When Ranji came to Gilling

Posted by Tony Hutton

Sunday 28th April and a leisurely day watching cricket at Ampleforth College, in the North Yorkshire countryside, one of my favourite all time venues. A season without a visit here is never complete. A slight delay as the schoolboys returned from Mass and then had to complete their warm up programme, which now seems to be compulsory in all forms of cricket - even Sunday friendlies. However at 11.45 the umpire rang the bell and the players took the field.

The school were playing their first game of the season against Emeriti, a wandering side made up of former Catholic public school boys. The visitors batted first and were putting on a good opening partnership before the first wicket fell with the total in the sixties. By then it was time to adjourn down the road, through the forest of rugby posts to the neighbouring village of Gilling East for a leisurely Sunday lunch.

When I saw the village church, almost opposite the pub, it reminded me of a visit here some ten years ago when my friend the late Mick Bourne told me of an article in the Dalesman magazine about a visit by the famous England and Sussex batsman Prince Ranjitsinhji in 1908. Details of the match he arranged to raise funds to repair the church tower are still on show in the church and I was able to take pictures of the documents and team picture which tell the story.

Back row:- Umpire, C. Charlesworth (Warwicks), W.G. Quaife (Warwicks), A.F.A. Lilley (Warwicks),
H.L. Simms (Sussex), C.L.A. Smith (Sussex), G.W. Beldem (Middlesex).
Front row:- C.B. Fry (Sussex), J.B. King (Philadelphia), K.S. Ranjitsinhji (Sussex), J. A. Lester (Philadelphia) and A.C. MacLaren (Lancashire).

Apparently Ranji's tutor at Cambridge University was the vicar of Gilling and lived in Gilling Castle which is now St Martin's school, the prep school for Ampleforth. Ranji regularly came for holidays and on learning of the need to raise funds arranged a special cricket match with some of the most famous names in English cricket of the time agreeing to play. Ranji's XI played the Gentlemen of Yorkshire, in what turned out to be a rather one sided encounter. The great man even went so far as to hire a special train to get all the players there in time.

The ground at Gilling Castle today.

Ranji's team batted first in a two day game and made the grand total of 361 all out with one of the two Americans, J.A. Lester making 115 not out. On the second day the Yorkshire Gentlemen were all out for 48 and followed on losing six wickets before rain stopped play and the game was officially declared a draw. As well as paying for the repairs to the church tower Ranji was also able to purchase a new clock and details of the amounts involved are shown on the following document.

So after gleaning all this information we were able to return to Ampleforth to find that the visitors had been dismissed for 161 and the school were well on their way to victory when we left. I was later reliably informed by one of the visitors batsmen (via the internet) that the school won by six wickets.

Another pleasant surprise awaited following our visit to the Abbey tea room and shop when I discovered a post card with a view of the cricket ground. Last year I searched the shop for such an item without success and suggested to the lady behind the counter that the should produce one.
When I retold this story I was given my 50p back and told I could have it for free as it had been my idea. I thought it better not to pursue the thought of royalties on all future sales.

A shock for Sessay

posted by John Winn

I have posted from Sessay CC near Thirsk on several occasions in recent seasons reporting on their exploits in the Village and National Cups and last August on their successful struggle to retain their Premier status. My plans to visit the attractive village and ground on Saturday were scuppered by the day's rain but another opportunity presented itself yesterday when Eppleton from the North East Premier League were visitors in the first round of matches in Group 1 of ECB National Club Championship.

On a day when it was just about bearable to sit in the open air I arrived in time for the start before which Eppleton had rather surprised their healthy contingent of supporters by electing to bat on winning the toss. Early progress was slow on a green wicket which appeared to assist the seamers and Luke Henderson was caught behind for 0 off the bowling of Stuart Pierse. There followed a good stand between Marcus Brown and Sam Dinning with young Brown particularly impressive until he was lbw to for 49 to Kavikara after an appeal that might have been heard in Thirsk. Dinning continued to bat steadily but the pace was stepped up by skipper Dean Musther in a partnership with Gary Burlinson. An interesting entry at no 6 was the tall figure of Josh Coughlin who earlier in the season  I had seen playing first class cricket for Durham and whose brother Paul jumped the Riverside ship in 2017 to join Notts. Coughlin was another safely pouched by keeper Till when chasing a wide one from Pierse but Musther stayed until the conclusion of the 40 overs.  A total of 220 for 8 was felt to be about par by the Eppleton faithful most of whom expressed allegiance to Sunderland FC apart from one brave soul who uttered the NU words. When questioned a Sessay boundary fielder was non committal about their prospects. Spinner Navin  Kavikara had the best figures with 2 for 28 off his permitted 8 overs.

Circumstances meant that I had to leave at the interval and my feeling was one of regret that I might miss an interesting finish. Not so for Sessay were never in the hunt with Couglin showing his pedigree with 3 for 6 off 5 overs and only Joe Watson and Stuart Clark reaching double figures. 93 all out was the summit of their achievement and a defeat by 127 runs has so far not provoked any response on the club's twitter feed. Eppleton will travel to face holders Richmondshire in the second round which I believe will be in two weeks time. A stiffer task indeed.

An interesting sideline from yesterday's game was that the scorer for Eppleton was youngster Sam Blacklock who has just returned from duties in the UAE and will be scoring for Bangladesh in the forthcoming World Cup. Sam, who lives in Sunderland graduated from Teesside University this year and would seem to have an interesting future as a scorer ahead of him.

