A Day at Dudley 1954 and the Black Country Shakespeare.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

A recent visit to my cricket archives came up with the following item, which pre-dates the word 'blog' by many years but was probably my first attempt at something of this nature. The Black Country town of Dudley was in the immediate post war years an island of Worcestershire totally surrounded by Staffordshire and was a regular venue for the county cricket club for many years. More recently my researches led to the discovery of this painting by a local man, Percy Shakespeare, entitled the Tea Interval and sets the scene at the Dudley ground in pre-war days.

A Day at Dudley - 12th June, 1954

The County Ground Dudley, to which Worcestershire make two or three weary journeys each season, is not one of the county's many attractive grounds and as usual the weather was in keeping with the surroundings.

When we reached the ground at eleven it was almost deserted, the sky was an unwelcome black and a cold wind blew over the ground from the murky backgound of factories, chimneys and cooling towers - the Black Country.

After a walk round to keep warm, we were given something to watch by Glamorgan's very keen skipper, Wilf Wooller, who with Willie Jones, Gilbert Parkhouse and young Ken Lewis, was keeping up the county's excellent standard by practicing slip fielding. Then the Worcester coach drew up and captain Ronnie Bird appeared clad appropriately in a duffle coat for a word with Wooller and a look at the wicket.

Jenkins, pipe in mouth, twisted his hand in threatening fashion, suggesting a googly, to Parkhouse, who tried a bit of batting practice and was well caught by one of our number off Jones, whose remarkable analysis at Leicester yesterday was 6-6-0-1. Parkhouse refused to leave the crease and cracked two fours through the covers to get his own back, the ball pursued by the inevitable small boy. After only a few balls from Jones, Wooller won the toss and told Parkhouse that he only had seven minutes to get his pads on.

The battle of the veterans then commenced with 43 year old Reg Perks opening the bowling for Worcester against 50 year old Emrys Davies, the very essence of Welsh Wales. After a slow start Davies was caught behind by Australian Noel Hughes, who resembles the man he was deputising for, Hugo Yarnold, quite a bit. Parkhouse, sweaterless despite the weather, and Hedges went on their way slowly and carefully, the only incident of note was when Bird, from short leg, hit the stumps at the bowler's end. Umpire Buller raised his arm to signal byes and Parkhouse paused thinking he was out, but soon realised he was not.

 However the zealous scoreboard operator was already putting up two wickets down, the last man's score and the fall of the last wicket. Commendable speed, but sadly jumping the gun somewhat. Rain in fact restricted play to three and a half hours on the first day after which Glamorgan declared. After two more declarations Worcester were set the unlikely target of 224 in two hours. In the end Glamorgan very nearly won, having reduced Worcester to 132-8, but Jenkins, in his element, batted an hour for six not out to ensure the game ended as a draw.

One still puzzling incident occurred when the Worcester captain declared the first innings closed on 218-8 with the Sri Lankan, Laddie Outschoorn on 99 not out. Whether it was a genuine mistake, thinking he had completed his hundred, or not, remains a mystery to this day.

Many years later when Worcester had abandoned the venue for championship games and played only occasional Sunday league matches, the home of Dudley cricket club ceased to host cricket of any kind following a huge depression appearing on the outfield just before a league game in May 1985. This had been caused by the old limestone mines below the ground and the whole area, including the neighbouring football ground was closed for good.

This picture shows the abandoned ground in the late 1980s with only the old pavilion, as shown in the painting above, remaining.

The site has now been developed as a large retail outlet and all trace of the sports grounds has gone.

Despite its rather bleak outlook to the north I have fond memories of the ground in the 1950s when I would regularly cycle the nine miles from school in Walsall to see the last two hours of play during mid week championship games. I also saw the great George Headley of West Indies fame who was Dudley's professional in the Birmingham League for several years.

His benefit game drew a huge crowd to see the big names of West Indies cricket appear, including Sir Learie Constantine by then past his best, but still a great favourite. Everton Weekes also scored a century that day. Headley's son Ron Headley started his cricketing career with the Dudley club before going on to play for both Worcestershire and the West Indies with distinction.

Dudley cricket club in 1956 with a very young Ron Headley, extreme left on the back row.                      Reg Perks, the veteran Worcestershire bowler is second from right on the front row.

Pandemic? What Pandemic?

 posted by John Winn

My last words as I left home on Saturday en route to Harrogate were to the effect that I might be home early as I was by no means sure that I would be allowed to enter Harrogate Cricket Club's ground at St George's Road given that the ECB have erected all manner of obstacles to prevent spectators watching league cricket during lockdown. I was somewhat surprised therefore on arrival at the ground to find almost twenty cars parked on the raised banking and watchers ringing the playing area. I was able to join my friend Les Pennington who was seated in front of the pavilion at a table marked 'reserved', for whom it was never established, and we had much to catch upon not having seen each other for the whole of 2020. 

