Stewarding at Yorkshire CCC needs to go back to what it was – Yorkshire Post Letters

For those devotees of the red ball County Championship, sadly likely to be further marginalised by the powers that be in 2023, the Yorkshire V Essex encounter concluded in three days at Headingley, was compelling and absorbing and a rejoinder to all those who wish to see the longer form of the game curtailed to cater for the allegedly more lucrative Hundred.

The instant gratification form of cricket, while appealing to many new players, cannot compare with the drama played out on the third and final day of the Essex match.

While for Yorkshire supporters the result was disappointing, cricket in its purest form was the winner.

What a pity the belated return of the Championship to Headingley was marred by a negative experience unprecedented in over 67 years of watching cricket. For those of a certain age and all true cricket lovers, the culture of the Championship stands in stark contrast to the raucous and often drink induced excesses of the one day game and Test Cricket.

The fellowship of like minded and knowledgeable supporters is priceless. The ability to leave personal effects on one's seat while seeking food and drink and taking comfort breaks and knowing that your effects will still be intact after your sorties inside and outside the ground have concluded marks cricket out as something special given the dysfunctionality of wider society.

On the second day, seated in the bottom tier of the Howard Stand I left my seat for a comfort break and was dumbfounded that my carrier with personal effects had been removed.

A steward was standing by me as I left to go to the lavatory. On enquiring what had happened to my belongings he denied any knowledge of what had happened.

After enquiring whether CCTV covered that part of the ground and seeing that in his words 'I wished to make an issue of it', he sought the support of two colleagues, one a supervisor.

By this time I discovered that my effects had been placed on top of a waste bin. The steward who admitted to removing the bag described the carrier as full of rubbish because it had newspapers in it along with the Playfair cricket annual et al.

I was incensed. that such an act had been perpetrated and justified on spurious jobsworth grounds of removing unattended bags.

I pointed out that if this rule was carried out to the letter the club would have to employ a plethora of stewards to gather up all the unattended bags particularly at lunchtime.

The whole exercise was not only insensitive and crass but pointless since all bags are checked Stasi style on entry to the ground.

In the days before outsourcing, at close of play the ground staff would go round the ground picking up litter and take all items of personal value left on seats to the Lost Property Office.

Up to close of play effects were left undisturbed. This form of overzealous stewarding may lend itself to soccer games, pop concerts and festivals but not to county cricket matches.