Double header at Scarborough

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Luxton and Pillans rescue Yorkshire.

John Winn has already reported on Yorkshire's rain curtailed match with Northants at Scarborough on Wednesday but I can probably add a little background to Will Luxton's memorable debut innings. We first came across him two years ago when he scored an admirable century for Yorkshire Under 17s against Durham at Sheriff Hutton Bridge in front of very few spectators. One of those was his proud father who was able to tell us that his son, a Bradford Grammar School boy, played for Steeton cricket club in the Airedale and Wharfedale league. He did play a few games for the Yorkshire Academy that season, but with little success. The Academy did not play during the 2020 season, but this season he has been captain of the side and well amongst the runs.

The shot that took Luxton to his 50 at Scarborough.

We have seen him make several scores of over fifty, but his most memorable innings was against Sheriff Hutton Bridge in early June when he and Matt Weston both scored centuries in a partnership of 207. His innings on Wednesday came at a time when Yorkshire were in trouble after the loss of early wickets and he got his head down to play himself in before unleashing two memorable straight sixes to accelerate the scoring rate towards the end of the innings. The ovation from the crowd after his dismissal was outstanding and made this yet another 'I was there' moment.

Luxton celebrates his fifty.

Unfortunately the rain prevented Northants from chasing the Yorkshire total of 222 which might have been an interesting contest on what had been a green looking wicket. However no such problems the following day when Durham hosted another Royal London Cup game with Gloucestershire. A great occasion for lots of Durham supporters to have a day at the seaside and two coachloads from Chester le Street were already unloading at 10 o'clock in the morning outside the ground.

Graham Clark, who has been in outstanding form in this competition, together with Alex Lees, repeated their recent big partnership against Kent at Beckenham, this time putting on 230 for the first wicket before Clark, always the dominant partner, was out for 140. Lees went for 85 and Durham put together what looked like a winning score of 336-4. The Australian Dan Worrall took all four wickets for Gloucester, who included two former Yorkshire players in Josh Shaw and Jared Warner.

The Gloucestershire reply was led by young left hander Ben Charlesworth, who lost his opening partner skipper Chris Dent on 46, but played the sheet anchor role first in partnership with Tom Lace and then a stand of 118 with recent England performer James Bracey. This pair seemed to have turned the game Gloucester's way but when Borthwick's leg spin dismissed them both Durham were back in it. Charlesworth, yet another youngster to take advantage of the current situation, made a fine 87 and both he and Bracey, who made 90, were unlucky not to reach a century.

Ben Charlesworth of Gloucestershire.

The other spinner, Trevaskis, also took two wickets, but the return to action of recent import Van Meekeren with an untidy over, turned the tide back Gloucester's way. Scott hit a couple of sixes before skying the ball to the keeper Bancroft, but then that very experienced, if under rated, cricketer Jack Taylor took control of the situation. The daunting target of sixteen runs from the last over did not phase him one little bit and after hitting the first ball along the ground to long on, he calmly refused the single to keep the strike.

What an outstanding decision that was, as he promptly hit Chris Rushworth for six, four and six again off the next three balls to win the match with two balls to spare. What an amazing finish and even the Durham faithful had to applaud Taylor's remarkable effort. Full marks to Gloucester who have already shown us their ability to chase down targets in championship games on the live streaming.

Jack Taylor of Gloucestershire.

So one and a half days of remarkable cricket at Scarborough with more to come when Somerset visit for four days of a championship game on 5th September followed by Worcestershire seconds for another four days starting on 13th September.

Where there's a Will

 posted by John Winn

My friend Arthur Bartle and I made an early start from The Lower Ure Valley on Wednesday, so early in fact that we formed part of a queue waiting for the gates to open at the Trafalgar Square end of Scarborough Cricket Club. Arthur was clearly expecting an exciting day's cricket for he had packed a copy of My Grammar and I (or should that be me?), essential reading for those attending matches in the devalued Royal London Cup. 

After cursory bag searches we pitched camp behind the boundary close to the players' bubble aka the pavilion only to be told a few minutes later by a steward that we were in forbidden territory and must move. Protestations that Arthur had sat in that very spot for the Surrey match last week were in vain and so we moved our chairs to a position close to the West Stand and more importantly the purveyors of coffee and ice cream, the services of both of which were to come in handy later in the day. A brief shower forced us to seek shelter but play started on time on what had turned into sunny morning. 

Northamptonshire having won the toss elected to field and on a pitch that had been under wraps until very shortly before play began soon had Yorkshire in trouble with Cumbrian Jack White the main threat. Duke, Ballance and Hill all went cheaply to leave Yorkshire on 33 for 3 which by the twentieth over had become 69 for 6. This brought Will Luxton and Matthew Waite together and with Northants' back up bowling being less effective fifty two were added before another wicket fell at which point Pillans, who just two weeks ago I saw playing for Harrogate, joined Academy skipper Luxton. The pair added nearly a hundred before the latter went for 68 including two sixes hit very straight in the direction of Peasholm Park. A decent size crowd gave the youngster generous applause and a final score of 222 all out gave us hope that we might see a contest after lunch. 