I had missed an hour's play and the score was approaching 90 without loss but I am able to snare the hare that Tony set running yesterday and confirm that one of the Castleford openers was indeed Chesney Hughes, the very same Chesney Hughes who in 2013 carried his bat at Headingley scoring 270 out of a Derbyshire total of 475, the highest individual score for the county since George Davidson hit 274 at Old Trafford in 1896 and the highest score against Yorkshire 'on their home soil'. My records show I was there on the first day when Hughes was 171 not out at stumps. If you want to know more about Chesney you will need to enter his first name and two letters of his surname to get past somebody called Chesney Hawkes who as far as I know never played cricket. 

Hughes and fellow opener Liam Hyde, seemingly undisturbed by Harrogate's chirping, added 138 for the first wicket before Hyde was bowled by Cooper Smith, a new face, at least to me, in the home team. Hughes received good support from skipper David Wainwright and although the opener fell six short of his century Castleford's total of 317 for 9 looked very formidable. 

I stayed long enough to see the start of Harrogate's reply but despite an unbeaten 137 from opener Henry Thompson they fell well short at 235 for 8, Jack Young taking six wickets. Castleford will face tougher opposition next Saturday when they are at home to York while Harrogate will go east to Driffield who went down to Acomb on Saturday. These matches might serve as good pointers to the likely fortunes of the two teams I, and many others, saw in Saturday's opener.  

 

Familiar faces and emerging talent in Yorkshire Leagues.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Yesterday's round of league cricket in Yorkshire, played in perfect weather, saw good performances from a lot of familiar names as well as some emerging talent. In the game that I saw, at Leeds University's Weetwood ground, a very young new intake of Yorkshire Academy players took on Scarborough on the first day of the Yorkshire Premier League North season.

Both these teams opted out of last season's truncated league and Scarborough have recruited a few new faces including former Yorkshire second eleven left arm seamer James Wainman. The Academy batted first and found it hard work against the pace of Wainman and the other opening bowler Jack Holt. The new opening pair of Yash Vagadia, from Middlesborough, and Matthew Weston, from Barkisland, put on twenty one for the first wicket, before both were caught behind.

Hard work for the Yorkshire Academy batsmen at Weetwood.

The Academy's new captain William Luxton, from Steeton, who has done well for the under 17s, came in at number three, followed by Harry Allinson, from Harrogate, at number four. Both were soon out and the Academy were in trouble at 35-4. Brief resistance from Dan Ford and Noah Priestley saw the score advance to 70-5, but the advent of spinners Ben Elvidge and Linden Gray saw off the tail in quick fashion and the Academy were all out for 97. Elvidge finishing with the best figures of 4-13.

Ben Elvidge causing problems with his left arm spin.

Despite the small total Scarborough did not race away but took their time in knocking off the runs in 26.5 overs, opener Cian Dickinson top scoring with 57 not out. There was some good seam bowling from Charlie Bourne and Ben Cliff and encouraging spin from Harry Sullivan and Yash Vagadia. However a hard lesson for the youngsters and it will be interesting to see how they develop over the season.

In the other games in this league Castleford were the top scorers in a high scoring game at Harrogate. The visitors made 317-9 thanks mainly to Chesney Hughes who top scored with 94. I assume this is the former Derbyshire West Indian player who famously scored 270 against Yorkshire at Headingly some years ago.  Harrogate were never likely to chase this score but managed a creditable 241-8 of which Lancastrian opener Henry Thompson batted through the innings for 137 not out.

Elsewhere Woodhouse Grange beat York, Stamford Bridge with four Leeds/Bradford University players beat Clifton Alliance, Dunnington made short work of beating Sheriff Hutton Bridge and Acomb won a high scoring game with Driffield.

In the Bradford League New Farnley's skipper Lee Goddard, once of Derbyshire and Durham, scored his second century in two weeks in a win over Bradford and Bingley. Hanging Heaton had a narrow nine run win over Pudsey St Lawrence and these two teams will no doubt be in contention with New Farnley for the title. Methley will also be in with a shout and have recruited former Yorkshire left arm spinner James Logan, who it was good to see had a game for Worcestershire seconds in mid-week.

James Logan.

Yesterday he scored 40 and took 3-16 against Wrenthorpe, but the star of the show was teenage opener Alex Cree with an innings of 128 which shows great promise for the future. Good to see former Academy wicketkeeper Jonathan Read scoring 94 in Farsley's win over Morley. Further down the Bradford League scale it was also good to hear of another former Yorkshire Academy player in Tabassum Bhatti scoring a century for Windhill, who still lost against Great Preston. Bhatti played for the Academy in the days of Gale, Bresnan, Sayers and Rashid.

