Cricket Diary 2009 - The Headingley alternative

Kirkstall Educational cricket ground, Leeds

Posted by Tony Hutton

Thursday 16th April - I have long had a belief that if you get frustrated or bored watching cricket, it is quite possible in West Yorkshire particularly, just to walk round the corner and find something more exciting going on.
So when watching at Headingley over the years on Saturday afternoons it has often been my practice to go for a ten minute walk round the corner to Queenswood Drive, the home of Kirkstall Educational cricket club. Often a few overs of therapy, with more action than you have seen in the last few hours, can restore your faith in the game.
So on Thursday when an internal Yorkshire practice match was grinding out it's course and the players left the field for the tea interval, two carloads of cricket watchers arrived at Kirkstall to watch Leeds Metropolitain University taking on no less than the national side of the Isle of Man !
The Isle of Man were on a three match pre-season tour organized by their coach Gareth Dawson, formerly of Doncaster Town and brother of Richard Dawson formerly with Yorkshire.
This was in preparation for a European Tournament they will take part in later in the season.
Sadly for the visitors everything seemed to go wrong for them. The students cracking 357-7 in 50 overs, with sixes galore into the adjacent rugby field. In reply the Islanders were dismissed for a paltry 88.
Undetered the Manxmen, smartly attired in sweaters sporting the island badge and all in red caps, lost by a smaller margin to Doncaster the next day and finished with a flourish with a win over Derbyshire side Eckington. Good luck to them in Europe - they might need it.

Cricket Diary 2009 - Top league clubs prepare

Posted by Tony Hutton

Saturday 11th April - Two of the top league clubs in Yorkshire met at the Britannia Ground, Pudsey in a pre-season friendly match. Pudsey Congs of the Bradford League taking on Wrenthorpe from the Central Yorkshire League.
Always a pleasure to visit this very tidy and attractive ground, not least for the active band of helpers lead by the ever enthusiastic Ralph Middlebrook, now Chairman of the club. Good food and drink is always available thanks to the hard working tea ladies.
Today's match helped to get players back into the match routine, but it was a sad start for Wrenthorpe's opening bat, Eric Austin, who had to leave the field with what looked like a serious knee injury. His opening partner, the former Yorkshire player Gary Fellows, got off to the best possible start with a splendid century. Going for his shots and not afraid to hit the ball in the air, he perhaps could have been caught on the long on boundary once or twice, but provided good entertainment for the small band of early season enthusiasts.
Facing the formidable Wrenthorpe total of 261-3 in only 40 overs, Congs never looked like challenging for victory, but nevertheless got some valuable batting practice against the splendid left arm bowling of their former team mate, Neil Gill. Old favourites Andrew Bairstow and Matthew Doidge, who is having a testimonial year, were in the runs yet again and Congs will no doubt be up with the leaders again this season.

Cricket Diary 2009 - Yorkshire take the field

Posted by Tony Hutton

Monday 6th April -Yorkshire county cricket club returned to England from their pre-season tour in the sunshine of Abu Dhabi to find good conditions for their first outing at home. They revisited the traditional home of pre-season games in the 1930s and 1940s at the spacious Leeds University ground at Weetwood for a two day game with Leeds Bradford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence.
This ground, now the home venue for Yorkshire Academy games, was in excellent condition and the Yorkshire opening pair of Andrew Gale and Chris Taylor took full advantage with an opening partnership of 276. Gale played with unusual restraint and was outscored by the fluent Taylor.
Gale retired on 113 and Taylor thinking he had reached 150 spooned a catch only to find he had 149.
Yorkshire declared on 401-5 and the following day the students struggled early on. being at one stage 75-5. However this announced the arrival at No. 7 of a young man called Bradley Kruger, born in South Africa, but who went to school in Northampton and has played for Northants 2nd XI. He started slowly but soon got the measure of the Yorkshire attack and proceeded to hit no less than 130, which included eleven fours and seven sixes, most of which disappeared into the far distance over long on.
Once he was out David Wainwright, the left arm spinner, finished off the tail just before the close and had commendable figures of 5-57. So a good two days of cricket with plenty of plus points for both sides.
The star of the show was undoubtedly young Mr Kruger and with a score of 94 not out the following day in a University practice match he looks as though he will have a bright future. He bowls a bit as well !