Alas this was not to be, for during the interval clouds over Bill's mother's spread to the location of even more of his relatives and after only five balls of the Northants' reply from which two singles were squeezed the rain arrived with a force that sent us scurrying for cover. The intensity and duration of the rain convinced us that at best we would have to wait a long time to see more play and at worst that that there might not be any more cricket and so we opted for what proved to be a tortuous journey home with many others of the same mind. By the time we reached the outskirts of York social media had confirmed we had made the right decision for play had been abandoned leaving the sides with a point each. It later transpired that a restart had been planned for 5:50 with DLS setting the visitors 71 more to win off 9.1 overs but that this was prevented by a wet outfield. 

Via twitter Will reflected on his first team debut which had been watched by family members and confirmed our view that batting had not been easy but that 222 was defendable. Whether 71 off 55 balls was defendable will remain an unknown. 

Scarborough CC pavilion July 2017

An update to the update

Alvanley CC

posted by John Winn

Further to my Village Cup update posted on Saturday and thanks to Tony's eagle eye I am pleased to say that after discussions with 'The Cricketer' Houghton Main will now play their semi final with Alvanley CC. The match will be played on Sunday August 1st with the winners visiting Welsh outfit Neyland the following Sunday. With the 'spirit of cricket' seemingly having triumphed over 'rules are rules' let's hope for two fine Sundays.  

Golden Oldies out in force at Cawthorne.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

On Wednesday last 21st July, in perfect summer weather, it was a joy to re-visit the picturesque ground of Cawthorne cricket club which is situated in an attractive village not far from Barnsley. As so often with the more obscure fixtures on the cricketing calendar it was difficult initially to find out the venue for the Over fifties championship game between Yorkshire and Cheshire. For some reason Yorkshire over 50s tend not to publish the venues for their home games and their activities seem unknown in advance to the Yorkshire cricket board, who do however publish full scores of all their matches.

It was left to me to contact the Cheshire cricket board who proved to be much more efficient and responded almost immediately, also very kindly inserted the venue of Cawthorne onto the play-cricket website which is normally done by the home club. This may have helped produce a larger than average attendance, although the fact that a majority of the Yorkshire side were from South Yorkshire clubs may also have had something to do with it. The ground is at the end of Dark Lane, which is very narrow and takes a bit of negotiating but when you get there it is well worth the effort. An absolute delight.

The Cawthorne pavilion.

The Yorkshire over 50s have been the leading lights in this county championship for many years now to such an extent that some of the players have graduated to the over 60s with equal success. There is now even a Yorkshire over 70s team who actually lost a game to Cheshire at Grappenhall the day after this encounter at Cawthorne. Personally I am still waiting for them to start an over 80s team!

Cricket on a perfect summer's day.

However the Yorkshire team at Cawthorne certainly contained some familiar faces to followers of league cricket over the years. Outstanding among them was Steve Foster, the skipper, who is still scoring runs and taking wickets for Treeton in the Yorkshire Premier League South. Steve is a regular in the England over 50s side and played in the aborted World Cup in South Africa in 2020 which was eventually cancelled due to the Covid outbreak. Another Treeton player, wicket keeper  Paul Fenn, who is a mere youngster has just made his way into the England set up and looks a very capable performer.

Wicket keeper Paul Fenn waits for the back foot to raise.

Other well known names were Nicholas Gaywood of Sheffield Collegiate, Kevin Bradley a prodigious run scorer for Clifton Alliance and Barbar Butt an absolute legend at Pudsey Congs. The side contained no less than three left arm spinners in Jason Meadows (Elsecar), Leigh Beaumont (Stockton) and the evergreen Luke Jarvis (New Farnley). Haider Jahangir is a noted all rounder who has played for several South Yorkshire sides over the years and the side was completed by late arrival Adrian Meadows from Sheffield Collegiate and Mark 'Jocky' Wilson who seems to have been bowling for Wath on Dearne for ever.

Mark Wilson bowls the first over.

Cheshire won the toss and elected to bat, but progress was initially slow particularly against 'Jocky' Wilson who bowled his spell of nine overs unchanged. Five of them were maidens and he finished with remarkable figures of 1-7. He then retired to the shady side of the ground to give loud vocal encouragement to his team mates. All the spinners bowled well with the best figures going to Leigh Beaumont with 3-18 from his nine overs.

A seat in the shade was a wise move.

Chris Beckley from Cheadle Hulme anchored the Cheshire innings but with a middle order collapse had to take his time over an innings of 44 which took up 104 balls. Some welcome acceleration came at the end with Tim Jackson from Alderley Edge making 31 not out, but a final total of 131-6 at the end of the 45 overs was well below par. The strength of the Yorkshire batting line up can be judged by the fact that skipper Steve Foster only came in towards the end of the innings at number six.

A rare boundary for Cheshire.

Gaywood and Bradley put on 70 runs for the first wicket and the game was effectively over at that point.  However Nigel Muirhead, from Toft cricket club, chipped in with three wickets but the game was won in the thirty first over when Foster and Fenn saw them home comfortably with a partnership of 31. Yorkshire winning by five wickets with fourteen overs to spare. What an enjoyable day it had been to be able to watch cricket in whites, with I think only one or two helmets on show all day, in such pleasant surroundings

The Village Cup

 posted by John Winn

Since I last reported on the Voneus Village Cup the national competition has progressed to the semi finals  which are due to be played on August 1st but events have been tinged with controversy.