Action packed week for Leeds/Bradford University

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Leeds/Bradford University have packed in a lot of cricket recently. Last week they played two T20 games against Loughborough University at their home ground of Weetwood before travelling down to Loughborough to play them again in a high scoring 50 over BUCS game. Yesterday they were back at Weetwood to play another 50 over game against Cambridge University and today they played another two game T20 fixture against Durham University.

Plenty of runs all round, which of course started with the side's excellent performance against Yorkshire at Headingley earlier in the month. The game at Loughborough last week saw Leeds/Bradford notch up a formidable score of 287-5, of which Jack Timby, from Lincolnshire, made a highest ever score for the University in 50 over cricket of 150.

Unfortunately he finished on the losing side as Loughborough went to victory with 291-5 from the last ball of the game. Amazingly yesterday's game with Cambridge also went to the last ball and this time Leeds/Bradford ended up winners. In pleasant warm sunshine with clear blue skies which lasted all day Cambridge batted first. They scored consistently against some occasionally wayward bowling and helped by two outstanding innings from Hyde (79) and Amin at number eight (75), put together a total of 311-8 in their 50 overs. 

 

Cambridge University batting at Weetwood.

The Leeds/Bradford reply got off to a bad start when they lost their top three batsmen, Haynes, Timby and De Caries with only fifty runs on the board. However skipper Angus Dahl together with Tom Keast, whose brother Nick is also in the side, turned the game back the home side's way with a partnership of 157 for the fourth wicket. Cambridge's  top bowler Senanayake, who had taken the three early wickets, eventually dismissed Dahl for 78, but then had finished his ten allotted overs. 

Leeds/Bradford set off in pursuit of a challenging target.

Keast soon followed run out for 76 but a sixty run partnership between Ben Pearson and wicketkeeper Sam Billings, who scored a magnificent 65 from only 38 balls, put the home side back on track. Billings was eventually out with only four more runs required and it fell to number ten batsman Khan to score two twos from the last two balls of the game to see Leeds/Bradford home around seven o'clock at night.

Cambridge's new coach Paul Hutchison, well known in these parts for his days in both county and league cricket, must have been pleased with his side's fielding with some outstanding catches being held. Perhaps not so pleased with some of the bowling though.

Today brought more drama, this time of the T20 variety. In the first game Durham batted and made a daunting total of 203-4, Benjamin top scoring with 93. The home side's reply was virtually a one man band with Jack Timby scoring another century. He was dismissed shortly before the end of the innings for 106, but the target was achieved off the last ball of the nineteenth over.

The second game started more slowly with Leeds/Bradford making only 158-8. The visitors lost three early wickets to the bowling of newcomer Robertson, but got the runs with just three balls to spare, due largely to a splendid partnership between Scott, who made 81 not out and T. Price 72 not out. I should perhaps add that all the cricket at Weetwood was played on the maximum possible playing area, which left plenty of gaps in the field for the prolific run scoring. Most unusually for what is often known as 'Windy Weetwood' the weather was unbelievably warm for April and provided a splendid start to what will be an all too short University season.

Record 10th wicket partnership starts league season

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The Airedale and Wharfedale cricket league got underway yesterday and the game at Adel produced an eventful contest with local rivals Horsforth Hall Park. This attractive ground in north Leeds, adjacent to an attractive ancient Norman church, is part of a multi-sports facility which yesterday saw games of football, hockey, tennis and even, I believe, lacrosse going on. All the players and officials for these games had to enter and exit via the cricket ground so the Government's instructions that nobody should watch recreational cricket rather went out of the window, as none of them tended to walk past with their eyes closed.

The season gets underway at Adel.

Adel started the season in fine fashion and in no time at all Hall Park were struggling at 20-5 and the game looked to be heading for an early finish, with the players possibly taking their packed tea boxes home with them. Home skipper Matthew Kirkham took four of the early wickets, but it was his opposite number Ben Waller who began to put things right for the visitors. He compiled a bright and breezy 39, including seven fours and one six.

When Waller was out the score had progressed to 80-6 but then wickets continued to fall, three of them to the bowling of Elliot Audsley. When umpire Harold Todd slowly raised the finger of fate and number 10 batsman Sam Hyde departed lbw, it seemed as if the end was nigh with the score now 92-9. At this stage number eight Sam Wilkinson was four not out and was joined by number eleven Ricky Halloran.

The teams line up for the minute's silence in respect of the Duke of Edinburgh.

They managed to take the score beyond the hundred mark shortly before the minute's silence in respect of the Duke of Edinburgh, whose funeral was taking place. After this break in play the pair began to bat like opening batsmen rather than tailenders and the runs began to flow. The pair went on and on and the Adel bowlers and fielders became more and more frustrated. No chances went to hand and the likelihood of a wicket diminished as the overs progressed. 

Another big hit from Sam Wilkinson.

