New grounds in the east

posted by John Winn

 

After watching England taking the 39 steps to victory yesterday I headed east to the market town of Pocklington and a York Senior League Div 3 North between Pocklington II and Thorpe Arch and Boston 1. Precisely at 1:30 the teams took the field with the home side having been put in, and TABS, second in the table, looking very smart in their red caps. Friday's lovely weather had carried over and the outfield, if a little rough in parts, looked dry and fast. A drive to the cover boundary in the first over confirmed this impression and for the half hour I watched Pocklington made good progress to be 38 without loss off nine overs. The excellent league website shows they went on to make 165 for 9 off their 45 overs with J Chaplin hitting 54 not out. This proved no problem for TABS who won by seven wickets with almost 14 overs to spare. The thirty points they were awarded for this keeps them second to Pickering II who also gained maximum points and lead by 33 points with six games to go.

Pocklington pavilion

 

It is not too far from Pocklington to Melbourne, the one in the East Riding that is, and a ground I had visited in on a sunny day in 2012 only to find it deserted. Better luck this time with a York Vale Div 1 match with visitors Kelfield having made a good start with the ball. As I stepped from the car a Melbourne wicket fell and the board read 14 for 3 off 7. Melbourne were promoted this season but have found life hard in the top division. By the time I left they were five down and although they rallied to make 118 fourth placed Kelfield surpassed this for the loss of only three wickets. I completed a circuit of the ground and saw this pair of rollers the larger of which almost merits its own posting. Aficionados will recognise it as Barford and Perkins Water Ballast model. The Perkins name lived on as Perkins engines of Peterborough, now part of Caterpillar the biggest manufacturers of diesel engines in the world. Now come on, admit it, you found that really interesting.

 

In the furthermost corner of the ground I spent time on a smart new bench: erected just this year to the memory of Eric Kirby, former grounds man and spin bowler who died in in the spring. He even has his own 'end' marked with this little sign. Next stop, and back in North Yorkshire, was at another York Vale game this time at North Duffield who were entertaining Ben Johnson, not the disgraced Canadian sprinter but the 'workplace solutions' company from York. Another top division game here with bottom of the table North Duffield batting against their mid table opponents. Progress was steady if a little slow and ND went on to make 183,sufficient to give them only their third win of the season by 24 runs. The ground here is a large one, shared with football and  the game had attracted a few local spectators who enjoyed one of the best days of the summer.

Changes lie ahead for these two leagues with the top teams in the York League eligible for entry into the new pyramid and the introduction of automatic promotion between this league and the York Vale for clubs who wish to make the step up. More on this in a future posting.