After days of rain, spectators were granted a day of sunshine for the 50-over Roses cricket match in Harrogate today. 

Any game between Yorkshire and Lancashire is likely to be hard-fought, but this one is a warm-up for the forthcoming Metro Bank One-Day Cup 50-over competition.

The priority for both county second teams at Harrogate Cricket Club‘s St George’s Road ground is practice. 

Lancashire coach Karl Krikken said the outcome of the match didn’t matter.

Lancashire second team coach Karl Krikken told the Stray Ferret: 

“It doesn’t matter about the outcome today – this is just about getting the lads some overs.

“Winning’s always nice, but it’s not the most important thing today.” 

Lancashire will face Essex at Sedbergh when the One-Day Cup starts next week. 

Assistant coach James Lowe was confident of Yorkshire’s mix of youth and experience.

In the home camp, assistant coach James Lowe said: 

“We’ve got some good players – Dom Bess, Harry Duke, Will Luxton and Ben Mike – as well as a couple of young players from the academy, so we’ve got a nice mix of youth and experience. 

“It’d be nice to get a win, especially against Lancashire, but whatever happens, it’s sure to be a good game.” 

Yorkshire will play Cheshire in the 50-over competition on Sunday. 

Kit Turnbull (left) had brought along his children (l to r): Kit, Caspar, Elsa and Ava.

As the players practised ahead of the 11am start, Harrogate resident Kit Turnbull was settling in on the stands with his children: Caspar, 12; Elsa, 14; and Ava, 16.

He said: 

“I’m here mostly as an accompanying adult for Caspar, who plays cricket at Bilton. For the girls it’s just something different to do on a nice day – and it’s free.

“For Caspar, this acts as kind of a benchmark. You can watch the cricket on TV as much as you want, but it’s different in person. Just to see the speed they bowl the ball at, you get a real appreciation of it when it’s right there in front of you.

“My only concern was the weather, but it’s looking OK. We’ve got our packed lunch with us, so we’ll be here all day.”

Read more: 

• How Pateley Bridge man won two league titles with Leeds United
• Knaresborough Town pair championing women’s football after remarkable season
• Harrogate cricket club captain aiming for success after relegation survival

Knaresborough Forest Cricket Club hosted the biggest women and girls cricket festival North Yorkshire has ever seen on Sunday.

The club was joined by 22 teams at its Calcutt Oval ground.

About 200 females played a series of short-format softball matches. Softball is a fast-paced version of the game, suitable for all ages and abilities.

Players pose for the camera.

Rachel Hildreth, women and girls cricket development manager for north and east Yorkshire at the Yorkshire Cricket Board, said:

“The day was an incredible success, and I was particularly impressed with how the club showcased their sense of community”.

Bella Simpson, who plays for Ouseburn Cricket Club under-15s, said:

“It was so nice to see so many other girls enjoy cricket and be able to get the opportunity to play it.”

Read more:

• Indoor cricket school plans revealed for Harrogate
• Knaresborough could get country’s first water-powered EV charging station

David Alloway, chairman of Knaresborough Forest Cricket Club, said:

“I couldn’t be prouder of the whole club and the direction it is going in. We are inclusive and family orientated, which has led to increasing membership of our junior and senior groups.”

Action from Sunday’s event.

The club’s female squad The Willows was founded in 2021 and now has 22 players. They currently play in the Hambleton Women’s Soft Ball Cricket League.

One of the team’s founding players, Hilary O’Callaghan said:

“The Willows started as a group of mums who watched our kids play. To see how far we’ve come with hard work, training and lots of laughs is amazing.

“I would say to any girl or woman who’s thinking about stepping onto the pitch, just go for it. You’ll learn a new skill, make great friends and be part of a wonderful cricket community.”

The club also has four senior men’s teams and several junior teams. More information is available here.

From surviving relegation to building a young squad, Will Bates has seen a lot in his short time as Harrogate Cricket Club captain.