The fifty partnership came up in 68 balls and a further 46 balls brought the century partnership. Both batsmen reached their individual fifties and they finished the full fifty overs with a flourish at the end of the innings, which left the fielding side totally bewildered. The unbroken partnership reached the dizzy heights of 136, which turned out to be the all time Airedale and Wharfedale record tenth wicket partnership. This surpassed the record set in 2017 of 130 by Skipton father and son pair Ji and James Mukherjee.

The umpire signals six.

As the two heroes returned to their jubilant team mates assembled on the benches near the main entrance, Sam Wilkinson finished on 65 not out and Ricky Halloran on 56 not out. Horsforth Hall Park's final total being a most unexpected 228-9. Matthew Kirkham took 4-40 and Elliot Audsley 3-20.

The record breaking pair leave the field.

Adel by no means threw in the towel and put up a spirited reply to the challenging total,  despite losing an early wicket before a run was on the board. The pair of Elliot Audsley and Dan Ridgway put on 122 for the second wicket and Adel were well in the hunt for victory. Once Audsley was out, after an impressive innings of 80 which included eleven fours and three sixes, the wheels began to fall off again and the middle order collapsed to leave the Adel total at 162-8. The tail were defiant to the end and took the score beyond the 200 mark before Hall Park took the win by twenty five runs, bowling Adel out for 203 at the start of the 46th over.

A remarkable game which threw up yet another notable statistic in that Hall Park's wicketkeeper Steve Phillips took five catches and a stumping.

Wisden goes back to The Sixties

 posted by John Winn

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2021, the 158th issue of the publication, landed in my porch yesterday and like so many facets of life it has been affected by the pandemic. Not surprisingly it is significantly smaller than in recent years and in terms of the space it takes up on my shelves it compares closely with its ancestors from the 1960s. In his preface editor Lawrence Booth remarks that 'this year's almanack is about 20% slimmer than its recent predecessors' but 'longer than any edition before 1980.' If we measure by number of pages then this is clearly the case. Nestling side by side with 1965 the two volumes appear very similar in size but 2021 can boast 1248 pages while 1965 ran to only 1043. Size aside Booth and his team have done a marvellous job in very difficult circumstances and it maybe that the 2021 edition will become something of a collector's item, let's hope that in 2022 we will be back to normal.

 One silver cloud is that Booth appears to have found room for more obituaries and West Yorkshire readers of the almanack might like to turn page 239 where they will find four lines on Huddersfield legend Peter Dibb. Another unlikely recipient of this honour is Margaret Borthwick, famous for being Scott  Borthwick's grandmother but more importantly for feeding generations of cricketers. How appropriate that her grandson should score a hundred on the day Margaret's obituary was published. 

Following Tony's posting on Monday and the statement by GMCL that they will not adhere to the ECB's request that play in tomorrow's league matches should be suspended for an hour but that they will observe a two minute silence in memory of Prince Philip I have looked at a number of other leagues' websites for their reaction to the request. The Bradford, Huddersfield, Pontefract, Aire Wharfe and Halifax leagues have all taken the same stance as GMCL. Inspection of at least six other websites reveals no other reference to the issue at all although something may be published before tomorrow.  

Spoilt for choice with live streaming.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The first round of County Championship matches were somewhat interrupted by the Arctic winter weather, which saw many of the games affected by snow showers of varying strengths. However cricket enthusiasts were certainly spoilt for choice, despite not being allowed entry to any of the grounds, due to the excellent live streaming from each and every game.

Headingley under a light covering of snow which ended play early on day three.

Immediate interest locally centred on the action between Yorkshire and Glamorgan at Headingley and Nottinghamshire and Durham at Trent Bridge. Having put Glamorgan in to bat Yorkshire were not able to take advantage of early successes which reduced the visitors to 132-7 and were put to the sword by tailenders Douthwaite, Van der Gugten and Hogan who all made fifties. A final score of 330 all out was far more than anticipated earlier.

Yorkshire's reply was one of fits and starts with Adam Lyth making the only fifty as all Glamorgan's regular bowlers shared the wickets to dismiss them for only 193. Yorkshire were handicapped in the field for a second time by the perennial problem of two pace bowlers, Coad and Fisher, being absent with injuries and Glamorgan, despite the snow interruptions, were able to fill their boots.

The highlights on the last morning being a century from Billy Root, achieved against his elder brother's bowling, and another century from captain Chris Cooke. The home side were never in with a chance of chasing the daunting target of 379 to win, but managed to bat out for a draw with the consolation of another fine century this time from Adam Lyth.

Billy and Joe Root.

Meanwhile at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire were up against it, with Durham in the ascendency for most of the game after their traditional poor start (5-2 on the first morning). Fifties from Alex Lees, David Bedingham, who we learned had played league cricket in Nottinghamshire, and the ever reliable Ben Raine, allowed them to consolidate, before an innings of 31 from number eleven Chris Rushworth rounded things off nicely. 330 all out was a useful total.

