Eskdale cricket league (part two)

Posted by Tony Hutton

Further to John's recent blog about his trip to Eskdale as mentioned we were in the same area on the same day. Encouraged by the fact that the Whitby Gazette now publishes a league table and fixtures, although no results, we set off to visit a few new grounds only to find as John mentioned two of the games were off, presumably because enough players could not be found.

This league must be one of the most scenic in England, but sadly it is difficult to get much information in view of the lack of a league website. However off we set on a beautiful day with the moorland approach from Hutton le Hole over Blakey Ridge a real sight with the heather in full bloom. Dropping down into the valley for a pub lunch we set off for Fryup one of the most remote grounds, very hard to find without the help of google earth. Having, like John, already passed Danby's ground en route with no sign of a match we pressed on up Great Fryup Dale to find the ground set in the valley bottom below us. Marvellous scenery all around and the game just starting between Fryup and Loftus.

View of the valley bottom ground and the heather topped hillside opposite.

Play gets underway at Fryup

The pavilion at Fryup

To our surprise in no time at all the batting team were 0-3 and as a late comer arrived complete with cricket bag, we told him to get his pads on as he might soon be needed. However it turned out he was joining the fielding side and had travelled all the way from London to play. What dedication!
Only time for a few photographs and we were on our way with little hope of ever getting the result or scores, although efforts are now being made.

Rural surroundings at Fryup

Next stop was Castleton which I had visited on an earlier occasion and is probably the best ground in the league. The home side were taking on Grosmont from further down the valley and the runs were flowing quickly despite the grass cuttings littering the outfield. Another photo opportunity before moving on to near neighbours Westerdale, who have left the Eskdale league to join the Langbaurgh League with teams mainly from the Teeside area. Here we encountered Mr Winn and shared the quick finish and the excellent offer of tea.

Castleton cricket club.

View over the wall at Castleton

Action at Westerdale.

Lady in red at Westerdale.

John was able to tell us that the game at Hinderwell was also off so that meant another change of plan as we headed north out of the valley to see another new ground for us at Staithes, who must be the most northern outpost of the Scarborough Beckett League. Sadly the cricket ground at the top of the hill which goes down to the picture postcard tourist harbour does not match the nearby scenery, being rather utilitarian, but the cricket was of a good standard with Scalby the visitors. The home side had scored over 200 runs and were on course to bowl Scalby out for 110 as befits a team near the top of the league.

Scalby struggle for runs at Staithes.

A tinge of sadness at the end of a perfect day of cricket and wonderful scenery in that one feels the Eskdale League may not survive for much longer. Teams come and go, Lealholm for instance now only play evening cricket, and obviously at this time of year some sides cannot raise a team which is not unknown in many other leagues. Hopefully some means will be found to allow it to continue with it's succession of local derbies in such delightful surroundings.

September Fixtures

posted by Tony Hutton and John Winn

Friday September 1st
Women's Super League Semi Finals and Final  at  Hove 10.30
T20 Benefit Match - Ryan Sidebottom's celebrity XI v The Druids at Harrogate 5 p.m.

Harrogate cricket club, St Georges Road, Harrogate

Saturday September 2nd
Nat West Blast Finals day Edgbaston

Sunday September 3rd
Yorkshire Leagues Cup Final - Harrogate v Stamford Bridge
at Sheriff Hutton Bridge. 12 noon

Sheriff Hutton Bridge, Moor Farm, Strensall

Atkinson Swires Final Birstwith v Masham at Bishop Monkton 1:30

Bishop Monkton cricket club

Tuesday September 5th
Yorks v Middlesex (4 day) Headingley 10.30
Durham v  Kent (4 day) Riverside 10.30
Hampshire II v Lancashire II (4 days)  SEC Final at New Close, Isle of Wight

New Close ground, Newport, Isle of Wight

Thursday September 7th
England v West Indies (3rd test) at Lord's

Friday September 8th
Addingham v Lashings 4 p.m.

Saturday September 9th
Last week of fixtures in most Yorkshire leagues, including
Yorks Academy v Easingwold at Weetwood 12 noon

Leeds University Ground, Weetwood, Leeds

Harrogate v Sheriff Hutton Bridge 12 noon
Adel v Ben Rhydding 12.30

Adel cricket ground, Leeds

Sunday September 10th
Black Sheep Cup Final York v Pudsey SL at  Masham 1 p.m.