The 32-year-old captained two sides prior to joining the St George’s Road club.

However, his time at Harrogate has proved pivotal in the two years since taking up the position.

As he sits in the beaming sunshine next to the home pitch, Will reflects on a whirlwind period as Harrogate’s first XI captain.

Formative years in Letchworth

Growing up in Hertfordshire, Will played an array of sports including football, cricket and tennis.

But it was the bat and ball which stuck in the end.

He started playing for Harpenden Cricket Club, before going onto the adults game.

“I played all sports really. Football, cricket and tennis were my main sports.

“But cricket was the one I stuck with the most and enjoyed the most.”

Will started out as both a batsmen and off-spin bowler. However, nowadays, he says he’s more of an occasional bowler and only bowls “if required”.

He describes himself as a “classical batsman”, a contrast to some of his younger teammates who prefer the aggressive technique exemplified by Brendan McCullum’s England side.

Much of his adult career was spent at Letchworth Garden City Cricket Club.

Will describes the seven years at Letchworth as some of his formative years as a cricketer.

“As a club, it was quite formative in terms of my ethos on cricket.

“A few weeks ago they put out a first team and they had an overseas player and they had 10 other players between the ages of 18 and 40. Every single one of them had only ever played for one cricket club and come through the youth system. None of them were getting paid.

“I loved my time playing cricket at Letchworth and that’s the kind of cricket club I want to be a part of up here.”

Captaining Harrogate

Much of the ethos that Will saw at Letchworth has carried over into his time in North Yorkshire.

He moved to Harrogate five years ago to take up a job as a solicitor in the disputes department at LCF Law.

He took on the captaincy two years ago and grasped the opportunity.

“I thought there was a lot that we could do to improve things and we had a lot of young players. I was quite excited.”

Harrogate Cricket Club, pictured after their Addison Cup win in 2021.

Despite his excitement, Will was thrust straight into a season where Harrogate found themselves in a relegation battle.

The club stayed up on the last day after beating York. Will scored 90 in a captain’s innings to help see Harrogate over the line.

While the stress of avoiding relegation would be enough for some players to put behind them, Will sees it as one of his best games.

“We needed to win to stay up and York are traditionally our big rivals.

“I got 90 not out in that game when we were chasing about 230. In terms of satisfaction and pressure situation, that would be the one that I pick out.”

Will Bates with his man of the match award after the Addison Cup in 2021.

Among the club’s other achievements in his time include winning the Addison Cup in 2021.

Harrogate eased to victory over Wetherby Carr Manor after scoring 131 for 7 and bowling the opposition out for 99.

Will won man of the match after scoring 59 in his innings.

Building a culture

Since surviving relegation, Will has sought to help the club in its ambition to improve.

One of the aspects of that is bringing young players through and giving them opportunities in the first team.

Will points to wicketkeeper Isaac Light as an example of one of the young players that he and the club are trying to bring through.

He also wants to build a culture at Harrogate which is “close nit” and where players feel invested in the side.

Read more: 

• How Pateley Bridge man won two league titles with Leeds United
• Knaresborough Town pair championing women’s football after remarkable season

For Will, this is an example of the setup he says he wants to be a part of – as he had at Letchworth.

The decision the club made over paying players exemplifies that, he says.

“Some teams we play against probably pay most players.

“But we made a conscious decision where we only pay an overseas player. Nearly every team in the division has an overseas player. Then we have one club professional who is Matt Pillans, who used to play at Yorkshire.

“The justification for both those expenses is the benefit the whole club gets from training with them and playing with them.

“They’re not just paid to play cricket and for us to win. We made a conscious decision that we didn’t want a first team where everyone is a paid cricketer.

“We are now seeing the benefit of that policy.”

While Will wants to grow Harrogate beyond what it is, does he have any ambitions?

“To get Harrogate’s first team to reach its potential.

“Although we made progress last year, we did slightly underachieve. It’s hard to say what that is because at the end of the season you know if you have won the right number of games or not.