Rain stopped play

Posted by Tony Hutton

We have been amazingly lucky with the weather so far this season and were watching our twenty second day of cricket when the rains finally arrived at Harrogate on Thursday 25th April to curtail day two of the Second XI championship game between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. The rain also returned yesterdy and condemned the game to a draw when Yorkshire were on the verge of declaring their second innings to set Notts a target to chase on the final afternoon.

The sad scene at St Georges Road, Harrogate.

The game had begun on Wednesday with Yorkshire batting. The veteran left arm seamer Mark Footitt, who seems to have been around for ever, took an early wicket having youngster Finlay Bean, from York, lbw for eight. Fraine made a solid 35 but once again the main man proved to be Academy captain Tom Loten, who has been among the runs on a regular basis already. This time he made 75 before becoming becalmed in the seventies and falling lbw to Notts skipper James, who was the seventh bowler to be tried.

This precipitated something of a late order collapse in which Footitt returned to see off the tail very quickly, finishing with five wickets for 51 (four of which were lbw). There were three other leg before decisions to very much a left arm bowling attack with Footitt, Wood, Cohen and Patterson-White all falling into that category. Footitt just missed out on a hat trick, dismissing Barnes and Warner with successive deliveries. Yorkshire all out for 278,

The next day saw Ed Barnes missing and being replaced by Dominic Leech of the Academy. We later learned that Barnes had been dispatched to Sussex on loan and was playing for their first team today at Lord's. On day two Notts were fairly rapidly losing wickets after a delayed start and they finished the day, after a another rain break during the afternoon, on 137-9 when the rains returned in the early evening.

Yesterday morning Warner took the final wicket by clean bowling Cohen, knocking back his middle stump with the first ball of the day, so those few spectators who had not been paying full attention were rather surprised to see the players returning to the pavilion so promptly. Yorkshire's second innings began in rather pedestrian style, after the early loss of Bean, and Fraine in particular seemed somewhat out of touch in the very windy conditions. Loten began to push things on a bit and got to 43 not out when the rain returned shortly after lunch. Yorkshire had got to 87-1 and were contemplating a declaration but the rain continued and the game was abandoned as a draw in mid-afternoon.

However, our cricketing day was far from over. We were able to catch two century makers for Somerset in their game against Essex on Sky Sports and finally saw the exciting conclusion to the game at Headingley on live streaming, when the game between Yorkshire and Derbyshire ended in a tie. Full marks to the visitors, particularly skipper Billy Godleman, but again questions must be asked of Yorkshire's current policy of importing players from far and wide instead of sticking to their home grown players.

Run-fest at York

Posted by Tony Hutton

On Tuesday 23rd April Yorkshire second eleven took on Nottinghamshire second eleven in a one day trophy match at Clifton Park, York. Despite his recent century for the first team in a Royal London Cup game, Harry Brook was given an outing with the seconds. When Yorkshire batted first he and Will Fraine both looked in excellent form. Fraine, who is Yorkshire born and learned his cricket in the Huddersfield League, is a newcomer to the county side this season having had a brief spell with today's opponents Notts after his time as captain of Durham University.

Both Yorkshire openers into the fifties. Must have been quite a feat to get all of the fielder's name onto his shirt.

The pair scored at the same pace and both brought up their half centuries soon after the hundred partnership in the fourteenth over. They punished all the Notts bowlers including experienced left arm seamer Mark Footitt and another left armer, Mike Cohen, a new face from South Africa, who has joined Notts this season. The partnership was eventually broken, shortly after Brook had gone to his century, as Fraine was caught on the long on boundary off left arm spinner Patterson-White for 92.

Harry Brook goes to his century with a straight six.

They had put on 219 together and Brook's century came in only 87 balls. He was finally out in the 37th over, playing on to former Durham man Paul Coughlin for 144 with the total on 299-2. Brook's powerful innings, taking advantage of the short pavilion side boundary, included sixteen fours and seven sixes.

Brook celebrates his century in the style of West Indian Chris Gayle.

Thomson, Waite and Leaning (with a fine 51) all helped to keep the scoreboard ticking over at the same rate until the 400 came up in the final over, when Tom Loten was out trying another big hit.
The final score 402-6 in fifty overs must be one of Yorkshire's highest and put them well on their way to their second victory in this competition, having already beaten Lancashire at Scarborough last week.

Yorkshire opened the bowling with Ben Coad and Matthew Waite and it was the latter who soon made a breakthrough. He bowled first teamer Nash for 13, then had Patterson-White and Budinger caught for 11 and 14 respectively. Notts had stumbled to 40-3 and never looked like recovering. Waite finished with 3-30 off five overs and Warner, Carver, Thompson and Leaning were all among the wickets which fell at regular intervals. Leaning took the last two in the final over (the 26th of the innings). Coughlin was absent hurt so only nine wickets fell, but a very comfortable Yorkshire victory by 264 runs.

League start blessed with beautiful weather

posted by John Winn

Those leagues that stuck to the traditional start day of the third Saturday in April even though this year it clashed with the Easter weekend were rewarded with weather that surely can never have been bettered for opening day. I dipped my toe into the relatively calm waters of Division Two of the Nidderdale League and a match at Lightmire Lane where Ouseburn II were entertaining Thornton le Moor I. A small crowd had assembled before I arrived

but as the afternoon wore on the excellent viewing area in front of the pavilion filled up with familiar and unfamiliar faces and the bar staff were kept busy. The ground lies in Great Ouseburn, a village which lost its pub four years ago, so for those seeking to slake parched throats the cricket clubhouse affords a welcome oasis. 