We watched in anticipation as Chis Rushworth took the new ball, but for once he was denied his early wicket as Matt Salisbury at the other end, removed the first three batsmen cheaply. The lower order restored some respectability of 267 all out, with Tom Moores left high and dry on 96 not out after Ben Hutton had given him good support with fifty. Yet again Durham faltered at the start of their innings. First 22-3 and not long after 78-4.

Dave Bedingham batting for Durham at Trent Bridge.

What happened next was wonderful to behold as Dave Bedingham and Ned Eckersley, (playing as a batsman and not keeping wicket), put together a fifth wicket record partnership for Durham of 254, both players completing excellent centuries and appearing to put the visitors in sight of victory when they declared at an overnight total of 322-4. Notts set off with an unlikely target of 395 and this time Chris Rushworth obliged with a trademark early wicket sending Hameed's stump cartwheeling. However Notts batted purposefully aided by a career best by young Lyndon James with 79 not out to achieve a draw.

Chris Rushworth (Durham)

So with the two local games heading for draws it was time to trawl the other offerings available. Managed to see Ed Barnard of Worcestershire arrive at his first century at Chelmsford to the delight of his fellow Salopian (native of Shropshire) Kevin Howells on commentary at the time, batting in partnership with yet another centurion Jake Libby.

Then it was time for two exciting finishes, first at Lord's where Somerset came back from the dead to achieve a fine victory over Middlesex thanks to a fine partnership between Bartlett and Gregory. Then a little later on to Bristol, where after a delay from bad weather, Gloucestershire beat Surrey in fine style with some splendid batting from Van Buuren with 110 not out and skipper Dent with 91 not out. This game certainly had a few spectators cheering on the home side from the balconies of the adjoining flats.

So despite the large number of draws an excellent start to the County Championship season with hopefully the return of spectators due in the middle of May. Meanwhile the live streaming gives us excellent coverage.

Confusion reigns with recreational cricket.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Pleased that John Winn managed to see some cricket last weekend, despite the wintry weather which I believe caused several of the games in the Leeds and Wetherby League to be abandoned. However looking ahead to next weekend, when most other leagues start, leaves one in a state of total confusion. The original road map for April 12th suggested that spectators would be allowed at recreational cricket grounds as from today. However the latest version of ECB guidance, which runs to several pages of small print, now states that spectators are not allowed at Stage 2 of the road map.

However clubs are allowed to sell food and drink from their premises as long as they are consumed outside, with appropriate social distancing. As players and officials are still told to bring their own teas and drinks, who are the clubs supposed to be selling things to? Perhaps people can wander into the ground, order food and drink, but keeping their eyes averted from events on the field. What total nonsense.

Will just have to hope one of my grandsons turns up to play.

I feel that clubs will in fact take things into their own hands and given the small numbers who normally attend club cricket matches take no action, as long as the usual handful of spectators keep socially distanced. The other point John raised about next week regarding the suggested break in play during the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral has already caused consternation.

The Greater Manchester cricket league has outlined their position in no uncertain manner, using a great deal of common sense, of which we see very little at present. The League's statement reads as follows:-

'The Directors of the GMCL have considered the request of the ECB to halt our games for an hour on Saturday 17th to mark the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

We know that our players and club official will want appropriately to mark the passing of HRH at all our games with a period of silence at a designated time, however we believe it is impracticable for the players at a recreational level to be asked to sit around for an hour with no access to buildings or changing rooms under current regulations, unlike those in the professional game.

The GMCL Board asks all our clubs to celebrate Prince Philip's life and love of our great game by playing on in his name and every ground to hold a two minute silence at 3 p.m.to remember him. R.I.P. Prince Philip'.

One can only hope that other league's will follow this example and ignore yet another of ECB's many hair brained ideas. I am sure many of us can just imagine Prince Philip's own reaction should he have heard of such a decision.

Rain does not rescue Green Hammerton

posted by John Winn

A five minute drive from my house on Saturday took me to Green Hammerton in time  to witness the players observing a two minute silence after which the Barwick in Elmet players left the field except of course for their two batsmen. The decision of the Leeds and Wetherby league to steal a march on nearly all other leagues and start the season on the second Saturday of the month meant that I witnessed my first live cricket of the season at the same ground as in 2020. 

The reorganisation of the league following the departure of a number of clubs to the York league has rather thrust greatness on Green Hammerton who last year found themselves in the top division possibly for the first time in their history. The other Hammerton, Kirk, having folded as a league side Green have cast their net beyond the locality in order to maintain league cricket in the two adjacent villages. One swallow and all that but on the evidence of Saturday's proceedings it seems they will have a fight on their hands to maintain first division status although to their credit they did finish fourth in last season's truncated campaign, one place above Saturday's opponents.