“But I’d certainly see at as being a top four finish in the league, it could even be better than that with the team that we have got at the moment.”

For Will, he feels he has found his place in Harrogate.

As the club sits third in the league and prepares for another showdown with York this weekend, the team appears to be on an upward trajectory.

Does Will think he’ll still be in Harrogate at the end of his career?

“I can’t see myself playing for anyone else. I probably do feel quite at home here.”

This is the third article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.

Today marks 4,762 days since Andrew Jones was elected Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough.

Mr Jones wrestled the seat off the Liberal Democrats with a slim 1,039 majority in May 2010.

Since then has successfully defended it three times, achieving more than 50% of the vote on each occasion and securing a 9,675 majority in 2019.

But this month’s local elections, in which the Conservatives lost more than 1,000 councillors, and Labour’s lead in the opinion polls suggest the next election could be closer.

In his first interview with the Stray Ferret, Mr Jones gives his thoughts on the looming general election, which is likely to happen next year, as well as key local issues including the Harrogate Station Gateway and devolution.

Mr Jones, who has been a transport and Treasury minister, says he had “no hesitation whatsoever” in putting forward his name for re-selection in the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency. He says:

“The opportunity to speak up for my home area at the highest possible level is absolutely fantastic.”

The constituency, and the previous Harrogate constituency that included Knaresborough, has been held by Conservatives continuously since 1950 except when the Liberal Democrat Phil Willis was MP from 1997 to 2010.

But Mr Jones insists he’s never regarded it as “anything other than a marginal”, adding no seat has been safe for a decade. He says:

“The election is about who offers the best future  – will it be Rishi or Keir Starmer. The answer is Rishi. Who will be the best local champion? Me.”

Asked how many marks out of 10 he’d give so far for Rishi Sunak’s performance as Prime Minister, he says ’11’.

His Lib Dem opponent

Mr Jones, who turns 60 in November, will be up against Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon, who at 29 is half his age.

Both men were born in West Yorkshire but while Mr Jones has lived in Harrogate for almost 25 years, Mr Gordon has just moved in.

Mr Gordon portrays himself as a fresh and energetic alternative but Mr Jones says he has “plenty of fuel in the tank” and points out he had a career in business before becoming a Harrogate borough councillor in 2003, representing High Harrogate for two terms before becoming an MP.

By contrast, Mr Gordon, who has twice stood as a prospective parliamentary candidate as well as a councillor in Wakefield and Newcastle has “done an enormous amount of politics” for a 29-year-old, says Mr Jones, who adds:

“I had 25 years in business. I had done two terms as a local councillor in this area before being elected. I haven’t stood anywhere else.

“I have not sought to represent anything other than the seat I live in. I don’t think this is just a notch on someone’s political bedpost and I hope this constituency isn’t being used in this way.”

Supporting the Station Gateway

Few issues have divided Harrogate more in Mr Jones’ time as an MP than the £11.2 million Station Gateway, which looks set to go ahead after all five Conservative councillors and five of eight Liberal Democrat councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s area constituency committee supported it.

Mr Jones supports the scheme but has reservations, which include the positioning of taxi ranks, unloading outside shops and disabled parking spaces.

He says town centres are changing, with less retail and more hospitality and homes.

“They’ve got to be more attractive places to go to where the quality of life is very high. That’s the big picture in which the gateway ought to be considered.”

He insists the town centre is “vibrant” despite pro-gateway supporters presenting the scheme as a way to regenerate a run-down area blighted by shop closures.

Read more:

• Harrogate business survey reveals opposition to Station Gateway
• £11.2m Station Gateway set to go ahead after crucial Harrogate area vote

He also accused Conswrvative-run North Yorkshire Council of not defending the scheme rigorously enough. He says:

“There have been all kinds of concerns and indeed some misinformation about it and, quite frankly, the council hasn’t done a great job at countering some of the misinformation.”