On the field Thornton, aka 'The Curlews', were batting and helped by some short stuff which suited those whose propensity is to hit to leg reached 214 for 7 with Tom Stead hitting 70 and new signing Craig Easton a useful 48 not out. Ouseburn were handicapped by an injury to opening bowler Jonathan Webb which necessitated a trip to A and E and thus batted one short. Skipper John Moorhouse who has recently undergone knee surgery batted down the order and despite 39 for Stephen Raine and 52 for Harry Smith Ouseburn fell 26 short when they were all out for 188. The afternoon was not without drama for one of the Thornton fielders collided with the sightscreen when attempting a catch and he too had to be hospitalised. 

Earlier in the day whilst shopping in Northallerton I picked up a copy of the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, some way off its home patch but unlike papers in  the Harrogate Advertiser group it found space for some cricket news. One item of interest was a name change for the North Lancs and Cumbria League, now to be known as the Cumbria Cricket League. Clubs playing in the Premier Division include Workington, Cockermouth, Carlisle, and Furness (based in Barrow). Much of the article focused on Keswick and an interview with club official Keith Richardson lamenting the delayed arrival of the season's pro, Sri Lankan Geeth Kumara. In his absence Keswick started with a heavy defeat at the hands of Millom. 

An item of interest to pcws concerned the arrival of a 53 strong touring party of Australian cricketers from Victoria who are coming over to watch the Ashes but will be staying in Keswick for a week and will compete in a T20 competition on 4th August at Fitz Park, Keswick's ground. 

As its title suggests the paper has a wide brief and a lengthy piece brought news of the Northern Premier League which too started on Saturday. Clubs playing here include Blackpool, Fleetwood, Barrow and Penrith. The last of these were in action against St Annes. Pro for Penrith is Asher Hart who left Durham for Hampshire in 2017. He picked up two wickets on Saturday in what was a narrow defeat for his new club. 

Excellent start for Yorkshire Academy

Posted by Tony Hutton

The faithful few who follow the fortunes of the Yorkshire Academy were all well in place for the start of the new season with a friendly game against Woodhouse Grange at the Leeds University ground, Weetwood. The weather was perfect, with a clear blue sky and a complete absence of the normally ever present Weetwood wind. In fact it became so warm by mid-afternoon that some spectators had to retreat into the shade of the pavilion.

The newly appointed Academy captain, Tom Loten - all six foot seven of him, lost the toss and the visitors decided to field first. One of this season's newcomers Will Luxton, from Bradford Grammar School and Steeton cricket club, opened the batting with James Wharton, who did so well last year.
Unfortunately Luxton did not last long falling lbw to Tom Young for just one. Wharton made a steady 26 before being caught off spinner Jackson. So at 45-2 skipper Loten, who has already been in good form in practice games, came to the wicket to join wicket keeper Harry Duke.

Loten on strike, with Ramkumar at the other end.

This partnership came to an unfortunate end when due to a misunderstanding they collided in mid-wicket and Duke was run out by some distance for just 20. This brought to the wicket Arjun Ramkumar, from Adel cricket club, who played a few games last season as well as for Yorkshire under 17s. Today he batted as we had not seen him before, with a splendid confident innings that really took the game away from Woodhouse Grange. In partnership with Loten they put on 125 runs before an impetuous reverse sweep cost Ramkumar his wicket, bowled by James Finch for 81.

Loten on the way to his century.

Loten, who had been the quieter of the two, now took control, despite losing Bean and Revis very quickly. Harry Harding stayed with him to the end of the innings when a sudden burst from Loten managed to take him to a well deserved century in the last of the fifty overs. Yorkshire finished with a very useful total of 274-6.

Loten applauded from the field on 104 not out.

Woodhouse Grange never really threatened the Academy total despite useful cameos from Andrew and Chris Bilton. Skipper James Finch, a former Academy player in the past, top scored with 37 closely followed by Simon Tennant with 37. Another newcomer to the Academy ranks Edward Booth finished off the tail with figures of 3-41 and there were two wickets each for Mukerjee, Loten and Harding. Woodhouse Grange all out 206 with eleven overs to spare. A nice start for the youngsters but sterner opposition comes next week with the opening Yorkshire League North game at Harrogate.

Good cricket at a lower level.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Regular readers will be well aware of our liking for cricket at all levels. In fact the more obscure the better we like it. This week proved to be right up our street with a surfeit of our sort of cricket, mainly close to home with the exception of our first expedition of the season to Scarborough.

Sunday 14th April and our first womens' match of the season, which we stumbled across on Twitter.
Yorkshire women were taking on Notts in a pre-season friendly match at Methley cricket club now prominent members of the Bradford cricket league. This is a pleasant spot with a bit of a village green atmosphere, a well appointed pavilion, good scoreboard and plenty of parking on the grass at one end where you can sit in the car on cold days, which this one certainly was.

 The pavilion at Methley.

Notts batted first and struggled after a bright start against some useful Yorkshire bowling, particularly the two spinners Levick and Thompson. They had to be winkled out gradually and it took 37 overs before they were all out for 97. Yorkshire struggled early on and had been reduced to 38-4 before a fine partnership between Kasperek (42 not out) and McDonald (25 not out) saw them home to victory in only 27 overs. Relief for players and spectators alike to return to the warmth of the pavilion, where we lucky enough to get the last bacon sandwiches during the interval.

Notts batting at Methley.

Monday saw us back to base so to speak in what has seemed like an early season Weetwood cricket festival at the Leeds University ground. Today's visitor's were Bristol University for a 50 overs a side BUCS game. They had made the long journey north and would also be travelling to Durham for another game the following day.

Leeds/Bradford were given an early scare when Bristol showed that they were not overawed by their powerful opponents. In fact they dismissed last week's centurion, Batchelor, for only 9 early on and then Ashraf and Dahl also went for single figures to leave the home side on 60-3. However today's centurion proved to be opener Taylor Cornall, from Lancashire, who took his time early on but played a very correct innings, only cutting loose near the end with two big sixes.

 Cornall brings up his century.

Cornall was well supported by another Lancastrian, Ben Pearson who plays for Todmorden in the Lancashire league. He made a fine 73 and put on 129 with Cornall before being caught going for a big hit. Haynes (32), Ironside (13) and Killoran (20 not out) all give Cornall good support until he was out in the penultimate over. The home side finished on 316-7.

Bristol in the field.

Bristol lost two early wickets and their run chase looked a forlorn hope but the number three batsman, K. Smith, had other ideas and raced to a hundred in 113 balls, with ten fours and a six. Despite his efforts and a good middle order 50 from Cameron, Bristol were never really up with the rate and they ended 72 short on 244-8 in their fifty overs. However they performed well and contributed to a fine day's cricket. We have now seen six centuries already at Weetwood this season.

Tuesday brought a change of scene with a trip to Scarborough for Yorkshire seconds against Lancashire seconds in a two day friendly. Both teams agreed to bat for 96 overs on each day, irrespective of the number of wickets that fell. Really just glorified net practice. Lancashire fielded a very young, inexperienced side and were always going to have the worst of things.

Ben Birkhead about to take a catch behind the wicket at Scarborough.

They were in trouble against the seam attack of Warner, Taylor and Thompson and were reduced to 48-5 and then 119-8, but Greenwood with 44 and Hartley with 54 brought some respectability to proceedings and the tenth wicket went down at 182. The two openers re-appeared and were both dismissed twice in the day with Lancashire ending day one on 258-13. However nice to be sitting in the sun at Scarborough so early in the season and to enjoy the pavilion balcony bar when it got a little colder later on.

Yorkshire seconds return to the pavilion after a good morning's work.

Wednesday and back at Weetwood again for another BUCS fifty overs game with Cambridge University, who had played two T20 games here while we were at Scarborough. In actual fact the visitors were virtually all students at Anglia Ruskin University, anyone from a Cambridge University college is a rarity these days. Probably the warmest day so far this season with hardly any other spectators, as most people had gone to watch Yorkshire v Leicestershire in the Royal London Cup at Headingley.

Groundsman Richard Robinson surveys the scene at sunny Weetwood.

Peace and quiet reigned and the cricket was pretty good as well. Cambridge 223-8 and Leeds/Bradford not having it all their all way until Cornall with 55 and skipper Dahl with 51 not out saw them home with a couple of overs to spare. The most remarkable over was the very first of the day bowled by Neal, who got an lbw decision first ball, then hit the stumps with the second but the batsman had pulled away at the last minute so not out. His third ball hit the batsman on the ankle, causing a delay and finally he yorked him with the last ball of the over to make it 0-2 and it could have been three.

Durham in the field at Weetwood.

Finally on Thursday Leeds/Bradford entertained Durham second XI again at Weetwood. A very strong Durham side with plenty of first team experience made this an unusual experience for the university side who have carried all before them so far this season. Durham made 318-7 mainly due to new recruit from Leicestershire, Ned Eckersley with fine innings of 108. Veteran Will Smith came in towards the end and hit 61 in 34 balls, with four huge sixes and four fours, Durham ending on 318-7. The university were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 222. Two wickets each for Josh Couglin, Cameron Steel and Ben Whitehead.

Ned Eckersley returns to the pavilion with 108 on the board.

Warning..

posted by John Winn

Anybody thinking of joining me at Sessay tomorrow might care to think of plan B for Tony has kindly pointed out that the fixture is not until next Saturday 27th April. Sorry for any confusion.

When Harry met Gary

posted by John Winn

The Royal London Cup which is to be downgraded by the ECB next year to something akin to an egg cup was blessed with sunshine on its opening day yesterday. Nowhere was this more so than at Headingley where an excellent crowd saw Yorkshire make a flying start with an easy victory over Leicestershire. Things did  not start too well however with Lyth dismissed after three balls and when Willey and Kohler-Cadmore joined him in the pavilion not much later, the board read 17 for 3 and The Foxes decision to field looked a goodun'. 209 runs later skipper Horton was probably thinking otherwise as Gary Ballance and Harry Brook reduced the visitors to a rather demoralised looking outfit.

After Brook went for 103, Ballance and Tattersall, the latter scoring at two runs a ball, added a further century partnership and although a further four wickets did fall most were to adventurous shots against poor bowling and 379 equalled Yorkshire's best List A total, a record that may stand for ever given that next year's competition is hardly likely to be ranked above C+. Runs had also flowed elsewhere for in all but one of the other five matches being played 300 was surpassed in the first innings.