Calmore Sports (Hampshire)  who had a comfortable win over Rockhampton in the quarter finals will host Stoke Green from Buckinghamshire, the latter progressing to within one game at Lord's by virtue of a five wicket win over Foxton. It is the other semi final that has aroused passions for Houghton Main (Yorks) have made it to the last four via a walk over which arose when quarter final opponents Alvanley could not play on the original date due to covid. Houghton refused to play on an alternative date, a decision that is within the rules but which has provoked caustic comments on social media. The Yorkshire Southern Premier team will travel to Neyland (Dyfed) who are trying to become the first Welsh winners since 2004. In their quarter final match, a low scoring encounter, Neyland defeated South Wingfield by five wickets.

I have pieced together the events surrounding Houghton's walkover from social media for the official website still shows 'Houghton Main v Alvanley' as tbc but comments on the Alvanley twitter feed leave little doubt that the Cheshire club have had to forfeit the tie while Houghton may have forfeited some friends. 

 

Yorkshire return to Scarborough.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Strange times indeed for cricket followers and none stranger than yesterday when originally a full programme of games between National Counties (formerly Minor Counties) and all the first class counties had been due to take place. Sadly, mainly due to covid related problems, more than half the games had been cancelled and the remainder switched to the first class county grounds. Such was the case at North Marine Road, Scarborough where Yorkshire made a welcome return to oppose Northumberland in a game originally scheduled for Jesmond in Newcastle.

These games were regarded as warm up fixtures for the Royal London Cup, the first class counties' 50 over competition which springs into action tomorrow. Partly due to the uncertainty of whether this competition would actually take place and the fact that it has been downgraded to a virtual second eleven contest, due to the absence of many players into something known as 'The Hundred', yesterday's game only attracted a somewhat sparse attendance.

Scarborough pavilion.

However those who did attend, on a perfect summer's day, were able to adequately socially distance themselves and to enjoy an excellent day's cricket thanks to the facilities laid on by the Scarborough club. The Northumberland side, the majority of which had links with Durham County cricket club, produced an excellent batting performance and the top three in the order certainly caused Yorkshire some early problems. Openers Alistair Appleby and Sol Bell put on 99 for the first wicket in fine style with the aggressive left hander Appleby leading the way with a hard hitting sixty before being caught behind.

Alistair Appleby hits one into the popular side.

Sol Bell will no doubt remember scoring a hundred on this ground for Durham seconds in a friendly game late in the 2019 season which earned him a call up for Durham's championship match with Glamorgan. which was badly effected by the weather. This proved to be his only first class appearance, as he was later released by Durham. However today brought back memories of the good times with a well composed fifty, including four fours and a six. 

Sol Bell tucks one away on the leg side.

Bell was out with the score on 130-2 caught by Waite off the new fifty over skipper, Dominic Bess. By this time the most experienced member of the Northumberland side, Michael Richardson, had played himself in and although wickets fell at the other end, he anchored the innings almost to the end with a determined top score of 65, which including only five fours. Richardson, the son of the former South African wicket keeper David Richardson, of course played for Durham from 2010 to 2019 as a batsman/wicket keeper. He was eventually out caught by Fraine on the boundary edge going for a big hit.

Northumberland had confounded most people, myself included, in posting an excellent total of 254-8 in their fifty overs. While Yorkshire's bowling was not really at it's best, Matt Pillans who worked up a good speed had the best figures of 3-23. There were some good catches, notably three behind the wicket by Harry Duke and a nice one from Will Luxton making his first senior appearance. The interval between innings gave us the chance to see the wonderful cliff top view of the castle and the north bay with the high tide lapping up to the promenade from a perfectly calm sea.

Unfortunately Northumberland's bowling was not quite up to the standard of the batting. Josh Coughlin, another former Durham man, opened the bowling with a tidy spell but the others had little to show for their efforts. Yorkshire, under the guidance of their new fifty over coach Richard Pyrah, tried another new idea by opening the batting with young Harry Duke. He made a slow start and looked as if is he would be overshadowed by partner Will Fraine, who went for the runs from the start. However Duke played sensibly and showed a full array of shots in an excellent fifty which included nine fours.

Duke was out when the pair had put on 144 for the first wicket and the game as a contest seemed almost already over. By this time Fraine was in full flow, always prepared to hit the bad ball, and sometimes the good ball, into the air. One of his sixes landed on the roof of the long bar on the popular side and the poor bowlers could not restrain his power hitting. When the game reached it's predictable conclusion, with ten overs to spare, Fraine had made a very impressive 146 not out, with fifteen fours and five sixes. Yorkshire winning by nine wickets.

Will Fraine celebrates his century.

Matthew Revis meanwhile had taken a back seat, picking up ones and twos here and there, but blossomed somewhat later on to hit five fours. He ended the innings with a very competent forty not out from forty balls and hopefully will be one of several younger players to take full advantage of the forthcoming Royal London trophy to enhance his reputation. Luxton, who did not have a chance to bat today, will be another, together with some of the younger bowlers, who will be out to show the Yorkshire hierarchy that they can follow the likes of Thompson, Hill and Duke to greater things.

Yorkshire Academy bounce back at Stamford Bridge

 Posted by Tony Hutton

After two weeks of inactivity due to covid concerns the Yorkshire Academy side bounced back into action with a convincing victory at Stamford Bridge yesterday to confirm their second place position in the Yorkshire Premier League North. Due to the recent disruption the league have decided that average points per game will be the benchmark for teams, some of whom will not be able to play every fixture.

On the hottest day of the year umbrellas were out in force to shield the spectators from the fierce sunshine. We were led to believe that the home side were struggling to raise a side and might be some way off full strength, although all four of their Leeds/Bradford University players were listed to play. Still missing a couple of their senior batsman, the Academy lost Yash Vagadia very quickly but came back strongly with Harry Allison, who appeared for his home club Harrogate last week, and Matthew Weston building a useful partnership. 