Andrew Jones in Harrogate

What misinformation? He mentions claims traffic will back-up to Ripley and that the scheme is a form of back-door Big Brother by increasing CCTV. He says:

“If I look at the scheme, as a whole, I think improvements to the street scene in the area are welcome. The focus on integrated public transport is also welcome. And the cycle paths are properly segregated, providing more safety for cyclists, which is probably a good thing too.”

Does he cycle?

“No. I live right in the town centre, I walk everywhere.”

He adds he “much prefers the train” to driving but this has been compromised by recent train strikes.

Many businesses oppose the gateway and a recent Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce survey generated three times more responses opposed to the scheme than in favour. Are they wrong?

“I’ve had comments from businesses that have been both for and against.”

Sewage and the River Nidd

With the owner of Knaresborough Lido

Mr Jones is leading a high profile campaign alongside the Nidd Action. Group to achieve designated bathing water status on the River Nidd at Knaresborough Lido, which would oblige agencies to clean-up the river.

The Lib Dems have criticised the government’s record on tackling the state of rivers. Mr Jones says:

“This is the first government in British history which has sought to improve and tackle the sewage overflows so I don’t think the political blame game improves water quality. Positive action does.”

Two hundred people have volunteered to help monitor Nidd usage at the Lido. Mr Jones says:

“This weekend sees the start of the bathing water season and also sees start of surveying at the Lido.”

How confident is he the campaign will achieve bathing water status and will it happen this year?

“I am always confident and always travel hopefully. It’s too early to say about timings. All I can say is this will have full energy from me.”

Harrogate town council concerns

North Yorkshire is undergoing its biggest political upheaval for half a century.

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished at the end of March and a mayor for York and North Yorkshire is likely to be elected next year.

Mr Jones supported devolution but preferred the east-west model that lost out. Was he sorry to see Conservative-controlled Harrogate Borough Council, whose council leader Richard Cooper is his office manager, disappear?

“I did have a bit of a pang when the council finished. I spent two terms as a councillor in Harrogate and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought we got a lot done.”

He says the big issue now is ensuring local voices are heard at Northallerton, where North Yorkshire Council is based.

Read more:

• Second consultation to be held on whether to form Harrogate town council
• Zoë Metcalfe confirms bid to become North Yorkshire’s first mayor

He sounds far from convinced about a Harrogate town council, which looks set to be created next year, adding another layer of council tax.

Mr Jones again seems unimpressed by North Yorkshire Council’s approach, which has involved consulting on whether people support a town council without specifying what its powers will be. He says:

“Creating a public body and then worrying about what it will have responsibility for is the wrong way to approach the question.

“Those supporting it need to articulate a vision of what it will do, how much it will cost and why it should be supported and why it’s different to the area constituency committee.”

Won’t stand for mayor

Mr Jones flatly ruled himself out of the race to become mayor. “I am not putting my name forward,” he says.

Zoe Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Commissioner has put her name forward — will he support her?

“It’s early days so we’ll see. I don’t doubt there will be a lot of interest in the position.”

What about Richard Cooper, who he was worked alongside effectively since the 1990s? Mr Jones says Mr Cooper understands how the political systems and structures work and how to get things done, adding:

“If he wants to put his name forward he was a very effective leader at the council but I think he has already said he has retired from seeking elected office. I think he’s ruled himself out.”

1,000 items of correspondence a week

Mr Jones receives 1,000 items of correspondence each week.

Mr Jones, who employs six staff at his constituency office on East Parade in Harrogate, receives about 1,000 pieces of correspondence a week.

He travels to London late on Sunday or early Monday and returns for constituency work on Thursday evening.

Mr Jones, who opposed Brexit, is regarded as being more on the centre ground of the Conservatives than some. Does he agree with the strong language used by Home Secretary Suella Braverman on immigration? He says:

“Immigration is something that brings out very strong feelings but not in a good way. Some of the language used on all sides of this debate is regrettable.”

One of Mr Jones’ pre-local election newsletters didn’t mention he was a Conservative. Why?