Mr Whippy having enjoyed brisk trade play resumed at 3:15 and Leicestershire began as badly as Yorkshire with Dearden lasting only one more delivery than Lyth and although Horton, Lilley and Cosgrove each added runs to take the score to 86 for 2, the third of these having replicated a prop forward's try when making his ground at the new pavilion end as well as dealing forcefully with some short stuff from Patterson, the run rate was increasing. Two of Yorkshire's more recent signings, Pillans and Poysden, were introduced into the attack and it was leg spinner Poysden who made the breakthrough when he had Cosgrove lbw with his first ball. This led to a steady fall of wickets, all of them to these two relative unknowns. At 5:15 it was all over with a victory margin of 213 runs and a fifer for the pacey looking Pillans and two for Poysden. 

Yorkshire will encounter much better sides than Leicestershire, starting with Warwickshire at Edgbaston tomorrow, but a side than can afford to have Coad and Olivier carrying the drinks can face the qualifying period with confidence. With the fine weather set to continue and Lancashire the visitors a bumper crowd can be expected on Sunday. 

Saturday is the third Saturday in April and for most leagues the traditional opening day. I am minded to go to Sessay where I began last season's league cricket watching. Woodhouse Grange are the visitors and I am hoping to pitch my deck chair for the noon start. 

Wagtails and a Wagging Tail

posted by John Winn

On Friday two wagtails took up residence in the sunshine at the Lumley End of The Riverside as did I and three friends, two of whom I had not seen since last September. As you can imagine there was much catching up to do and matters such as whether there will be cabbages as part of Double or Drop when Crackerjack returns to our screens were on the agenda. Of course not everything reached such intellectual heights but you get the picture.

Meanwhile there was a cricket match. Durham's new coach, New Zealander James Franklin, had swung the axe after the defeat at Derby bringing in Bancroft, Steel and new signing Eckersley in place of Smith, Richardson and Poynter, the last of whom may well see his future bound up with Ireland. Alas the changes had brought little if any improvement on the first day and  Durham started Friday eight down but Raine soon holed out at deep mid wicket, condemnation of his shot was stifled when it was pointed out to me that his parents were sitting just two seats in front,  Rushworth followed shortly afterwards and although 224 all out brought the first batting point of the season there was little else apart from the antics of the wagtails to cheer us.

By lunch things were looking much brighter Sussex collapsing to 67 for 6 and later 71 for 7 but the last three wickets added 131 with Luke Wells enjoying good support from Jordan, Robinson and Hamza. Wells finished on 98 not out and Durham had a lead of just 12. Steel lasted only five balls as the home team tried to get through to the close and a decent crowd turned up on Saturday in the hope that they might set a defendable target. With Lees going second ball of the day it was soon left to Harte to try and hold things together and when he and Eckersley took the score past 100 just before lunch spirits were lifted but when the wicketkeeper fell to Haines, whose only wicket in 2018 was taken at The Riverside, Steel for 160, and Trevaskis and Raine fell to impetuous shots, each for nought the writing on the wall was in a  fairly large font.

Weighell, who had caused the Martlets' first innings collapse resisted for an hour but he fell to Wiese and although Harte and Rushworth added 37 for the last wicket to set Sussex 212 to win, it had been another disappointing batting display by Durham. Nine single figure partnerships over their two innings tells its own sorry story.

Hopes were raised when Salt, whose four innings at CLS have yielded just 22 runs, and Haines were dismissed cheaply but the obdurate Wells who seems to understand what is needed in four day cricket found good support from South African van Zyl, the pair added 83 and on Sunday in front of about a hundred souls, mostly sheltering from the easterly wind in the members' pavilion, the scores were level when Evans was lbw to Salisbury. Brown hit the winning run first ball and when the championship resumes on May 14th and Durham visit New Road, they will do so at the bottom of the table, the only side to have lost two games so far.

Tomorrow sees a change of competition, The Royal London Cup and a change of membership card in the wallet as I will travel to Headingley for the visit of Leicestershire. Yorkshire are expected to 'freshen up their attack' with Willey, Rashid and Bresnan available. With temperatures at last forecast to improve so that we might sit on our coats rather than in them I imagine there will be  a good crowd relishing the county's opening performances with the red ball and confident that the switch to white will bring further joy. 

Two very different days at the cricket.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Thursday 11th April and off we go again up the A1 to Chester-le-Street for another county championship match - Durham v Sussex at the Riverside. Both sides had lost their opening matches last week, Durham at Derby and rather more surprisingly Sussex had been beaten at Hove by Leicestershire. All the pre-match discussions seemed to centre around the first appearance of Durham's new captain, Cameron Bancroft, the Australian Test player who has just served a long suspension from the game for ball tampering.

A controversial decision, to say the least, to appoint him as county captain but it appears there were no other volunteers amongst Durham's regulars. A bevy of cameramen had gathered to capture his entrance but they had to wait as Durham, having been put in by Sussex, opened with Lees and Cameron Steel. They did not have to wait too long as Steel was clean bowled by Ollie Robinson in the ninth over of the day when only eight runs had been scored.

Bancroft makes his entrance while some concentrate on their ice creams.

Enter Bancroft to what might be described as generous applause, noticeably not shared by everyone. He soon lost the other opener, Alex Lees, bowled by the Pakistani Hamza for 12 and Durham were struggling at 12-2. It is difficult to describe Bancroft's innings. Some might say he was getting used to English conditions, but he has played here before with Gloucestershire. Others might say he was completely focused on making a success in his new role. Whatever the reason Durham did not lose another wicket before lunch but scored very few runs in the process. The lunch score was 56-2 and it is fair to say that we saw more action in our lunchtime walk in the park.

The patient spectators await the start of the afternoon session.

Sadly it was more of the same during the afternoon, although pleasantly warm out of the wind and sitting in the sunshine. Bancroft virtually dropped anchor and with the South African Harte showing little inclination to increase the scoring rate it was certainly far from the expectations of the first day of the season for most of the spectators. Harte was eventually bowled by the persevering Robinson for 18 with the score on 63-3 after 38 overs. The slow scoring took me back to my boyhood days when such performances inevitably brought on the slow handclap from the crowd at Edgbaston.

An international feel on and off the field, as a South African and Australian go out to bat for Durham.

Bancroft was joined briefly by Jack Burnham, so we had the un-edifying sight of two players together who have both served long suspensions from the game for very different indiscretions. The partnership failed to prosper as Burnham became another Robinson victim, lbw for nought at the same total.This brought in another newcomer in the shape of Ned Eckersley, from Leicestershire.
When he got off the mark with a single, soon followed by a boundary, I felt I could hear distant applause from the direction of Market Harborough.

Bancroft was finally out for 33, caught at slip by Jordan off Wieze, after a marathon innings of three hours and ten minutes. It was an innings that Fred Gardner of Warwickshire would have been proud of back in the great days of the 1950s. One can only hope that Bancroft's performances will improve as the season progresses. Fortunately for the very patient spectators things improved after tea with a fine partnership between Eckersley and Liam Trevaskis, the very promising left handed all-rounder.
At the end of the day Durham had made a paltry 210-8 in 96 overs.

Compensation when we arrived home, the 2019 Wisden takes its place on the shelves.

The following day at Leeds University's ground at Weetwood we had some very different entertainment in a BUCS 50 overs a side game between Leeds/Bradford and Oxford University.
Loads of runs, including two centuries and an exciting finish, but with a very cold wind which made us watch the majority of the day from the car.

Seward goes to his century.

Oxford batted first and the star of the show was very much their captain and wicket keeper James Seward, a native of Preston, Lancashire who has played for Cheshire and for Somerset seconds. He batted almost throughout the Oxford innings before being caught for a splendid 110. The other main contributor batting at number five was Harry Adair, a Shrewsbury schoolboy who has played for Durham seconds. He made a very useful 66 not out from a final score of 263-4 against eight different bowlers for Leeds/Bradford.

Century maker James Seward returns to the pavilion.

Taylor Cornall, from Lancashire, and Ollie Batchelor, from Surrey who plays club cricket for York, opened the batting and started off in fine style. The kept the run rate ahead of the required rate from the outset and put on 71 together before Cornall was stumped for 25. Dahl and Ashraf both went cheaply and the innings stuttered a little at 98-3. However Batchelor continued on his merry way to a splendid century. He was given good support by both Ironside (22) and Killoran (28) but the run rate at the end was up to over seven an over and Oxford were still in the game.

Batchelor reaches his century.

In fact with three overs remaining 26 more runs were required with six wickets down - still anybody's game. Batchelor managed to regain control and after eleven runs from the 48th over, hit a six in the 49th and made the winning hit from the last ball of the penultimate over to finish on 131 not out.
Great entertainment and good reward for the faithful few spectators.

Match winner Ollie Batchelor takes the applause.

County championship gets underway in the East Midlands.

Posted by Tony Hutton

On Thursday evening 4th April we were ensconced in our overnight accommodation near Derby ready for proper cricket to really get underway. As ever our season's fixture planning is already proving difficult, as both of the counties we follow were to be in action the following day within a few miles of each other. Durham were due to face Derbyshire at the County ground Derby, which has yet another sponsor's name attached to it, whereas Yorkshire were due at what hopefully still remains straightforward Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Durham enter the fray, ready to live up to the name on the stand opposite.

Derby got the nod for the first day, in view of the journey to Nottingham likely to be more busy on Friday rather than Saturday. The forecast was for dry weather, but with low temperatures and a cold breeze. So it proved, but we sheltered somewhat from the wind and remained outside for the morning's play at Derby before retreating indoors to the member's lounge later in the proceedings.

Godleman and Reece about to enter the arena.

We could not have asked for a more dramatic start. The ever accurate Chris Rushworth, who we had seen uproot Durham University's opener's off stump with the first ball of their second innings last week, repeated the trick with a beauty which took the edge of Louis Reece's bat and flew straight to Richardson at second slip. A great start to his benefit season for Rushworth.

So 0-1 and two balls later it was 0-2 when Derby's main man Wayne Madsen had his off stump removed by Rushworth. Great rejoicing among the Durham ranks with President Ian Botham in attendance to watch the action. Derby skipper Billy Godleman and Tom Lace, on loan from Middlesex tried to repair the situation against an accurate opening spell from Rushworth and Salisbury. It didn't last long however as when Ben Raine, newly returned from Leicestershire, entered the attack he soon dismissed both of them caught in the slips.

Madsen makes the slow walk back to the pavilion.