Having taking the score to 86-1 Weston on 34 gave a simple caught and bowled chance to left arm spinner Liam Burgess. He was replaced by debutant Harry Finch, like Weston also from Barkisland in the Huddersfield League, who has impressed recently in age group cricket not only for his batting but for his excellent out fielding. Allinson also soon departed, caught behind by Timby for a well made 46 so the Academy had to rebuild.

Hottest day of the year at Stamford Bridge.

Finch played himself in and stayed to make top score of he innings with a fine 59 before he was stumped trying to go for a big hit to accelerate the scoring rate. The score was then 182-6 and the tailenders managed to take the score well beyond the 200 mark, the innings ending on a very satisfactory 220-9. Liam Burgess was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-45 on a day when the spinners toiled away for most of the innings.

Stamford Bridge were never really in the game after that, with Jack Timby the Lincolnshire National County player making top score of 31 before being bowled by left arm spinner Harry Sullivan. Twenties from Keast and Burgess were the next highest contributions as the Yorkshire spinners Harry Sullivan (3-17), Sam Wisniewski, who captained the side (2-22) and Yash Vagadia (1-11) led the way. In the end a very comfortable victory for the young Academy side.

Meanwhile Castleford continued to top the table with victory over Woodhouse Grange, helped by a notable bowling display of 6-10 from skipper David Wainwright. Scarborough remain in third place after victory over Dunnington. At the bottom of the table another victory for Harrogate at Sheriff Hutton Bridge raised their hopes of escaping relegation, while Driffield, still bottom of the table, were unlucky not to pull off a remarkable victory over York, despite another century from young Noah Kelly.

Meanwhile, back at Headingley,

 posted by John Winn

I spent last Sunday watching bat dominate ball at Headingley when Yorkshire elected to field after winning the toss. 'Frightened of Jimmy Anderson' was a commonly held view and if this was true then rarely can a player have had such an influence on a game without taking the field for four days later when the match was abandoned only four Lancashire players had taken part, Jimmy not amongst them. 

Despite all the restrictions imposed on the watching public it was with some excitement that I drove to LS6 on Sunday morning for the first time since Sussex had come to town in early June. Not only that but championship cricket provided welcome relief from the hype about England's match with Italy at Wembley that evening and my bête noir, Wimbledon, don't get me started. And hard as it was to take Jennings and Davies batted beautifully to post 163 for the first wicket while Yorkshire used seven bowlers in their efforts to split the pair, there were ironic cheers when, well into the afternoon,Bess became the sixth to try his hand. 

I left before Jennings became the second and last wicket to fall in the match and  as Tony has described I made the journey to The Riverside  on Monday when, for only the second time in more than twenty years of visits, I saw no play. Back to Headingley on Tuesday and not surprisingly after Monday's downpour a delayed start but when play began at noon Lancashire took up where they had left off but this time with Wells and Bohannon at the crease. 

Messrs Leech, Duke and Hill sport their newly presented second XI caps.

We had hardly digested our slightly delayed lunch when occurred the incident that was to finish the match giving Yorkshire 8 points for turning up and Lancashire only three more for scoring 411 for 2 with Luke Wells on 97 not out. Leech's slide in an attempt to prevent a boundary was halted by a collision between the young bowler's knee and a concrete barrier from which he sustained a serious injury. He received treatment from a succession of physios and medics until St John's Ambulance  carried the unfortunate Leech away on a stretcher.  

The umpires, Gould and Llong, spent some time inspecting the outfield in front of the Emerald Stand before summoning the two captains at which point the players left the field to take tea. There followed an ominous lack of news other than a cryptic message on the scoreboard to the effect that there was none  until at last silence was broken when we were told that the field was unfit for play and that there would be an inspection at some unspecified time. By the time this came I was doing my best to avoid the Great Yorkshire Show traffic and when I reached home play had already been abandoned for the day.

I had not planned to watch cricket on Wednesday so was not amongst those who turned up at Headingley on a lovely sunny morning only to find a 9:00 inspection had concluded 'conditions at the Emerald Stand End have not sufficiently improved' and the match was abandoned. Cricket is due to resume at Headingley tomorrow afternoon with a T20 International between England and Pakistan. Given unbroken sunshine for the last few days one assumes the Emerald Marshlands will be dry enough for play to begin at 2:30. 

County Championship cricket now goes into hiding for a little over six weeks before its resumption on August 30th. We know the three new divisions that will contest the final stages and the points each county will carry forward. Despite being one of only two counties to win five matches in the qualifying stages, Gloucestershire were the other and they didn't make Division 1, Yorkshire will start bottom of the table with 4.5 points while Warwickshire lead the way with the distinct advantage of having 21 points in their locker before a ball is bowled. What is not known, unless I have missed ti, are the fixtures when the competition resumes. Yorkshire's fixture for August 30th is still shown as tbc. The group of men by whom I was seated on Sunday and who appear not to miss a ball of Yorkshire's Championship campaign home and away will be anxious to sort out their transport and accommodation for the four matches. Not lacking in confidence one of their number has already made his arrangements for The Bob Willis Trophy Final at Lord's. 

County championship cricket at Durham.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

The Media Centre at Riverside.