“There was no plan behind that. I think everybody knows I am the Conservative MP.”

Cricket and classical music

Born in Ilkley, Mr Jones father worked in the textile industry in Bradford, and he attended the town’s grammar school.

A party loyalist, he is sometimes described as amiable but bland. Is this fair?

“People should just look at what we’ve actually got done. I think there is merit in civilised discussion and debate. Those who shout loudest aren’t always shouting wisely.

“I don’t think it’s bland in the slightest. I’ve been hugely enthusiastic about what I’ve been doing and managed to get enormous amounts done locally and also on a national basis.”

He cites improved rail services first when asked to name what he’s most proud of.

“If we just look at the rail services we had in our area when I became a MP. Now we have more services, later services, faster services, newer services, new rolling stock, London trains – direct services I’m talking about there – these refurbished stations. These are significant changes.

“We have electric buses in the area and more on the way.”

And his biggest regret or disappointment?

“Interesting question. If I look at our area I look around and I see high performing public services both in education and in health. What would be a disappointment? I’m not sure really.”

Away from politics, he has been a member of Yorkshire County Cricket Club since his Leeds University student days 40 years ago.

He hopes to attend a couple of days of the Ashes Headingley Test and “get to a couple of county matches as well”. He enjoys classical music and says Beethoven and Mahler are “high on the list” but describes himself as a musical “omnivore”.

He also likes reading and walking in the Yorkshire Dales. But with the election approaching, his spare time is likely to be in short supply.

Harrogate Cricket Club has revealed plans to open an indoor cricket school.

The school would be built on the concrete terraced area at the club’s St George’s Road ground and cost up to £3.5 million.

Architects have drawn up plans for the project, which is likely to take five to seven years to come to fruition.

The school, which would include four lanes of nets as well as other factilities, is in addition to the club’s plans to raise £75,000 on new outdoor nets.

Co-chair Steve Clark said there was a shortage of sports hall space in Harrogate, especially in winter.

He added the cricket school would ensure junior and senior players had a large enough facility for high quality training sessions all year round.

A sub-committee will be set-up to oversee the cricket school project, which will require extensive fundraising, including applications to trusts and foundations for grants.

Mr Clark added:

“The facility will provides a practice facility which can be used when the weather is damp as well as when the sun is shining.

“The nets will be made to a professional standard ensuring the correct bounce and carry for the ball; replicating playing on real grass.”

Outdoor nets

The Stray Ferret revealed in March the club had launched a £75,000 crowdfunding campaign to replace the ageing outdoor nets with new ones.

Fundraising has gone well and the club hopes the outdoor nets will be installed at the end of the cricket season, ready for use by next spring.

Local schools will be able to make arrangements to use them.

Read more:

• ‘Netfix’ fundraiser for village cricket club near Harrogate
• Harrogate’s Archie Gray named in England under-17s Euro squad

Once the outdoor nets are finished, attention will turn fully on the cricket school project.

Harrogate Cricket Club hosted 98 first class matches between 1882 and 2000 and the two current major projects highlight the club’s ambitions to upgrade the club.

The ground hosted first class cricket for over 100 years.

Conservative MP Nigel Adams received free tickets from a tobacco firm to watch Elton John at the O2 Arena last month.

Latest updates to Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests also reveal Mr Adams received payment towards a five-day cricket trip to Corfu as well as free tickets to the Grand National in April

Mr Adams’ Selby and Ainsty constituency includes numerous villages in the Harrogate district, including Follifoot, Great Ouseburn, Sicklinghall, Spofforth, Tockwith and Weeton.

The close ally of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will stand down as an MP at the next General Election.

He accepted two concert tickets, including hospitality, worth £500 at London’s O2 Arena on April 4 — part of Elton John’s farewell tour.

They were paid for by JTI UK, which is part of Tokyo-based Japan Tobacco Group. Its brands include Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut.

The register shows Mr Adams also received free tickets to watch the Grand National at Aintree from healthcare diagnostics company Randox Health, which is principal sponsor of the horse race.