The score was now 36-4 and Derby, who had won the toss and batted to general surprise, were now in deep trouble. Some order was then restored with the man in form, Harvey Hosein, who scored a century last week against Leeds/Bradford MCCU, assisted initially by Alex Hughes. Critchley and Dal also gave Hosein good support but eventually Hosein was run out for 78 and the tail disintegrated rather rapidly with Raine and Weighell taking three wickets each. 197 all out didn't seem too bad a score after the disastrous first over.

It looked at this stage as if it would be a low scoring game and this was reinforced when Durham batted. By close of play they had been reduced to 41-3 with two wickets for Reece and one for the new recruit from New Zealand van Beek. Lees, the acting captain pending the arrival of Australian Bancroft, was still not out and hopefully will play a long innings on day two.

So on Saturday a change of venue for us as we set off for the relatively short journey to Trent Bridge.
On day one Notts had batted all day for 324-5, with their battery of new recruits from other counties all making runs. Joe Clarke (from Worcester) made 109 not out and Ben Slater (from Derbyshire) 76.
Yorkshire's new recruit Duanne Olivier (from South Africa) had taken two wickets and soon added a third by clean bowling Clarke for 112 and then a fourth when Moores was caught for 27.

Yorkshire trying to hatch a cunning plan before the start of day two.

This brought in another new recruit Paul Coughlin (from Durham), a very useful all rounder. He stuck around to make a valuable 46 and Notts were finally all out for 408 not long before the lunch interval. Olivier took his fifth wicket by bouncing Stuart Broad first ball and having him plumb lbw to his second. So good figures for the South African, who finished with 5-96, but sadly Ben Coad ended wicket less with 0-96.

Clarke plays a straight bat to Ben Coad.

Yorkshire got off to a brisk start and Harry Brook looked in good form until Broad pinned him lbw for 30, made out of an opening partnership of 39. Lyth started slowly but after Ballance had gone for seven, began to play his shots in partnership with Root, who looked as convincing as ever. These two put on 82 for the third wicket before Lyth was out for 81. Things then slowed down in the final session and Yorkshire lost two quick wickets when Kohler-Cardmore (22) and Leaning (0) were dismissed to leave the visitors on 206-5 at the close.

A brief glimpse of afternoon sun at Trent Bridge.

On Sunday (day three) we were back in the slightly more congenial surroundings of Derby, where in view of the cold conditions the members' lounge was made available to all spectators, but still with plenty of room to watch the cricket from behind glass and the added bonus of an excellent carvery lunch available. On day two Durham had been bowled out for 171 with Lees (32) and Burnham (31) the top scorers and Louis Reece the best bowler with 5-47. Derbyshire's second innings had reached 107-3 at the close.

We expected wickets to continue to tumble and felt the game might be over in three days but were proved totally wrong (not for the first time) by some spirited batting from the Derbyshire middle order.
Lace went on to make 61 before being caught at slip and Hughes was caught behind for 39 both off the bowling of Harte. Then Hosein continued his run of early season form with yet another half century before Lees caught him at first slip off left arm spinner Trevaskis for 62. Then came the innings of the day from Critchley, who has done well with England Lions. His quick fire 50 certainly turned the game back Derbyshire's way with a vengeance. Number eleven Rampaul added to Durham's misery with 24 runs which took the all out total to 334. This left Durham the daunting target of 361 to win.

Having bowled Derby out, Durham face a daunting run chase to win.

With domestic matters to attend to at home we left the East Midlands before day four, with both our teams looking in danger of defeat, but a most enjoyable stay with three days of entertaining cricket not always enhanced by the endless chatter of neighbouring spectators talking non-stop about the history of Notts County, Notts Forest and post war pop music!

A short visit to Weetwood

posted by John Winn


Last Monday I dropped in at Weetwood but I was ill-equipped to tolerate the cold and after greeting a number of old friends I returned to the comparative warmth of the Lower Ure Valley. There was time to admire the ground in its Monday best, with its smart new benches and fencing it looked in very good order as befits a ground hosting its first first class match. In so doing it became the fifty sixth ground on which I have seen the highest form of the game and the first since a trip to Swansea in 2017. Because of the need to keep test match grounds free for the World Cup, 2019 is offering a number of opportunities to add to my list, seven in all, although it is unlikely that I shall get to more then three of these: York, Welbeck Colliery and Sedbergh.


The county championship got underway on Friday with three matches in each division and in all six cases there is the possibility of keenly fought fourth day cricket. Yorkshire and Durham find themselves in similar situations, namely having to bat out the day or thereabouts to secure a draw, the former being much better equipped to achieve that goal than the latter. Durham did survive fourteen overs before stumps last night but the batting showed its familiar brittleness when they were bowled out for 171 in the first innings and a three, four, five of Will Smith, Burnham and Richardson with Poynter at six does not inspire confidence. At Trent Bridge Joe Clarke may be given the chance to score his second century of the match but it can be assumed it will not be long before Messrs Lyth and Brook are in the middle.

Elsewhere the best balanced game seems to be that at Taunton  where an unbeaten stand of 60 between Bartlett and Craig Overton has brought the west country men back into the match. Commentator Anthony Gibson has believes 'another fifty (runs) could prove very interesting'. For opponents Kent, Mitch Claydon has eight wickets, six years after he was released by Durham. In the other first division match, that at Southampton, Hampshire will fancy their chances of beating Essex, who, with their top four back in the pavilion still need 229 to avoid an innings defeat. Much depends on Bopara and ten Doeschate here. In the second division there is a similar situation at Northampton although Middlesex are a little better placed than Essex for with only two wickets down their deficit is just 65. Finally Leicestershire, despite their financial travails, will fancy their chances of knocking off the 131 they need to beat Sussex. That will not be well received by the Hove faithful.