County championship cricket returned to the Riverside, Chester le Street on Sunday 11th July and given the choice between this most northerly of venues over the Roses game, which had been transferred from Scarborough to Headingley, the decision was a no brainer. Durham did not require match tickets, numbered seats, bag searches, pass outs etc etc and provided a friendly and wholesome atmosphere. The spectators were able to sit where they wanted and could use their common sense to work out social distancing. The members' lounge provided waiter service at the tables, where you could continue to watch the play while seated. A totally different ball game from the austere surroundings at Headingley.

Two of the unsung backroom boys of county cricket - James Pipe, the Nottinghamshire physio on the left and Alan Walker, Durham's Assistant Coach, on the right.

It took a while to work out why the boundary rope was so far in all around the ground, including the straight boundaries. One suggestion being that Durham required maximum batting bonus points. If that was the case it didn't work. A few had made the journey to support the visitors, Nottinghamshire, and might have been a little apprehensive when they were put into bat. Chris Rushworth is well known for his usually devastating opening spell with the ball, but today took a little longer for his customary early wicket when he clean bowled Hameed for 12. He followed this a little later by having Ben Compton, grandson of Dennis, caught in the slips for 16 and Nottinghamshire were seemingly in a little trouble and without Ben Duckett who had been called into the new look England squad.

Ben Compton returns to the pavilion.

Ben Slater and Joe Clarke, two of the other Nottinghamshire imports, managed to turn things round, playing themselves in with care against the four man seam attack of Rushworth, Potts, Salisbury and Raine. Clarke was initially the more aggressive of the two and eventually saw off the threat of Rushworth whose opening spell produced very satisfactory figures as shown below.

Rushworth's opening spell.

 This partnership put on 71 runs before Slater was bowled by Ben Raine during the afternoon session and Clarke followed a few overs later, being bowled by Matt Salisbury for 46. Clarke by the way was earmarked to keep wicket in this game, in the absence of Moores. Linden James, a young local product of whom much is expected, stayed around for an hour but only made 16 and it was left to skipper Steve Mullaney and Liam Patterson-White, the young left arm spinner who was born in Sunderland, to build a challenging score.

A large black cloud threatened but fortunately passed by.

Mullaney was eventually caught behind by Eckersley off Raine for 39, but Patterson-White was still there at the close with 66 not out, despite losing  Joey Evison, Ben Hutton and Chris Broad in the process. So the end of day one saw Nottinghamshire in control with an overnight score of 312-9. Unfortunately day two brought persistent rain, and despite the best efforts of the ground staff, who made every effort to mop up when the rain briefly stopped it proved too much and there was no play whatsoever on Monday.

Blue skies were never far away.

The few hardy souls who turned up in the members' lounge were not only given regular updates of what was happening, or not happening, as well as being able to use vouchers provided by the club for supporting them last season which provided an admirable snack lunch as well as a free drink. Full marks all round to Durham. It also gave us the opportunity to catch up with John Winn after his epic visit to Taunton last week.

The two 12th men, on the left, were the busiest people around, running on after every over to remove or restore headgear.

We were elsewhere on days three and four when the game petered out into a draw. Notts all out for 328, Durham all out 165, with an encouraging 5-21 from young Evison. The visitors chose not to enforce the follow on and were bowled out a second time for 217, leaving Durham an impossible task in the time available, rather than declaring and giving them a more challenging target. Play ended with Durham on 188-4, far short of the 380 required.

Astley & Tyldesley celebrate their centenary in style

By Mike Latham

Astley & Tyldesley Cricket Club celebrated their centenary in style last weekend with a visit by the MCC on Friday and a Past v Present game on the Sunday, a league match against Prestwich in between.

The club is based in the old mining village of Gin Pit and the Miners’ Welfare club and grounds are immaculately maintained and provide a great community asset. My grandfather, who came from nearby Howe Bridge, between Atherton and Leigh was a coal-miner in the local pits and I used to live locally, so I have always followed the club’s results and progress. 

1921 was also a special year for Leigh Rugby League Club, who lifted the Challenge Cup for the first time in that year, defeating Halifax 13-0 at The Cliff in Broughton. The Leigh captain was Walter Mooney, a fine halfback who later played for Great Britain. Walter came from Gin Pit and worked at the local colliery.

 

Gin Pit's most famous son- Walter Mooney

As well as the cricket, there is an impressive cycle speedway track, superb tennis courts and bowling green and a large football pitch while the club caters for snooker. When I first visited the ground around 50 years ago a large factory overlooked one side of the ground, but this has now been demolished and some new housing built in its place.

The overall look of the ground and the whole site is clearly one of great pride for the locals who turned out in good numbers to support the club events.

Play underway at Gin Pit

Starting at 11-30am on the Friday the MCC team batted first, as is customary, in a game limited to 45 over per side.

A number of familiar looking faces (to me) were in the MCC line-up including Wallasey batter Jamie Crawley, who has been in fine form this season and who scored a huge double hundred in a Scotland provincial match.

Clinton Perren is a former Sheffield Shield cricketer, long settled in Littleborough and now playing alongside his son in their Lancashire League team.

Adam Syddall had a long career as a fine left arm opening bowler in the Minor Counties, playing for Cambridgeshire, Cheshire and Cumberland. Left arm spinner Rex Purnell was a key component of the all-conquering Chorley side that of the mid 1990s, twice National Club champions, while David Lees had a long and successful career in the Oldham area, notably with Werneth CC and is now a respected umpire. Jimmy Dixon captains Sefton Park in the Liverpool Competition.

