On a wet day in April Durham members, while waiting in vain to see cricket at The Riverside, were allowed to enjoy the comforts of the Colin Milburn lounge. On the wall was an undated photograph of a group of radio commentators amongst whom was the eponymous Milburn who at that time was trying to carve out a career in radio and television following the accident which robbed him of the sight of his left eye. 'Ollie' first came to public attention in 1959 when as a seventeen year old he scored a hundred for Durham against the touring Indians. Milburn had learned his cricket at Burnopfield CC, a village in County Durham, about ten miles west of Newcastle.
All this was in my mind on Monday when I took the train to Newcastle then the no 6 bus from outside the station which dropped me in Burnopfield forty minutes later. Seeking directions to the cricket ground I was advised to take a path through some woods, turn right at the top and 'you can't miss it', instructions that proved correct although they omitted to mention the severity of the climb which gave my new arteries a very thorough work out. Nearing the top the sound of bat on ball could be heard above my gasps for breath, assurance that Durham II and The Unicorns were preparing for a SET match and turning right I could indeed not miss it, for there was a wonderful new cricket ground, in use since May 2104.
I was heartily welcomed by chairman Matty, the inspiration behind this superb facility, who was quick to tell me that Burnopfield was the only Durham club to produce two England player for as well as the Milburn bar the club's function room is known as the McConnon Suite, a tribute to Jim of that ilk who was born in the village and played two tests for England in 1954 and controversially was selected ahead of Laker for the following winter's tour of Australia. Before wickets were pitched I was joined by OHC and a goodly gathering of pcws gradually assembled.
A strong Durham II XI won the toss and batted and fifties from Muchall, Macleod and Coughlin (P) helped raise 313 by the time they were all out in the 50th over. Unicorns lost early wickets and were dismissed for 203 with Randhawa taking four wickets. Much interest in the lunch interval centred on Neil Killeen putting Chris Rushworth through a fitness test on his muscle injury the outcome of which was that he was considered fit enough to play in yesterday's t20.
Chairman Matty stressed the club's ambition to achieve Premier League status and directed me to the league table for the Durham County League Division 1 which shows BCC clear leaders at this early stage. With former Durham players, Gareth Breeze, Callum Thorpe and Killeen in the side this is not surprising. Whatever level the club reaches its facilities will be more than sufficient.
The walk back to the bus stop was much easier than the climb and I caught a more direct bus than the one that had brought me. The penalty for the quicker journey was that when we reached Gateshead it was invaded by school children, something of a Room 101 moment for me but I survived to catch my train back to North Yorkshire, very pleased that I had made the trip.
Our Hartlepool Correspondent a little mistrustful of the Burnopfield weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment