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13
Apr
Yorkshire cricketer Jonny Tattersall returns to Knaresborough
Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s Johnny Tattersall will return to Knaresborough Cricket Club this season.
The 30-year-old has agreed to play for his hometown club, which he had played for since he was seven, in between matches and training for his professional team.
A wicketkeeper by trade, Tattersall is also a handy middle order batsman with a useful counter-attacking ability, for when his team is struggling.
The cricketer, who is in his last year of contract at Yorkshire, will return to a Knaresborough side who will be competing in the Premier Division of the Yorkshire Premier League North this season following promotion.
This league is the highest level of amateur cricket and is shared by Harrogate CC and York CC.
The Stray Ferret spoke to Tattersall this week during a break in a Yorkshire second team fixture against Warwickshire. He told us why he had decided to come back to his childhood club:
I’ve lived in Knaresborough my whole life, and I’ve pretty much played there for the same amount of time. My dad and my brother both used to play here, and I’ve popped down to watch them as much as I could during my time at Yorkshire.
They’ve just been promoted back into the top division, and I hope I can help to keep them in it. That’s what it’s mainly about for me – I care about the club a lot.
I still know loads of people here. It’s a great opportunity to give back to the community and the club that brought me through.
Tattersall explained that his ability to play for Knaresborough depended on his selection for Yorkshire.
He is currently third choice wicketkeeper behind England star Jonathan Bairstow and Harry Duke but regularly plays for the second team.
The 30-year-old captained Yorkshire for the first time in 2022, which lasted until 2024. Hitting 643 runs and taking 29 wickets from behind the stumps, Tattersall was a key figure in Yorkshire’s promotion back into Division One of the County Championship.
However, he told the Stray Ferret that he would not be taking the captaincy at Knaresborough. He said:
I don’t want to be captain because I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to play across the season. I don’t want to take other people’s responsibilities from them. It’s the same with being wicketkeeper.
I’ll probably just play as a batsman high up the order and try to score as many runs as possible for the team.
I’m also there to offer advice to anyone who might need it.
Tattersall also played for Harrogate and York during his amateur career, both of which are in the same league as Knaresborough for the coming season.
York finished third out of twelve teams in 2024, while Harrogate finished fourth.
He told the Stray Ferret whether he had thought about returning to Harrogate instead of Knaresborough:
I’ve got a good relationship with Harrogate as I played there for a number of years.
I always try to keep my relationships well built, and not burn any bridges, as you never know what might happen years down the line.
But it’s all about timing for me, and this was the right time in my life to return to Knaresborough.
As for this season, Tattersall said the aim for the club was to try to stay in the league.
He said, with a laugh, that the recruitment process had been good, and that the club hopes that it can continue to attract more good talent.
Knaresborough currently have three men’s teams, which the Yorkshire star said the club hopes to increase to four in the long term.
He also told us about his personal aims:
Hopefully I can get some chances in the Yorkshire team again.
I’ve got to just try to score runs in the second team, or go out on loan, but there’s not much you can do in early season. Usually, the first team will stay as it is for the first three or four games, so I’ve just got to be patient and wait for my chance.
It’s been a mixed time at Yorkshire. It’s never been the easiest, as should be the case in professional sport, but I think I’ve held my own pretty well.
It’s very challenging when there are so many good players – opportunities aren’t always abundant – but I’ve just got to keep working and give my best as I always have.
The cricketer’s contract at Yorkshire runs out in October this year. Whilst he said there have been no talks as of yet, he expressed his desire to continue playing professional cricket, hopefully for Yorkshire.
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