In short, it was a very good MCC side and a stiff test for the A&T lads, who stuck manfully to their task as Crawley, Perren and a new name to me, Ben Marsden from the Derbyshire County League, all batted impressively.

Ben Marsden reaches a fine 100, fist pumped by Clinton Perren

Crawley (52), Perren (69) and Marsden, who was out immediately after completing a fluent 100 were the main contributors to MCC’s 275 for 6.

A&T captain Alex Heaton batted superbly in reply, hitting 84 off only 67 balls and looking set for a century until he ventured one time too many down the pitch and was stumped. Wicketkeeper Aaron Booth hit a late order 52 off 45 balls while Cumberland CCC’s Marcus Stables, based locally as he completes his studies, looked set for a big score to continue his fine recent form until he skied one and was caught for 18. A&T closed 202 all out off only 37.4 overs, leaving MCC winners of a splendid game by 73 runs.

Spectators outside the splendid Welfare building applaud Marsden's century

The ground was largely constructed during the Miners’ Strike of 1926 when work for the Gin Pit Workshops was in short supply. Foreman bricklayer Bill Brand found work for his men in laying and constructing the tennis courts, the seats and banking for spectators, the work on the cricket square and ground, before they turned their attention to the construction of the welfare building.

Though Manchester Collieries took over the Astley and Tyldesley Coal and Salt Company in 1929, and thus took over the Gin Pit Workshops, the sporting activities of the Welfare continued to develop. There were teams in several sports besides cricket- rugby, soccer, tennis, bowls and snooker. A&T joined the Bolton Association in 1935, winning the prestigious Cross Cup in each of their first two years and the league championship in 1939.

Many fine cricketers have played at Gin Pit over the last one hundred years

The club employed its first professional in 1952 when Derek Riley of Burnley was appointed. The Bolton Wanderers and England footballer Harold Hassall, one of four brothers to play for the club at the same time, was a notable player, and A&T won the league and cup double in 1959. Later, Ralph Livesey was a long-serving and successful bowler.

The club survived problems with the square in the 1960s, forced to play two seasons away from Gin Pit, before reviving again in the 1970s, new professional Trevor Savage a catalyst. In the mid-1970s a young batter from Pakistan, Mohsin Khan was engaged as professional and he enjoyed a prolific season, scoring over one thousand runs and taking over 70 wickets. This was a golden era for the Association with some fine professionals, including Javed Miandad, playing at Daisy Hill, Mudassar Nazar at Little Hulton. The trio all went on to become highly accomplished and successful Test players for their country.

A&T's Marcus Stables drives through the off side

After so long in the Association, sadly now defunct, it seems strange to see A&T now playing in the Greater Manchester Cricket League, which was formed a few years ago. Their first team competes in the Premier League, and they have a Sri Lankan professional in Chathura Randunu de Silva.

My friend, the late Terry Casey, was an A&T stalwart for many years and combined his cricket as a long-serving player and mainstay of the Tyldesley RU club. He was also a lifelong Leigh Centurions supporter. Terry sadly passed away a couple of years ago after a long illness. I thought about him as I strolled around the splendid Gin Pit ground in the sunshine. He would have relished the visit of the MCC.

(with thanks to Roy Cavanagh's superb book, Cotton Town Cricket, the centenary history of the Bolton District Association, for some of the background)

Congratulations to A&T on reaching a splendid landmark

A Champagne Job by the Seaside

By Mike Latham

Congratulations to John Winn who completed the remarkable collection of witnessing each county playing every other county in the Championship, a total of 157 games. I enjoyed reading the background to him finally achieving the Holy Grail.

I suppose we are all chasers of some goal or another, completionists in search of fulfilling our individual cricket goals. When football groundhoppers complete a league they often call it a 'Champagne Job' so Saturday was the cricketing equivalent for me.

It’s far less of an achievement than John’s but last weekend I went to Prestatyn CC on the North Wales coast, thus completing a visit to all 35 of the current grounds in the top three divisions of the Liverpool & District Competition.

Prestatyn CC

The ‘Comp’ as it is known, adheres to ‘time’ cricket. I’m not aware of any other leagues, particularly one whose top division is an ECB accredited Premier League, that does this. Maybe our readers can advise?

The rules are somewhat complicated and take a while to get used to for those whose weekly diet is 50-over league cricket with fielding circles, restrictions on bowlers’ overs and win-lose cricket. I think I’ve got used to it. Increasingly I find myself watching Comp games on a Saturday and this season I’ve been rewarded with some great games to savour.

Starting at noon, the side batting first loses its batting points if batting more than 55 overs but can bat all day if it so desires. There are six hours 15 minutes of playing time, plus a last hour in which a minimum of 20 overs must be bowled. Tea interval is 30 minutes. The bowling team must average 17 overs an hour, though I think this is slightly reduced at present to allow for sanitation breaks. The players I know that play in the Comp love time cricket. In fact, I’ve not heard one detractor among the many players and spectators I’ve spoken to this season.

It’s a system that rewards positive captaincy, as demonstrated by one of the best games of league cricket I’ve ever seen. Saturday 3 July 2021, Northern v Wigan on a poor day weather-wise, but the Northern CC ground at Great Crosby escaping the worst of the rains, as it always seems to do.