He also accepted contributions from Birmingham cash and carry wholesaler Awan Marketing towards a five-day trip to Corfu where Mr Adams was part of a Lords and Commons cricket delegation in a tournament to commemorate the 200th anniversary of cricket in Greece.

Awan Marketing’s flight and accommodation contributions were estimated to be worth £735.

The Jamaican Tourist Board paid £3,950 towards a similar cricket trip by Mr Adams and a family member to the Caribbean in August last year.

World Cup tickets

This is not Mr Adams’ first gambling firm gift.

JTI has previously paid for Mr Adams, who employs his wife Claire as office manager, to attend Chelsea Flower Show.

He received a total of £6,038 worth of tickets from three separate companies, including two other gambling firms, to watch two England matches at Wembley in Euro 2020.

Last year Mr Adams accepted free tickets and hospitality valued at £2,880 to the FIFA World Cup from the Qatar government.

Read more:

• Nigel Adams MP resigns from cabinet
• Harrogate district MP Nigel Adams to step down at next election

Payments to Andrew Jones and Julian Smith

The register also reveals payments to the two other local Conservative MPs in April.

Andrew Jones, who represents Harrogate and Knaresborough, registered two £5,000 donations in April from Yorkshire Conservative Trust.

The register says the trust, which is based in Burley in Wharfedale, awarded the sums to Harrogate and Knaresborough Conservative Association.

Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith received £727 from the Ulster Unionist Party.

The payment was for flights between London and Belfast and one night’s hotel accommodation for a speaking engagement at the start of April.

Mr Smith is a former Northern Ireland Secretary who frequently tweets about issues affecting Northern Ireland.

Pannal Cricket Club has launched a £20,000 campaign to replace its ageing nets and enable its members to improve their game.

Under the title ‘Netfix’, the club is offering rewards to supporters ranging from branded caps and popular pies to a hospitality day when Headingley hosts the Ashes this year.

With almost 300 members across its junior and senior teams, committee member Andy Herridge said the club is keen to ensure it offers the best facilities.

“We’ve really needed some new nets for the last couple of years. They’ve got holes in and have just been used and abused. The storm damage we had over winter just finished them off this year.

“We can only use one of the sides for the juniors and the seniors can’t practice in it now – it can’t take the force of a senior’s ball.”

Mr Herridge said the club has already received a £10,000 grant for the nets from the England and Wales Cricket Board and had saved some funds in recent years to put towards the project.

The £20,000 crowdfunder will ensure there is enough in the put to complete the replacement, and almost a quarter of the money has already been raised.

The club has even put together a promotional video to explain the benefits of the new nets.

Mr Herridge said the rewards on offer had also proved popular:

“They’ve been really well received and we’re asking anybody else who can put in a reward for a pledge to contact us, even if it’s local restaurants or bars for 10% or even 5% off a bill, that we can offer for small amounts – £10, £15, £20.

“We’re all volunteers and we all work full time, so it’s really hard to spend the time going round getting everything done.

“We’re doing some events on evenings to add to the fundraising. One of our players, Mo, is a Methodist minister and he’s going to cook curries for a curry night that we can sell tickets for.

“We’re keen to try and make the events as relaxed as possible so everyone has fun.”

Pannal CC was established in the late 19th century and has been based between Pannal and Burn Bridge, on Burn Bridge Lane, since 1918.

It has been part of the Nidderdale League since 1972, and is also part of the York Senior League and Harrogate Evening League.

Mr Herridge said it costs around £25,000 a year to run the club, which has almost 300 members from age five upwards. They include girls’ teams, who often play against boys and mixed teams because there are so few other girls’ teams in the local league.

As well as membership fees, the club’s covers its costs through sponsorships from local businesses.

To donate to the Netfix crowdfunder, click here.

Harrogate-born Finlay Bean has scored the first century of the county cricket season while playing for Yorkshire.