Cricket Diary 2009

Posted by Tony Hutton

Cricket season gets underway

Saturday 4th April - for once my cricket season gets off to a prompt start. One of my local clubs, New Rover C.C., which is situated in north Leeds, plans a series of pre-season friendly matches before anyone else gets going.
In recent seasons these have usually been washed out or the ground has been unfit. As the New Rover groundsman is none other than the famous former Headingley curator Keith Boyce, he produces such excellent wickets that he is unlikely to let any players on it if the weather is at all unsettled.
However, this time we have dry weather and sunshine. Play starts promptly at 1 p.m. with a game against near neighbours Horsforth. The cricket itself does not really matter. The fact that it is taking place at all after a long cold winter brings a smile to the faces of the few diehards who make up the small crowd.
Cricket is back, the sun is shining and all is well with the world. The fact that it is taking place in such pleasant surroundings, at a friendly club, is a tribute not only to Keith Boyce but to hard working secretary, Mel Reuben, the local jack of all trades. We are delighted to back in our summer routine.

Denby Dale to Dubai

Posted by Peter Davies

Cumberworth United v Green Moor on a cool/chilly afternoon - the first day of the Huddersfield Central League season. Stalwart league official Phil Senior was fielding at mid-wicket as the Moor innings progressed. Inside the pavilion his wife, Sheila, explained the teas regime at the club and pointed out the now-retired ex-queen of the tea room, Averil Littlewood (enjoying an afternoon with her grandchildren). Tuna and ham were the sandwiches on offer with some excellent beetroot to spice things up. The main road overlooking the ground was busy - with cars parked choc-a-bloc and also a vintage vehicle passing mid-afternoon at about 15mph. A catch was dropped on the boundary's edge just before tea but it was a valiant effort - and the 25 or so spectators present appreciated that.

Then to Denby Dale for the battle against Old Almondburians in the same competition. The ground was looking spectacular. On the boundary edge, league president Jack Carson was chatting to locals on his whistlestop tour of the area (he'd done Flockton and Holmbridge already and had another visit planned later in the afternoon), head tea lady Sarah Geldart was re-living her trip to Dubai to watch her son Callum play for the Yorkshire Academy side (he's a star in the making), and Denby Dale official Richard Hobson was bemoaning the fact that a new house had been built just behind the bowler's arm at one end of the ground (thus necessitating the erection of some costly state-of-the-art sightscreens). There was some excellent fruit salad on sale in the tea room and it was so sunny, at times, that the electronic display - showing the latest score - on the pavilion side of the ground was difficult to decipher. The old boys eventually came out on top.

Calder Valley tour

Posted by Peter Davies

First up Sowerby St. Peter's, in the shadow of the local parish church and the newly redeveloped local comprehensive. A sunny early afternoon with an enthusiastic club official erecting new benches in front of the pavilion and two experienced tea ladies, inside the pavilion, talking about the changes they have seen in tea-making over the years. They also explained the new package for matchday sponsors: a marquee for 12 at a cost of £200. Imaginative thinking!

Then to Bridgeholme, the western outpost of the Halifax League - almost in Todmorden. King Cross were the visitors and the sun was shining brightly in this part of Calderdale. Supporters had come from far afield - one had come from as far away as Hyde, Cheshire. 'Mr Bridgeholme' - Keith Hudson - was making tea during the interval. He's also the club groundsman, league rep and child protection officer, and was also about to open the Bridgeholme innings. He also probably does 85 other jobs at the club! Unfortunately, he didn't last long with the bat. Too many other things on his mind perhaps. Trains seemed to be going past on the nearby line almost every 10 minutes - the Rochdale-Halifax service. With a number of Asian players playing in the match, the half-time food was samosas and sandwiches. One of the stalwart Bridgeholme supporters watching from outside the pavilion said he was an acquaintance of Brian Heywood - the man behind the wonderful history of Todmorden CC, Cloth Caps and Cricket Crazy (with his mother and father too), and a part-time researcher on the Cricket Heritage Project.

