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.
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.
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