Family business took me to Darlington on Saturday and on a sunny afternoon I took the opportunity to visit four grounds in the south west of the county where I had not previously seen cricket.
First up was a match at Shildon CC for an NYSD Second Division match with Stokesley II the visitors. Shildon or Shildon Railway to give them their full title joined the NYSD in 2015 and gained promotion in their first season but after the loss of key players from last season life is proving tough and they find themselves propping up the other 11 teams in the division. Shildon chose to bat against the nine of Stokesley which grew to ten about twenty minutes after play began. Shildon failed to cash in with a slow outfield and a large playing area restricting scoring and they soon found themselves 8 for 3, 19 for 3 when I left after 10 overs. Their final score was 56 all out and despite the loss of early wickets a stand between two Davids, Atkinson and Wilson, saw the Yorkshire men home by six wickets.
From Shildon it is a fairly short journey to Evenwood, but change of ground meant change of league, this time to the Durham Cricket League, part of the big reshuffle of cricket in the county that took place in 2013. The Evenwood club was established in 1966 and their opponents on Saturday were East Durham outfit, Peterlee. Second teams in action at the Randolph Social Welfare Ground. The visitors were in the field and bemoaning their luck as three catches, none easy but all in the 'might have stuck category', went down as Peterlee progressed to 32 off 12 when I left. Sadly the result is missing from the league website. *Another short journey for my third new ground and a match between Lands CC and Barton, second v third in the Darlington and District League Division A. Lands lies between Low Lands and High Lands and with pleasing logic you climb a hill from one to the other and there is the ground with splendid views on all sides. Lands were founded in 1898 and played in the Mid Durham Senior League until its demise in 1983 when they transferred to the D and D. Barton, from near Scotch Corner were batting and while I watched 17 for 2 became 32 for 6. 60 all out was the best Barton could do and this was easy meat for Lands who won
by 9 wickets. That keeps them in second place but well short of leaders Raby Castle, Barton slip to fourth.
For my last ground of the day I headed for Newton Aycliffe and another NYSD Div 2 encounter with Maltby the visitors. Newton Aycliffe was easy to find, the ground was not but I made it in time for tea. My attempts to gate crash a private party rebuffed I settled for a cup of tea and a seat in the sunshine. This was crowd of the day, most being fortified by something stronger than tea, and on the adjacent football pitch the locals were hoping to make the first steps on the road to Wembley with mighty
Chester le Street in town. The Cestrians went home disappointed, 1/0 to the hosts.
Back to cricket and chasing 165 Newton Aycliffe's openers walked out to music which overflowed from the private party. Mercifully, for it clearly owed something to Sid Vicious, it was soon strangled. There followed a fairly pointless exercise when Aycliffe batted through their fifty overs for 94 runs and the loss of seven wickets, five points for the home team, 13 for the visitors which keeps them top of the table, two points clear of Wolviston. Newton Aycliffe lie 8th, not entirely clear of relegation. Fortunately I missed the most of this turgid display as I drove back down the A1 and considered what I needed to take to Scarborough for the next couple of days.
Newton Aycliffe CC
*The result appeared later in the week and showed Evenwood had made 164 for 9 to which Peterlee replied with 55 all out.
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