Masham cricket ground

Over 50s Final - Leicestershire v Yorkshire at Kibworth

Kibworth cricket club, Leicestershire

Grey Fox Cup Final - Hall Park over 50s v Cayton over 50s at Scarborough

North Marine Road, Scarborough

Arthington v Romany 1.30
Settle v The Hawks 1.30
Collingham v Yorkshire Gentlemen 1.30
St Georges v Halifax Nomads at Harewood House

Harewood House pavilion

Monday September 11th
Second XI friendly - Derby II v Notts II at Chesterfield (4 days)
National club T20 finals day at Derby
Clubs involved Cannock & Rugeley (Staffs), South Northumberland,
Clifton (Lancs) and Wimbledon.

Tuesday September 12th
Surrey v Yorkshire (4 day) The Oval 10.30

Wednesday September 13th
Second XI friendly - Surrey II v Yorkshire II at Guildford (3 days)

Saturday September 16th
Yorkshire Premier League Semi Finals
Yorkshire League North Champions v Bradford League Champions at Scarborough
Yorkshire League South Champions v North Yorks/S.Durham Champions.
(Originally scheduled for Stamford Bridge but may change to Marske). Both 12 noon.
Last Nidderdale league matches.



Sunday September 17th
Village Cup Final Sessay v Reed, Lord's
National Club Final Ormskirk v Wanstead and Snaresbrook at Chelmsford 12 noon
Arthington v Halifax Nomads 1.30.

Arthington cricket club near Pool in Wharfedale

Monday September 18th
Second XI friendly - Derby II v Hants II at Denby (3 days) 10.30

Tuesday September 19th
Yorkshire v Warwickshire (4 day) Headingley 10.30
Durham v Sussex (4 day) Riverside 10.30
Yorks II v Durham II (3 day) Scarborough (friendly) 10.30

Saturday September 23rd
Yorkshire Premier League Final Headingley. 12 noon
Arthington v Jesters 1 p.m.
St Georges v The Hawks (Harewood House)

Sunday September 24th
Arthington v King James' (Bishop Auckland) 1 p.m.

Monday September 25th

Essex v Yorkshire (4 day) Chelmsford 10.30
Worcestershire v Durham (4 day) New Road 10.30
Nidderdale Show match at Pateley Bridge 11.00
(Nidderdale League XI v Craven League XI)

Pateley Bridge cricket ground on Nidderdale Show day.

Saturday September 30th
Arthington v The Hawks 12.45.
St Georges v Cookridge Hospital (Harewood House)

National Club Championship

posted by John Winn

The National Club Championship semi finals were played yesterday and resulted in wins for Wanstead and Snaresbrook who beat East Grinstead by 43 runs and Ormskirk who had a very easy win over Wolverhampton by 8 wickets.

KT's wizardry too much for Warwickshire

posted by John Winn

A good crowd assembled at St George's Road, Harrogate yesterday to see Yorkshire Women's XI take on table toppers Warwickshire. Yorkshire's England players were 'resting' and the diamonds in the necklace had driven back from Arundel the previous evening not reaching home until the early hours of Sunday. It had been many weeks since we had had the chance to see women's county championship cricket and a close contest seemed likely.

Yorkshire batted on winning the toss and lost Anna Nicholls with only 1 on the board. When the normally phlegmatic Rebecca Newark played an unRebecca like shot it was 27 for 2 but there followed two good partnerships with Jess Watson, Hollie Armitage and Hannah Buck all making good contributions. 135 for 3 seemed a good platform from which to scale the heights of 200 but over eagerness contributed to the loss of five wickets for 9 runs before Buck was joined by Katie Levick and this pair added an unbeaten 32 for the ninth wicket and when the innings closed on 176 there was a feeling that it was a defendable score.

Yorkshire in the field at Harrogate.

Amongst the Warwickshire team was New Zealander Sophie Devine who had treated us to some fine hitting at Clifton Park a week earlier and her appearance at three seemed pivotal in the game's progress. This was not to be her day however and when she was caught behind Warwickshire were 32 for 3. Some resistance came from Hennessy and Kelly but the return of the magical spinner Katie Thompson brought a swift end to proceedings with six wickets falling for eight runs and with Katie Green absent ill 82 for 9 was as good as it got for the visitors. Thompson finished with 5 for 21 off her nine overs. The highlight was a marvellous catch by Charlotte North to dismiss Marie Kelly off Thompson.

Yorkshire discover that Warwickshire will bat one short.

The win takes Yorkshire clear by just one point from Warwickshire and all hangs on the last round of matches being played today. Yorkshire face Notts at Welbeck CC and Warwickshire at home to Lancashire at the Edgbaston Foundation Ground. All to play for.

