If you don’t like the weather in Britain, wait an hour. There’s a lot of truth in the saying, usually trotted out by knowing locals to overseas holidaymakers.
I was reminded of it recently when, a mere 45 minutes before the scheduled start of a Thursday evening fixture at Thornton Dale Cricket Club, whipped up by a stiff breeze, raindrops performed a lively tattoo on my windscreen.
Lo and behold, by the time the match, a first-versus-second fixture with Ryedale Beckett League Division Two rivals Ampleforth, got underway, the clouds had rolled back, and the sun was out. And it stayed out. Boy, did it stay out!
Yorkshire isn’t found wanting when it comes to cricket grounds with bucolic settings, and the Thornton Dale club’s Showground is as good an example as any.
Tucked away, on the peaceful eastern edge of an achingly pretty (therefore often deluged with trippers) village, the ground is surrounded on three sides by fields.
From the square, the pitch, pretty much square, rises gently, east, to a wire perimeter fence, complete with stiles to aid ball retrieval. Higher, in the next field, below a line of trees, cattle graze contentedly, empty-headedly munching and chewing.
Look south, down the wicket, across the Vale of Pickering, and clearly visible between mature trees, the Wolds escarpment rears dramatically from the verdant plain.
Thornton Dale share a pavilion – a modern, striking structure, painted white with a red-tiled, pitched roof – with the village football club, whose pitch is adjacent, the other side of a hedge forming the cricket ground’s western perimeter.
The pavilion, in the northwest corner, is set back, 20 yards or so, from the boundary.
Inside the pavilion (I had just enough time for a peek between innings!), there is an interesting selection of photographs and cuttings – many from decades ago.
Best vantage point, to appreciate the ground’s various delights, is an elevated, concrete plinth, with benches, in the northeast corner.
On-site parking is available, near the pavilion, alongside the ground’s access track, which enables cricket visitors to sidestep the eye-watering charges in the village’s nearby Maltongate pay-and-display car park.
The teams went into the game level, on 11 points. But, in the event, Thornton Dale won comfortably, by eight wickets.
Opener Tim Hunt (52 not out off 32, including a six and 10 fours) steered the hosts to victory with an impressive knock. Hunt and Matthew Welford-Clark (32 off 20, including a six and six fours) put on 61 for the first wicket. The second went down for the addition of one run but Hunt held firm. 97-2 off 9.4 eight-ball overs.
Batting first (as the away team do, in this league), Ampleforth had a similarly solid start to their innings. Ryan Jacobs (20 off 35, including three fours) and Kit Saggers (16 off 23) figured in a first-wicket partnership worth 45.
From 61-2 then 63-3, No 4 Alex Strickland (21 not out off 22, including three fours) and No 5 Will James (10 not out off seven, including a six) added an unbeaten 33 for the fourth wicket.
The splendidly named Ethan Crusher, in at No 3, hit 15 off 10 (including a six). Reese Kelly took 2-11 from two. Ampleforth posted 96-3 off 12, their full allocation.
Enjoyed the read?
You can check out other club visits by Andrew in his column, Miles Per Gallon.
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