Northern v Wigan, 3 July, Vinay Choudhary bowling

Premier Division leaders Northern struggled after a delayed start against an impressive Wigan bowling attack, Indian slow left arm spinner Vinay Choudhary (5-37 off 24 overs) superb. By tea they were 131 for 7 after 49 overs, Liam Grey top-scorer on 45.

The Northern captain, James Cole, then declared, setting Wigan 132 to win in what would have been around 50 overs. Bearing in mind they have a decent batting line-up, including former New Zealand Test player Aaron Redmond, that was a brave and challenging declaration. Challenging, especially for his side, with the bowlers expected to perform.

Cole’s invention was rewarded as Grey and slow left-armer Tomas Sephton worked their way through the Wigan batting line-up. Grey, bowling with sustained pace and accuracy, dismissed Redmond, caught behind by Cole first ball.

Liam Grey takes the last Wigan wicket, amid scenes of home team celebrations

The drama intensified as Wigan edged towards their target in the last hour before last man Edward Hurst was trapped leg before by Grey to give Northern victory by one run. Grey took 4-29, Sephton 6-56, Wigan 130 all out after 45.1 overs. It was a wonderful game.

Prestatyn Town FC

So, to Prestatyn, for a second division (third tier) game against Wavertree. Prestatyn’s ground is located just inland from the beach, as its name Beach Close implied. Further inland and behind the bowler’s arm from the far end is the Bastion Gardens ground of Prestatyn Town FC, who were playing Northwich Victoria in a pre-season friendly that afternoon.

Prestatyn are one of three Welsh sides in the Comp, Colwyn Bay and Northop Hall the others. They all choose to play in this league rather than the North Wales Cricket League, which is also ECB accredited.

Sampath Perera, the Prestatyn pro

The Prestatyn professional is an experienced Sri Lankan cricketer, Sampath Perera who the previous week had taken the first nine wickets in his side’s victory over Maghull.

After the drama of Northern this was a far more low-key affair but I enjoyed it nonetheless, a peaceful day spent at a friendly club on what was quite a warm day. Huge black clouds over the hills dominated the skyline inland but the sun broke through for most of the afternoon at the seaside.

Prestatyn toiled against an accurate bowling attack, batted on after 55 overs and were finally all out for 182 after 56.2 overs, number three batter Sheil Sethi last man out for an extremely valuable innings of 83, Stewart Guy taking 5-72 for the visitors.

Perera, a clever and resourceful opening bowler, was soon in the groove again, taking four of the first five Wavertree wickets to fall before forced out of the attack with what appeared to be a calf injury.

Youngster Benjamin Hughes is obviously learning from the ‘pro’ and he took 3-15 while Perera later returned to the attack to take another wicket and finish with 5-10 as Wavertree ended 84 all out after 34.1 overs, Prestatyn winners at around 6pm by 98 runs.

The skies lifted inland over Prestatyn as the day went on

The Comp isn’t without its problems, like any other league, not least struggling to find a 12^th team to fill its second division. The Southport and District Amateur cricket League (SADACL) is the official feeder league but Birkenhead St Mary’s, the last champions, did not step up. The SADACL also includes several ex-Comp sides such as Skelmersdale and Burscough who appear to be rebuilding.

There is also a shortage of umpires with many games outside the Premier Division having only one appointed umpire most weeks. This game was no exception, but Ian Craven carried out his duties masterfully and the game was played in a very good spirit.

There was a nice touch at the end as Perera insisted that his young seam-bowling protégé Hughes should lead the team off, which he did with obvious pride.

In a future blog I’ll try to give you some impressions of the 35 clubs I’ve visited and the vast choice of grounds for cricket enthusiasts to visit. You won’t be disappointed if you spend an afternoon in this league.

The closing stages at Northop Hall CC

The early finish allowed me to call in at Northop Hall, a simply lovely ground which is just inside the Welsh border, and close to the A55, on the way home. They duly completed an eight-wicket win over Fleetwood Hesketh chasing 180 with opener Harrison Jones unbeaten on 76 and Will Harrison 47 not out.

The visitors had made 179-9 off 62 overs, and Northop Hall’s reply, completed with just a handful of overs to spare, took 48 overs.

Catching up with Leeds T20 league.

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Long suffering readers of this blog may recall considerable coverage in previous seasons of the Headingley Evening League which now seems to be re-named the Leeds T20 league or even the 365 league. This season the league has flourished with ten teams all situated to the north of the city playing fiercely contested games on Thursday evenings. Unfortunately for various reasons I have been unable to keep up with events until rather fortuitously yesterday evening I managed to see part of the game between Shadwell and Rawdon.

For some years now Shadwell have played at a well hidden ground at Brandon Crescent, well away from the centre of the village where they had played opposite the Red Lion pub since 1895 I believe. This  rural haven, complete with birdsong and now with a well appointed pavilion since my last visit, was an ideal spot to catch up after a few days without cricket.

Shadwell pavilion.

The home side batted first and made a creditable 140-5, despite losing both openers early on, with scores of 48 from Arslan Ijaz and 49 from skipper Hanzaq Mir. Rawdon resplendent in coloured clothing, which only a small number of teams in the league go in for, got off to a good start and were probably favourites being a few divisions higher than Shadwell in the Saturday Airedale/Wharfedale League set up.

However after a good opening partnership by Hodges (not the Dads Army one) and skipper Henry Scanlan, who deposited three sixes in the lane outside the ground, both perished in the thirties and wickets began to fall towards the end. The game was won by a rapid innings from James Doidge, the latest in the ubiquitous Doidge cricketing family. He made 38, including two fours and three sixes to add to his reputation which already includes a recent century in Saturday league cricket.