Although the afternoon was bright and sunny the easterly breeze had a keen edge. too keen for me to take advantage of the benches that provide a good raised viewing point and I spent most of the first hour patrolling the boundary. The early overs threw up a number of firsts for the season, the first four, the first wide and the first lost ball, the last of which caused a significant delay in play. Despite a drought in the area which has left crops in great need of rain the wicket seemed slow and Barwick's openers progressed at little short of four an over and another first, a fifty partnership seemed inevitable until what seemed like a good shout for lbw was rewarded with a raised finger. 

By this time I had been joined by my friend Arthur Bartle and we enjoyed a conversation that for the first time in months did not take place via zoom. A Green Hammerton source (fine leg) informed me that rain or even snow was expected by mid afternoon and this was confirmed by Arthur and my weather app. With this in mind it became 'advantage Aintree' and I retreated to my armchair. Alas for Green Hammerton rain did not rescue them and Barwick rattled up 225 for 7 to which in reply 
the home team were all out for 93. Top scorer for Barwick was Robert Nicholls with 72. Opening bowler Muhammad Kamran had the very respectable figures of 3 for 30. Nicholls completed a fine all round match with 4 for 21 while Hammerton's top scorer  Rob Wheatley was run out for 30. 

With most leagues starting up next Saturday I spent much of last evening wondering where I might wander to visit some new grounds only to read on social media in the last hour that as well as county championship matches pausing for one hour twenty minutes on Saturday afternoon 'we (ECB) are asking all recreational cricket clubs across England and Wales to pause play between 3pm and 4pm next Saturday.'  No comment.

 

The Nidderdale League

 posted by John Winn

The summer after my wife and I moved from East Sussex (2001) I acquainted myself with my local club, Ouseburn CC. Before we made the move I think I would have found it hard to find the River Nidd and its associated dale on a map and certainly was not aware that there was a thriving cricket league that took its name from the dale and was home to many attractive grounds all of which in due course I visited in a spectator's capacity.

During the intervening years I have continued to be a regular visitor to the well appointed ground at Lightmire Lane, just over a mile and a half from my house and most of the limited amount of cricket I saw in 2020 was at that ground. New clubs have joined the club in that time including Whixley CC which is just another mile from home but in the opposite direction and it is not unusual for me to drop in at both venues on a Saturday afternoon.

This season's programme does not begin until April 24th, a week after the majority of clubs will have started the season, but in looking for the fixture list on the club website I was delighted to find a history of the league from its somewhat hesitant start in 1894, its reformation in 1912, its suspension during WW1 and a gap from 1936 to 1948 since when it has run continuously to the present day when it has 51 member clubs who in a couple of weeks time will put out 84 teams. 

Some of the league's growth can be attributed to the demise of other competitions, notably the Wath League and the Wensleydale League. As a consequence the league has greatly out grown its original location although clubs like Dacre Bank, Hampsthwaite, Glasshouses and Pateley Bridge remain as reminders of its early days and origins. Clubs now come from 'over the water', a local expression for those east of the River Ure,  the outskirts of Leeds, Wharfedale, Wensleydale and the Thirsk area. And the league has not stopped growing for next year Embsay CC, having given notice to The Craven League will join and in time may have a local derby with Bolton Abbey just a few miles away. The website tells me that Upper Wharfedale will remain the westernmost club. By my calculation the furthest east will be Alne, a whisker under 40 miles from Embsay. 

Embsay Cricket Club

Let's wish all 51 clubs the best for 2021, decent weather and covid free would be a help. The full history of the league can be found on the league website. 

Live cricket action - from a distance.

Posted by Tony Hutton 

Strange as it might seem we have actually been able to see live cricket this week while trying to adhere to the severe restrictions placed upon the hard done to cricket watching community. County cricket and indeed second eleven county cricket, not known for any large unruly groups of spectators, are both regarded as elite sports and will not officially be open to spectators until the middle of May at the earliest. Even then strict demarcation rules such as home members only may well apply.

However over the Easter weekend it came to our notice that, just down the road from where we live, Leeds/Bradford U.C.C.E. had a three day match against Warwickshire at the University's Weetwood Ground on the Leeds Ring Road. This is such a large sports complex that we rightly thought some view of the game might be available outside the perimeter. So it proved, despite the car parks being crammed full of parents and girls all taking part in a football competition on the numerous pitches available. 

We had heard dire warnings of spectators having been turned away when Yorkshire county cricket players had turned up for training here some time earlier, but no 'bouncers' were waiting for us, so we contented ourselves by watching over the hedge at the perimeter of the ground. Indeed we returned for brief spells on days two and three, by which time despite the ever present sunshine the weather, and the fierce piercing wind, took a turn for the worse. Indeed by 14.45 on day three the players and the poor, nithered umpires called it a day and retreated to find some warmth.