Bean, 20, made headlines last year when he scored 441 for Yorkshire second XI — the highest score in second X1 championship history.

At the time he didn’t have a professional contract and played for York Cricket Club but he was subsequently signed by Yorkshire and made his first class debut against Lancashire in September.

Bean, who studied at Ripon Grammar School and Queen Ethelburga’s, scored 118 off 149 balls against Leicestershire in the opening day of the first fixture of the year at Headingley.

The four-day match is still ongoing.

Read more:

• Harrogate village cricket pavilion destroyed in suspected arson attack
• Harrogate’s most eye-catching cricketers set for another season

As another cricket season gets underway, a team from Harrogate is set to begin its 24th consecutive season with a virtually unchanged line-up.

The players are only about a foot tall and have been in a few scrapes but they remain undefeated.

Thousands of people see them each year in the garden of Kenneth and Lesley Simpson on Knaresborough Road, opposite the One Stop shop.

The statues of eight players, two batsmen, an umpire, a sight screen and a pavilion are often admired by passers-by and have become such a landmark some bus passengers ask for tickets to ‘the cricket pitch garden’ as it’s more memorable than the name of the bus stops.

Kenneth, however, has a confession to make — he’s not a big cricket fan. He’s more of a football man, who supports Leeds United and is a former referee.

He is, however, a canny Yorkshireman who created the design as an easy way to maintain his garden. He said:

“We were going to put a football pitch in but because all the statues of players we could find had balls underneath their arms, it wouldn’t have looked right.”

The view from behind the bowler’s arm

Lesley noticed some statues of cricketers at the Harrogate Flower Show and when she spotted some more on holiday in Skegness they had enough for a display.

Over the years two have been vandalised — one was repaired but the other was too badly damaged and had to be replaced. Kenneth, who has lived in the house for 54 years, said:

“Someone took them down Knaresborough Road and didn’t realise how heavy they are.”

All the statues are now fixed into the concrete. Kenneth paints them every other year but the hardest job is cleaning the green grass that passes as the pitch.

One day a member of Marylebone Cricket Club passed by and was so taken by what he saw that he returned days later with the sight screen, which he made. Many have stopped to take photos and compliment the couple.

Lesley said:

“It’s surprising how many people stop and say ‘what a lovely garden you have’.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Cricket Club launches £75,000 nets appeal
• Famous Nidderdale cricket club in danger of folding

Harrogate Cricket Club has launched a £75,000 fundraising appeal to buy four cricket nets.

The nets would enable the club, which has four senior teams, 150 junior players and walking cricket for over-55s, to practise using some of the best facilities in the district.

It currently has only two overused nets in poor condition at its St George’s Road ground.

The crowdfunder campaign therefore initially aims to raise £30,000 and would make the new facilities open to the wider community.

The club has found donors willing to match fund that amount so the £30,000 target would generate £60,000. A further £15,000 may be required as the cost of the new nets could be as high as £75,000.

The existing nets were damaged in a recent storm.

The crowdfunding page said:

“We want to be able to provide some of the best cricket facilities in the north of England. But we’re currently falling well short of where we want to be.

“We only have two nets for hundreds of players and they are really old and tired. We have constant issues with net congestion, i.e. too many players and not enough nets and this significantly impacts our players’ ability to practise and develop.”

Read more:

• Famous Nidderdale cricket club in danger of folding
• Killinghall Cricket Club applies to build new two-storey pavilion

The nets will, according to the club, “allow each cricketer to develop at their own pace, with enough ‘net time’ to discover their strengths and work on their confidence”.

The first team plays in the Yorkshire Premier League and is coached by former Yorkshire player Matt Pillans.

Female cricket has boomed in recent years and the club’s girls section now has three teams across three age groups.

A club graphic showing how the new nets would look.

The appeal adds:

“There is a real lack of quality net facilities in North Yorkshire. We believe we can build an outstanding facility that will serve our players, their families, and the broader cricketing community for years to come.”

You can support the campaign here.