Finally, Mytholmroyd, looking totally gorgeous in the late-afternoon sun (it got chilly later). There, Warley were batting, chasing the home side's 200+ score for victory. Mytholmroyd president Nigel Robinson was happy to field compliments about the setting, the state of the ground (perfect) and the amount of seats on the boundary edge (20+). Earlier in the afternoon a fielder had been hit on the head by a throw in from the boundary and play had been delayed for several minutes. There were pork pies, scotch eggs and mini-pasties aplenty in the pavilion - and some fantastic scones too (with jam and cream). By the pavilion, Warley groundsman Mick Holroyde was enjoying a wonderful view of the action and postulating how long his prolific brother-in-law Andrew Oates has left as a frontline batsman (as many years as he wants was the conclusion). Mick has contributed some excellent photos to the Warley page of the project website - and he reminded me that he had once described the project website as "living history". A great description. Also on the boundary edge, Warley opener Nolan Bottomley was explaining the Warley team's post-match routine: always a couple of drinks at the club pub - The Winterburn - and then a wander through Sowerby Bridge town centre and its many hostelries. That's where they'll be about now: 10pm Saturday night.

A North Kirklees afternoon

Posted by Peter Davies

At Liversedge it was a sunny but chilly afternoon with Gomersal the visitors in the Crowther Cup. A lone tea lady - the sister-in-law of ex-Huddersfield Town footballer Simon Trevitt - was working hard with cheese sandwiches, scotch eggs and pork pies on the menu. The boundary edge was lined with spectators both young and old. In the clubhouse, club stalwarts reminisced about the season West Indian legend Sonny Ramadhin turned out for the club (1966) and everyone sitting or standing on the clubhouse side of the ground could admire the wonderful and expansive Spen Valley vistas. I got chatting with a local umpire (ex-Crossbank Meths) who was watching the game from the pavilion - he wasn't impressed by the dissent shown by one of the batters when he was dismissed (the angry batter kicked a football into the pavilion which only just missed him!).

Down the road at Spen Victoria, the weather was similarly idyllic. Baildon were the visitors and it was an afternoon for batting with the ball going out of the ground on many occasions. The knowledgeable spectators, I was told, sit by the white wall near the scorebox - a sun-trap, I was also told. Ex-Yorkshire and Spen player Chris Elstub had one of his county shirts from 2000 framed in the clubhouse - and the tea lady on duty was another University of Huddersfield employee, Judith Davison. The club vice-president told me it was Spen's centenary year this year but celebrations were low-key with no history brochure and only an all-star game planned for mid-summer. An ice cream van visited the ground just prior to tea!

Finally, to Bennett Lane, Hanging Heaton, arguably the best appointed ground in the Calderdale/Kirklees area. The huge clubhouse houses some excellent trophy cabinets, framed items and a heavy-duty kitchen which serves square meals (eg. steak and onion pie, chips and peas) throughout the day. The Everton-Man United semi-final was on the big screen and on the boundary edge club president Mel Dearden - a great guy! - explained that the club was having problems with neighbours, even though it had put a huge net up at the far end to protect the nearby houses. They used a huge cherry-picker to put the net up but the wind had played havoc with it and it needed further attention. He also showed me round the new pavilion extension - a flat for the steward and stewardess. Earlier in the afternoon, the club pro had sent a six into the clubhouse and a window had had to be boarded up with serious injuries only narrowly avoided. Buttershaw St. Paul's were the opposition.