The lure of Scarborough.

Posted by Tony Hutton

In my younger days I rarely missed a game at Scarborough. However the prejudices of old age mean that visits nowadays are few and far between. However I was there last Tuesday to see Yorkshire play Hampshire in the Royal London Cup, notwithstanding a largish crowd, coloured clothing and black sightscreens, which all are among my present day aversions. 

A postcard view of Scarborough some years ago with the North Marine Road ground centre stage

First stop was to buy a scorecard from my friend Nick Briggs, resplendent in his Yorkshire Cricket Foundation's pink shirt as a member of the Welcome Team. Next stop our ritual morning coffee in the Trafalgar Square End tea room, surprisingly quiet with so many people already in the ground. Two well positioned seats at that end of the ground provided an excellent vantage point with, for once, not too many noisy neighbours.

A bit of Scarborough history.

We were anxious to see the majority of the young Yorkshire side whose careers we have followed through the ranks of the Yorkshire Academy over the years. The Academy's withdrawal from the Yorkshire Premier League this season has left a large void in our cricket watching activities every Saturday. As a lifetime follower of each and every county side, it was also a pleasure to see a new generation of Hampshire players in action.

Nick Gubbins, acting captain of Hampshire in the absence of James Vince, is also well known to us from his years with Leeds/Bradford University and with Middlesex. Today he opened the batting with Ben Brown, an experienced batsman/wicketkeeper recruited from Sussex, where he often made lots of runs against Yorkshire. Despite playing and missing a few times against the opening attack of Waite and Coad, after Yorkshire had put them in, the pair put on an impressive stand of 87. Dominic Bess, the one 'incomer' in the Yorkshire side had Gubbins lbw for 38.

Brown continued in good form along with young Tom Prest, who we saw on TV last winter with England under 19's in the World Cup. We knew that Prest could score quickly and he did not disappoint. However when Brown was out for a well made 60, enter Welshman Aneurin Donald, who has a reputation for scoring even quicker than Prest. So it proved as Prest made an admirable 55 from only 65 balls, but Donald, obviously well recovered from injuries which have blighted his career, made an even bigger impact with 76 from only 31 balls. This included five fours and six huge sixes, one of which sailed between the gap in the houses at the Trafalgar Square end.

Aneurin Donald (Hampshire)

Yorkshire's bowlers stuck to their task well under this onslaught and Revis was rewarded with some late wickets as the Hampshire tail rather fell apart. Coad had a tidy spell until a last over went for a few, but all in all Yorkshire did well to contain Hampshire, already qualified for the semi-finals, to a score of 313-9. Yorkshire in reply were never really in the hunt after a disastrous early clatter of wickets saw them struggling on 31-4 against Hampshire's opening bowlers, Turner from South Africa and Holland from the USA.

A full house at Scarborough on a previous occasion.

To be fair Yorkshire never really gave up, as the middle order rallied well, with good efforts from Waite (on his way to Worcester next season), Revis with a useful 41 and Loten with a defiant 41 not out at the end with two sixes. Unfortunately Bess was struck on the back of the helmet by a throw from a Hampshire fielder when going for a quick single and had to retire hurt. Harry Sullivan took his place later as a concussion substitute rather than Will Luxton, as the substitute has to be as near like for like in cricketing ability, i.e. one spin bowler replaced by another. 

Three late tail end wickets for Turner gave him the best bowling figures of 5-41 as Yorkshire were bowled out for 241 in the 46th over, but a good all round performance by the visitors. Good to see left arm seamer Campbell, a Hampshire born player, returning with his home county after a spell with Durham which began when he was at Durham University. The majority of the large crowd stayed to the end to salute both teams for providing fine entertainment in wonderful weather for most of the day. The obvious joys of cricket at Scarborough remain unchanged. Other results elsewhere, notably Lancashire being beaten by Kent, ensured that Yorkshire would not qualify for the quarter finals.