A day at the cricket—24 June 2024

Brian Sanderson takes in some county cricket at Scarborough

I have been planning for a number of days a trip to one of my favourite cricket grounds: Scarborough on the East Coast of Yorkshire, about sixty miles from Leeds, where I live. I know from experience that the trip can be chaotic, because the major road there, the A64, is a single lane for much of the way. Today, however, the motoring gods were smiling, and we reached our destination with no problems.

The ground is about 800 meters from the ocean, which occasionally brings in the sea frets, but today the sun was shining. Nothing could augur better for a day at the cricket.

Yorkshire had dominated the first day’s play, achieving a Scarborough record for the first wicket of 307. The batters were Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean. The latter, just twenty-two years old, made his first-class debut two years ago, and looks good prospect for the future. The former, at thirty-six, has played for Yorkshire since 2006.

We sat at the Trafalgar Square End, in the shady part of the ground opposite the Pavilion, and had a good view of the Gloucestershire fast bowler Ajeet Singh Dale, who is on loan from Hampshire. He was getting the ball swing to the slips at a fair pace. Opposite him was Dominic Goodman, bowling medium pacers. There was a bit of variable bounce, which perhaps explains why the hosts, 342 for three when we arrived, were all out by lunch for 456. Only two batters stood out: George Hill, who worked hard for his 45, and Jordan Thompson, who swung his bat T20 style to take 44 from just 28 balls.

After lunch the Gloucestershire openers Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth worked hard to bring the score up to 62 before Bancroft was out for 29.

Yorkshire, owing to a raft of injuries, operated with two new opening bowlers. At the Trafalgar Square end was Vishwa Fernando, the Sri Lankan international fast bowler who played for Durham last year. At the other end was Conor McKerr, an Anglo-South African on loan from Surrey.

The ball swung appreciably in the crosswind, and continued to do so even after it losing its early sheen. Gloucestershire struggled to cope, and lost six for 104. The major wicket-taker was Matt Revis, a twenty-two-year-old graduate of the Yorkshire Academy. He took three out of the seven wickets that fell as Gloucestershire closed the day on 168.

If the ball continues to move as it did today, this match will not go the distance—bad news for Scarborough, who rely on the profit from these game to keep out of debt. But there is another Championship match here at the end of August. I will be stopping over to minimise my time on the A64. I’ll also have a paddle.

Brian Sanderson is an ACS member. He serves on the Yorkshire Cricket Archives Committee.