A field of dreams

IS there anything more quintessential English, apart from the occasional Royal wedding, than the sweet sound of leather on willow, under sun-rich skies, with spectators gently supping warm beer on the boundary of the cricket pitch? Sir John Major certainly did not think so as he eulogised about sweet summers while he was the Prime Minister of a government who turned self-destruction at the seams into a national sport.

And the people of Barmby on the Marsh, a quiet village nestled on the east bank of the river Ouse, would certainly agree after cricket returned to their parish yesterday for the first time since 1955. That rain did not stop play was a fitting reward for all those who have worked tirelessly, with the support of Drax Power, to create a facility that will no longer see a double-deck bus used as a makeshift pavilion.

Yet, as the players prepare for a forthcoming campaign in the Howdenshire Evening League on their very own field of dreams, they will already be winners before the opening batsmen walk to the crease. That they are able to do so is testament to all those people who have shown what can be achieved when communities pull together. It is a winning formula that should be embraced by all.