A distant view at Weetwood. Ground staff are the only spectators.

As to the match itself Warwickshire batted with some confidence throughout the first day and into the second day morning to make 428-4 declared. Skipper Will Rhodes, part of the considerable Yorkshire contingent in the visitor's side made an admirable century before retiring. His opening partner, Dom Sibley, of England fame, took a little while longer over his three figures but was dismissed for 119. Yates and Hain also helped themselves to fifties and wicket keeper Burgess was 47 not out when the declaration came.

The University's batsmen could not match their excellent performance against Yorkshire a week earlier but Josh De Caries again impressed with an innings of thirty which included six fours. Timby, from Lincolnshire, made 35 and Billings from Sussex, who keeps wicket, made an excellent fifty at the end of the innings to bring up a respectable total of 192 all out. Good to see Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who played here for the Yorkshire Academy some time ago, in bowling action again as well as Tim Bresnan trying to keep warm in the slips. The two best bowlers were Brookes with 3-26 and Milnes with 3-42.

Billings goes lbw to Brookes for 50 (picture from the University's video stream)

On Monday morning, day three, Lamb and Sibley both retired cold at lunch with scores only in the teens, and after another hour's play in the by now freezing conditions, in which Bresnan made a rapid 42 not out, Warwickshire declared on 89-2 and the game was abandoned as a draw. 

Lamb and Sibley decide to retire at lunch and umpire O'Shaughnessy also looks in need of warmth. (picture from the University's video stream).

We were also able to see part of a couple of league cricket friendlies across the road at the Richmond Oval, home of New Rover cricket club, on Saturday and Sunday. Local derbies with both neighbours North Leeds and St. Chads were in full swing and while again spectators are not officially allowed for recreational cricket until Monday next, 12th April, we felt quite legitimate as a public right of way extends down the whole length of one side of the ground and we remained well socially distanced.

Championship in its new format

posted by John Winn

 After a year's hiatus the county championship resumes on Thursday but in its new format of three groups of six and with all eighteen counties in action, a rare enough event in itself. The temporary abolition of the two divisions is the first major change since 2003.

Some years ago (2014) I posted an article in which I lamented the lopsided start to that season with only ten of the 18 counties in action on 'Opening Day' contrasting it with the USA where the first day of the baseball season is close to a national holiday. My suggestions for giving first class cricket a higher profile included the then PM, David Cameron ( remember him),  bowling the opening delivery of the season. I even had Dickie Bird and Harry Gration (remember him) cycling to the middle at Headingley on a tandem. What they would do when they got there I failed to mention but you get the idea. These fantasies assumed of course that there would be spectators in the grounds, which of course will not be the case on Thursday. 

The involvement of all 18 counties continues for the first five rounds of matches and it is not until May 6th that the number of games is reduced from  nine to eight. After a month's interruption when white ball cricket intervenes the last two rounds of the preliminary stages will be played in July.

I mentioned in a previous posting that April's Cricketer magazine includes its usual excellent wall chart of this season's county fixtures and because 2021 marks the centenary of the magazine someone has had the nice idea to print the fixtures for 1921 on the reverse. The Australians were the visiting tourists and they began the first class season on April 30th with a visit to Leicester where they outclassed the East Midlanders. The championship got under way a week later with just four matches and it was another two weeks before newcomers Glamorgan began their campaign when Sussex travelled to Cardiff to provide the Welshmen with the first of only two victories that season. The championship ended in a rather odd manner with one match played when all the rest had been completed. This was at Old Trafford on August 31st but it was spoilt by heavy rain on all three days. In what little play there was Glamorgan were bowled out for 127  and Lancashire's reply was halted at 46 for two. Glamorgan had 8 amateurs in their side, Lancashire had 3 and 3 Tyldesleys, all of whom were professionals. For the record Middlesex were champions, repeating their success of 1920, winning fifteen out of twenty matches. Positions were decided on percentages with considerable variation in the number of games each county played. Lancashire and Hampshire were busiest with 28 each while Glamorgan took the field only 18 times, perhaps just as well given their poor record. 

Had regulations allowed I would have been looking forward to Thursday and a trip to Headingley when Glamorgan, for the first time in championship cricket since 2012  come to LS6. And with Durham under new captain Steve Borthwick just down the road at Trent Bridge I might have managed a day in Nottingham. Alas no matches  will be open to spectators and I will content myself with the BBC's excellent radio coverage. Apart from the group  format there are two other important changes to look out for when play is called on Thursday. Firstly sanity has prevailed and the toss of a coin to decide innings has been restored so with a bit of luck at 11:15 on April 22nd it will be Derbyshire not Durham who are 11 for 3 at The Riverside,  and the number of points available for a draw has been increased from 5 to 8. The latter of these it is hoped will make more games last into the fourth day and encourage spin bowling. Wasn't that the justification for the non contested toss? Whatever the thinking enjoy the season and let's keep our fingers crossed that the unruly mob that make up the audience for county championship cricket is allowed to watch matches before too long. 