Finally one snippet of news, the Pennine Cricket League is to fold after just two years existence with the majority of its clubs entering the Greater Manchester League.

Whitby and Westerdale save the day.

posted by John Winn

The River Esk flows through Eskdale for a little short of 30 miles before it reaches the sea at Whitby and it was at the very popular seaside resort and fishing port that I began my Saturday watching. A couple of years ago I heard the Whitby captain interviewed on local radio at a time when they had a realistic chance of promotion to the premier division of the NYSD. Alas that did not happen and as we near the end of this season they find themselves involved in a contest to escape relegation. The previous Saturday they had, to quote the Whitby Gazette, 'boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation when they had beaten Redcar by 82 runs'. This week their opponents were bottom club Middlesbrough II and I joined three other spectators at the Turnbull ground as the teams took the field shortly before two o'clock.

Whitby had won the toss and elected to bat and with not a little help from extras made steady progress until skipper William Donald was out with the score on 52. A look inside the pavilion (above) revealed a team photograph from 1998 which included a very young Adam Lyth but with my main aim of the day, to visit the only NYSD ground where I had not seen cricket, accomplished, it was time to move on. The website shows a comfortable victory for Whitby.

Next target was Hinderwell, a village close to Staithes, and a match in the Eskdale League with Sleights the visitors. This is not an easy league to follow, it has no website and receives very scanty coverage in the Gazette, and has only ten teams. Three of the five matches were on grounds I had not previously visited and at least two of these were on my radar. My plans were disrupted for as I drove north from Sandsend my eye was caught by this sign and the sight of men in whites. A sharp uturn took me into this sporting complex where a Scarborough League Division 1 game was in progress with leaders Mulgrave hosting strugglers Wold Newton from East Yorkshire. Mulgrave were batting and rattling along: a well struck onside four actually went on the bowling green, fortunately not disturbing the woods.

This splendid pavilion was opened in 2007 and Mulgrave look a progressive outfit who seem likely to enjoy premier division cricket next season. The result is not available on the league website.

Just a quarter of an hour on  and I reached Hinderwell and the ground is on the right as you enter the village. Alas this is how it looked on Saturday at 2:30, definitely not open for business. Opponents should have been second place Sleights, reason for cancellation not known.

Danby CC

Next stop Danby and after making some enquires I found the Easton Lane  ground but with the same result as at Hinderwell, no sign of cricket and twenty four hours too early for Sunday's rounders tournament. With Danby top and Goathland third from bottom the latter seem more likely to have conceded but I can find nothing on the net to support that idea.

Although I was beginning to feel that it might not be my afternoon I moved on to my next scheduled game hoping a change of leagues might do me good for Westerdale, former members of the Eskdale League, now ply their trade in the Langbaurgh, a league with a very good website and a ground Tony had promised me was well worth a visit. The village is close to the source of the Esk and the ground, which definitely lived up to its billing, is by the river.

My delight in finding cricket in progress was tempered by the scoreboard which suggested tea might not be far away. Visitors East Harsley B were batting and 34 for 8 soon became 34 for 9 in effect all out for they had only ten men. I had by this time been joined by Tony and Jennifer who had also made Eskdale the place for their Saturday cricket and had been lucky enough to find Fryup and a match in progress. When the players had had tea we were invited to enjoy a selection from what was left, still a fine spread after which we speculated how many overs it might take for top of the table Westerdale to knock off the runs. My estimate of fewer than eight proved conservative for some lusty blows, particularly from opener Carl Simpson saw them home in just 4.3 overs. Very much a family affair at Westerdale for the eleven contained Shaun, David, Jack, Stuart and Adrian all with the surname Dowson. A delightful club who seem likely to gain promotion.

 The backdrop to Westerdale CC

All good fun - but not cricket as we know it.

Posted by Tony Hutton

Thursday 24th August and Test Match Special came to Weetwood, Leeds to celebrate sixty years of this BBC institution. As members of the small group who regularly watch cricket at the Leeds University ground it came as quite a shock to see how the ground had been very quickly transformed into a stadium with stands and seating for three thousand spectators, together with marquees, food outlets and the all essential portaloos.

However despite all the bonhomie of the commentators and guests for what was billed as Geoffrey Boycott's XI v Jonathon Agnew's XI, there were serious problems for the huge crowd waiting to be admitted at three p.m. for a four thirty start to the T20 game. We were aware that no cars were to be admitted to the complex and did find a space in a nearby street, already packed with vehicles which came as a big shock to local residents.