Another round of matches, this time involving all eighteen counties, begins on Thursday. Circumstances will prevent me being at The Riverside for the opening day but I expect to be there on Friday. Champions Surrey begin the defence of their title when Essex visit The Oval. Yorkshire continue to travel this, time to Southampton. After this round the championship disappears until mid May which unless he has a remarkable match against Somerset at Trent Bridge this week will spoil Ben Duckett's chances of scoring a thousand runs in April.

Surviving the cold at Weetwood

Posted by Tony Hutton

The Weetwood cricket ground of Leeds University, on the northern Leeds ring road, has quite a reputation among the more discerning of cricket watchers, many of whom are quick to give it the title of the coldest cricket ground in England. There were some exceptions in last season's high summer, but at any time the vast open space, with hardly any shelter, is prone to cold winds. So it proved over the last three days when Leeds/Bradford MCCU entertained Yorkshire in a first class match, allegedly the first of it's kind on this ground, although there have been several previous friendly games against first class counties.

A good crowd turned out for the first day's play on the last day of March despite serious car parking problems made all the worse by a junior hockey festival taking place from early that morning. Rather surprisingly the University won the toss and elected to bat, quite against the normal precedent for such games when the county sides inevitably bat first to prolong the action of what are usually very one sided contests.

                                Play gets underway on day one.

Although the University side suffered a heavy defeat at Derby the were obviously confident enough to make a reasonable start, with Haynes who made a pair last week looking good in partnership with Cornall from Lancashire. The pair put on 36 for the first wicket against the highly rated Yorkshire opening bowlers. Ben Coad starting proceedings in the company of the recent controversial signing Duanne Olivier, the South African test bowler. The newcomer worked up a reasonable pace and troubled both batsmen with some short deliveries, but by and large bowled wide of the off stump much of the time and the batsmen were able to leave well alone.

Duanne Olivier takes his place on the third man bounday with the new look Weetwood fencing and furniture in the background.


He did take the first wicket bowling Cornall for 10, but the after a typically economic spell by skipper Steve Patterson, the star of the show emerged as young Matthew Waite, pressing hard for a place in the team at Trent Bridge on Friday in the absence of the injured Tim Bresnan. Waite was soon among the wickets and finished with figures of 5-16 in his twelve overs.  Coad finished off the tail to end with 3-21 and the University side were all out for 119. Top score was skipper Angus Dahl, who has played for Surrey seconds, with 46.

Yorkshire did not have it all their way when they batted and openers Lyth and Brook both went cheaply, the experienced Gary Ballance and Tom Kohler-Cadmore soon put Yorkshire in the ascendancy however and Yorkshire looked well in command at the end of the first day, although Ballance was dismissed for 39. Many of the numbed spectators had made an early exit and I imagine very few remained at the close of play.

Tattersall hits one through the off side.

The next morning it was again cold and refugees from the bank near the pavilion relocated to the slightly less cold area at the far end of the ground. After Leaning was out for 20, Kohler-Cadmore and Tattersall took control, although they never really raced away in the first session against some accurate bowling by the University's four seam bowlers. The temperature rose somewhat in the afternoon session when the sun finally broke through and the batsman both got well into their stride.

Kohler-Cadmore hits out and then celebrates his century.

Kohler-Cadmore was the first to his century and he got his head down to carry on the good work.
Tattersall made what was his very first century at this level, although I recall seeing him score a hundred for Harrogate against Yorkshire Academy on this ground. This was greeted with particular applause from the spectators and his team mates for a young man who had come back from being released and made the wicket keeping position his own. The pair put on a partnership of 213 for the fifth wicket before Kohler-Cadmore was caught, at the second attempt, on the long off boundary by substitute field Steve Bullen for 176.

Tattersall takes the applause for his century.

Yorkshire eventually declared at the tea interval on 489-8 after Patterson had demonstrated what a useful batsman he is, as he has proved on more than one occasion, with an innings of 39. The University openers again took the score into the thirties before the first wicket fell, but then two more fell at the same total and to all intents and purposes the game was as good as over. However as in the first innings Dahl and Ashraf hang around to take the game into day three.

The hard core of spectators joined by veteran Reg Parker, underneath the scoreboard.

Another cold and this time damp morning. Play started half an hour late after early rain and Ashraf in particular looked intent on batting for a long time. Olivier took the first wicket when Dahl was bowled for a valuable 36, but shortly afterwards the South African left the field with an apparent knee injury. Play continued until just after three o'clock and the game was over when the ninth wicket fell as Fellows was unable to bat due to an injury. Ashraf had made a fine 62 before he became a rare stumping victim for Tattersall off the part time spinner Leaning.

Pillans, yet another South African signed from Surrey, made some impression with two wickets but the University tailenders kept things going well, especially last man Cantwell, who also made runs at Derby, finishing the match on 21 not out. So Yorkshire predictably the victors by an innings and 151 runs when the early finish came, releasing the freezing spectators (of whom there were about 25) back into the warmth. To be fair the sun did re-appear after lunch but all in all it obviously felt far too cold to be starting our summer sport.