                                                                           

Cricket grounds in the far north-east

By Mike Latham

The Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League covers a vast expanse of the north-east, and caters for cricketers of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. It is a superbly run league with an excellent website and the players, officials and umpires have to be dedicated as there are some big distances to travel, though the lower leagues are regionalised.

As a guide to the league, at the start of an occasional series, I thought I’d feature the clubs in the far north-east. All the clubs featured here competed in the Alnwick & District Cricket League (A&DCL) which sadly became defunct after the 2013 season, faced with a declining number of member clubs.

Cricket historians will look back on the second decade of this century and reflect just how many long-standing cricket leagues disappeared during that time. The A&DCL dated back to the early 1900s.

Bamburgh Castle CC

Bamburgh Castle CC, a popular choice for Sunday friendly games on the castle green, as I recently featured in a Blog, is the iconic ground in this part of the world. But all the grounds featured are well worth a visit.

If planning to watch cricket in these parts, maybe as part of a holiday, it’s worth bearing in mind that cup-ties are played midweek, usually on in May and June Thursdays until the later stages and very little cricket is played on Sundays apart from friendlies at Bamburgh and occasionally at other clubs in the area. Thankfully, these are publicised far better these days than in the past.

Berwick CC

I’ve covered the most northerly member club, Berwick CC in a recent blog and so I’ll begin the journey inland in the picture postcard village of Etal, where the peace and tranquillity is far removed from its turbulent past, often the scene of bloody battles between warring tribes and armies.

Tillside CC

Tillside Cricket Club takes its name from the River Till and is about ten miles inland, south-west from Berwick-upon-Tweed. There are many tourist attractions in the locality but for those of us who prefer watching cricket on summer Saturdays a visit to Tillside CC is a joy.

With plenty of car parking, a modern newly constructed pavilion, an electronic scoreboard, good vantage points and distant views of the Cheviots it is a wonderful place to spend a few hours and the locals are friendly. Though located in a sparsely populated area, Tillside is a great community club with junior teams, two Saturday teams, a Sunday team and a women’s and girls’ section. They also play occasional midweek games, sometimes venturing across the border to play their friends from Kelso. The ground is kept in immaculate condition and is a credit to all concerned.

Wooler CC

Another outpost of the summer game is at Wooler, a small town on St Cuthbert’s Way that runs from Melrose to Lindisfarne. Close to the Cheviots and the Iron Age fort at Yeavering Bell, the cricket ground is on Brewery Road and has glorious sweeping views. I first visited for a Twenty20 Final in the A&DCL nearly ten years ago when a large crowd was in attendance on a sunny afternoon. The club fields one senior team in the lower reaches of the league and like many smaller clubs in remote areas relies on a small group of dedicated enthusiasts to keep the cricket flag flying.

Warenford CC

More cars must pass Warenford CC in a day than some grounds in a decade, located as it is next to the A1 between Alnwick and Berwick. Some distance from the village and its well-known pub the White Swan, the ground has a small pavilion and, located as it is on the brow of a hill, great views of the distant coastline.  Another club with just one team, in the lower reaches of the league, but maintaining a village tradition for having a cricket club.

Embleton CC

Embleton CC struggle to field a team on some summer Saturdays, but battle on, playing behind the village hall on a playing field shared with soccer. Just inland from the stunning coastline, the wide expanse of Embleton Bay, the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle and a fine headland walk down to the old fishing village of Craster this is another beautiful location. There’s a Good Beer Guide pub, the Greys Inn next door and it’s dog friendly so scores on all fronts as far as I’m concerned.

Rock CC

Rock CC was recognised in 2018 by the M&TCL as the ‘ground of the year’ and there seems plenty of enthusiasm and village spirit at another beautiful ground where the huge Northumbrian skies are seen to their best advantage.

Howick

Finally, Howick CC went defunct some years ago, but cricket is maintained at the historic ground in the grounds of Howick Hall as Almouth & Lesbury CC stage third team games there, under the name of Howick, Alnmouth & Lesbury. The ground is surrounded by trees and looks as though it was constructed out of a clearing in the forest. It’s not the easiest ground to find, either, but well worth the effort. The hall has magnificent gardens and an arboretum that is open to visitors and has been the ancestral seat of the Earls Gray since the 14th century, with the famous tea named after the 2nd Earl.

The most prominent clubs in the area are Alnmouth & Lesbury, league champions in 2019, and Alnwick CC, one of the oldest clubs in the county. I’ll take you on a tour of their grounds and others further south like Morpeth, Ulgham and Mitford in a future blog.