This could have been avoided if the organisers had thought to acquire use of the large car park available opposite the ground at Lawnswood School, currently not in use during the holidays.

This was to prove only a minor problem as when the huge queue began to move only at snails' pace when the gate (only one) was opened it soon became apparent that bag searches and wanding (!) were in operation. When we finally made it to the gate not only were our chairs confiscated but also water bottle and a small box of cakes. How ridiculous. Worse than travelling by plane.


Once inside we were amazed at all the portable stands and marquees had been erected, together with a big screen as the match was being televised by the BBC on the red button. We could just about hear the Radio 5 live extra commentary, initially by Henry Blofeld, who at least gave us the score at regular intervals as the scoreboard was obscured by the giant big screen.

The popular side.

Agnew's XI captained by Phil Tufnell made 140-9 in their 20 overs with Charlie Dagnall and Harry Judd (one of the many 'celebrities' on show) both retired after scoring 30. Some of the bowling, and catching, was unbelievably bad. How can anyone take Allison Mitchell's commentary seriously after the awful over she bowled. A welcome addition to the commentary team all the same. There was plenty of humour from the very well behaved crowd, probably suffering from jet lag, after the long wait to get in.

Vaughan has a bowl.

Michael Vaughan captained Boycott's side and was obviously delighted when Graham Swann was out to the first ball of the match. He even invited a member of the crowd in jeans and coloured T shirt to field on the boundary (he must have been yet another celebrity) only for an over zealous steward to try and remove him from the field.

The giant screen shows highlights while groundsman Richard Robinson consults at half time.

All good fun but certainly not cricket as we know it and despite enjoying the carnival atmosphere in our normally so quiet and peaceful ground, we left at half time and found that T20 cricket on Sky was not quite so bewildering despite the new commentary duo of Andrew Flintoff and Michael Lumb.
It is certainly a long way from the day's of John Arlott, still the best cricket commentator ever. What he would have made of today's antics I shudder to think.

Nidderdale league entertains MCC

Posted by Tony Hutton

Wednesday 23rd August greeted us with torrential rain during the morning and it looked very much as if it would be a cricket free day. However the forecast suggested an improvement during the afternoon and an email from the Nidderdale League suggested play might start later in the day for their annual fixture with MCC due to be played at North Stainley cricket club just north of Ripon.

North Stainley pavilion.

Off we went around mid-day when the rain had stopped and after a nice pub lunch at the local pub, the Staveley Arms, we arrived at the attractive North Stainley ground just as the players emerged from the pavilion at around 2 o'clock. The pavilion here was built as recently as 2009 as part of a housing development which rings one side of the ground as doubles as a very useful village hall.

The Nidderdale League team.

Further research is needed to establish when this fixture started. I would guess around twenty years ago when I attended the first match at Dacre Banks. Sir Thomas Ingilby, whose family have owned Ripley Castle for generations was league president and probably still playing cricket himself at the time. He started the tradition of inviting the two teams back to the castle for dinner which continues to this day.

After the loss of the morning's play it was decided to have a 30 overs per side rather than the usual MCC time match. As is common practice MCC, made up of many well known names from league cricket, batted first. The batsmen, many with connections to Harrogate cricket club, came and went but it was Ross Sedgley, a consistent scorer with Beckwithshaw in the Aire Wharfe league, who made top score of 50 plus. He recently made a century in Beckwithshaw's Waddilove Cup final victory over near neighbours Bilton. When he was out with the score just over 100-3 the later batsmen laid about the bowlers to produce a final score of 155-6.

MCC play with a straight bat.

After an excellent tea, sad to say the Nidderdale league eleven did not really distinguish themselves.
The innings somehow never gained momentum and apart from one or two rare big hits it proceeded at a somewhat pedestrian pace throughout the whole thirty overs. This was due in part to some excellent bowling, particularly from the spinners. Slow left armer Jarvis, who has been a consistent wicket taker in league cricket for many years, finished with five wickets and Chris Kippax took two as well as two catches. The league side finished their innings on 116-9.

This one went straight up in the air and was caught.

As I have not yet been able to find a scorecard or report of proceedings it is not clear whether this was a draw, under MCC rules, or a limited over victory for MCC which seems about right. However it didn't really matter it was a most enjoyable game, played in front of rather a small but select crowd in weather which improved throughout the afternoon to conclude in bright sunshine. Good also to see Tricia Heard, for so long secretary of this very well run league, in attendance. Proper cricket played in delightful surroundings with accompaniment from the ducks on the adjacent pond.