Rawdon batting at Shadwell.

So victory by four wickets for Rawdon, with an over to spare on a perfect summer evening. Possibly a certain lack of mobility in the field from some of the Shadwell fielders contributed to the visitors' success, but a great effort all round from both teams. Last night's fixtures were the penultimate round of matches before the end of season play offs.

Another boundary for Rawdon.

Next week the fixtures are spread over several days and are as follows:-

Tuesday 13/7 - Leeds Mods v Kirkstall Educational.

Wednesday 14/7 - Cookridge v St. Chads

Thursday 15/7 - Adel v Shadwell, Green Lane v New Rover and Rawdon v Hall Park.

The top four teams in the table are currently Hall Park, Kirkstall, Rawdon and Adel but all to play for next week.

Congratulations John!

Posted by Tony Hutton

Delighted to be able to congratulate my fellow blogger John Winn on his tremendous achievement of having now seen every first class county play every other county. To complete the set of 153 possible matches has taken considerable effort, not least in this most difficult of all seasons. News soon circulates amongst the cricketing fraternity and John was able to make the news not only on the BBC live streaming, but on the Somerset facebook page where his tribute to the warm welcome at Taunton was much appreciated.

John Winn (right) returns from a pitch inspection at Riverside 2015.

He of course did set me off with a search of my own exhaustive records of cricket watching over an even longer period. I knew from the beginning there was no chance of getting anywhere near, as I had never lived in the south of England, and that there would be considerable gaps in the grid I prepared. In the end I arrived at a figure of 118 matches, including a full set for all the counties I have been a member of over the years i.e. Derbyshire, Durham, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire.

Moving on it was also a delight to see that John managed a day visiting club grounds in the footsteps of both the admirable Nico Craven, who I met several times both at Cheltenham and Keswick, and myself. I visited Dumbleton as long ago as 2005 and vividly recall my visit to Sheepscombe four years later, when my late wife could not believe that I drove up the steep rough track to the ground. Like John I was inspired by the books produced by Nico Craven and thought of him only the other day while watching Gloucestershire's live streaming from the Cheltenham festival. For those of you wishing to delve deeper find my blog dated 6th July 2009. Here are just a few pictures to remind you of the grounds and the great man himself.

Dumbleton, Gloucestershire 2005.

Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire 2009.

Nico Craven (in the white jacket) with media friends at Cheltenham.

 

And the cricket was good too.

 posted by John Winn

Sunday's play at Taunton fell neatly into three parts in the first of which we treated to a splendid batting exhibition by Conway and Davies which continued after lunch until the clouds which had been building up brought heavy rain for about an hour. During Act 2  I acquainted myself a little more with the ground, unrecognisable since my last visit in 1999, while, once the rain had stopped the ground staff worked hard to enable more play. Tea was taken early and play resumed shortly after 4:15 with about twenty overs having been lost. 

The final chapter in the day provided a reversal of fortunes with seven wickets falling before some stubborn resistance from van der Merwe and Davey prevented further calamities. Davies was the first to go but Conway went serenely on to what seemed would be an inevitable century but after a brief partnership with Goldsworthy who went for 3 the New Zealander was bowled by Parkinson for 88. One expert had been heard to say that the spinner was only on to speed up the over rate but there again I've been wrong before. Batsmen then came but just they seemed to have their feet under the table they went and Somerset were 224 for 7. 

Act Two

18 more runs were added before stumps and we reassembled on Monday morning when  lovely sunshine and a good forecast brought a larger crowd than Sunday. A man who had travelled  from Plymouth and who I had not met before thought my completion of the 153 pursuit worthy of a wider audience and within minutes I was mentioned in the BBC commentary accompanying the live stream on Youtube. The faithful and a few others, I even saw one from Leicestershire, were then treated to a monster tail wagging with century partnerships for the 8th and 9th wickets and nos 8,9 and 10 all scoring 75 or more, the first time this had happened in first class cricket since 1910. 461 for 9 declared and maximum batting points in the bag. 

The Foxes reached 95 for 3 by the close by which time I had begun the first leg of my journey home. The match did not unfold as expected however for thanks to more bad weather and splendid batting from Swindells and Barnes when the players finally shook hands on Tuesday only four more wickets had fallen, the Foxes had secured four batting points and the unbeaten eighth wicket stand stretched to over 200. 

With Gloucestershire finally breaking down Middlesex's resistance yesterday and with one match remaining for each county, Group 2 remains beautifully poised. 1, Somerset 134 points, 2, Gloucs 129 3, Hants 123, Surrey 112 and 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3 starting on Sunday. Leicestershire who might argue they are not out of it play the hapless Middlesex. Bring it on. There is of course plenty to look forward to in the other two groups for in group 3 although Lancashire and Yorkshire have secured qualification for the top group in the next stage there are points to play for half of which will be carried forward. Yes I wondered too.  In Group One Durham probably need to beat Notts at The Riverside and Essex in fourth travel to Hove and will not have given up of competing for their title come August 30th when the next stage begins.

I finish by repeating a post I made on the Somerset CCC Official Facebook Group after my visit to the County Ground.

' 'I am on my way home to North Yorkshire after two great days at The County Ground. I have now seen every county play every other county, a total of 153 matches. Nowhere in my travels has been more welcoming than the stewards and supporters of SCCC. Thank you all.'