As described in my last posting Sunday was set aside for a trip to Edgbaston but a few days earlier I decided to make a weekend of the visit so Saturday morning saw me heading down the A1 with a list of visits to league grounds in Warwickshire in my pocket.
First stop was at the extremely well appointed ground of Knowle and Dorridge, just off J5 M42, for a Birmingham League Premier Division match with Moseley the visitors. K and D are very much the cream of the crop in this league, champions in 2017 and current league leaders, and I arrived in time to see both sets of players warming up in a manner that would not have disgraced many county teams. The day was overcast with a hint of drizzle but the game started on time with K and D batting. Opening for them was NZ international George Worker who produced two lovely boundary shots to get the board moving.
It came as something of a surprise when Worker was dismissed with only 9 to his name and by the time I left after an hour's play Knowle were 69 for 3 but such is their strength in depth they finally totalled 325 for 6 with Oli Haley hitting 101. Impressive with the ball was Herefordshire quickie Freddie Eburah who took four for fifty. Moseley fell well short, 156 all out, a result that leaves Knowle 12 points clear of Berkswell at the top with four games to go. Moseley are mid table.
Doing some research last week to decide how best to spend the afternoon I came across fixtures for the Cotswold Hills League, a competition previously unknown to me, and picked out four grounds to visit all in Warwickshire although as its name suggests the league extends well into Gloucestershire. First stop and not too far from Knowle was the ground of the quaintly named Catherine de Barnes CC, situated behind The Boat Inn, the only pub in the village of Catherine de Barnes*. 'Situated behind' is barely enough information to find the ground, 'hidden' and 'hard to find' ought to come into the directions and in my case 'ask at shop opposite pub' which I duly did and received clear instructions from the shop assistant.
Despite my problems in locating the ground I was in time to see Leamington III take first knock and I fell into conversation with the club chairman whose name, alas, I did not note, who outlined some of the club's problems not the least of which are their rather tired facilities, a post war prefab which has served as their pavilion since 1980 and which the brewery who own the field will not allow them to redevelop. As the northernmost club in the league they are not popular with other clubs, especially those travelling up from Glos, and on the field fortunes have slumped with a successive relegation in the offing. Their problem is not so much a lack of players but a lack of quality. As the chairman put it 'they would rather not play for better clubs than play for us'. I think I know what he means. Another defeat came on Saturday as Leamington hit up 231 for 9 to which CdeB made the respectable reply of 194 in this first division fixture.
My next call involved the longest drive of the day to the village of Kineton, one of the main settlements in the Vale of The Red Horse which lies between the escarpment of Edgehill and the northern Cotswolds. Another Division One game here with Ashton under Hill, situated between Evesham and Cheltenham, visiting and in the field. Kineton batsmen were cashing in on some wayward bowling and creaky fielding, not helped by the hazards of an out
field showing no signs of recovering from summer's heat.Kineton finished their 45 overs on 293 for 6 and Ashton fell 108 short. The league's excellent website shows Kineton in second place with Ashton fourth from bottom. Of the six sports advertised on this board,apart from cricket, I saw only evidence of bowls. Two more grounds to go, both premier division matches, and I will describe these in my next posting.
* known locally and colloquially as Catney
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