with the home team at 86 for 1 in pursuit of 303. MH had begun the match with only seven players and batted only nine men, some of whom were very young boys. Appropriately as the church clock struck six a Carillon spinner completed a hat trick and the innings quickly descended to 108 all out on what had become by now a lovely evening. Time for me to find my accommodation for the night before moving on to Northampton, happy that I had seen 8 matches on 6* grounds in 3 different leagues.

* the one I have not described is at Barkby Utd who were playing Electricity Sports II, a club from Leicester whose home ground is the former Leicestershire CC ground at Aylestone Road.