Cricketers reclaim their field of dreams

But the amazing determination of a handful of villagers means cricket has returned to a small East Riding village after an absence of 65 years.

The cricket field in Barmby on the Marsh, near Howden, returned to quiet pasture in 1955 when many promising cricketers were taken away by National Service.

But yesterday the sound of leather on willow reverberated through the air again as members of the original cricket team, now in their 70s and 80s, returned to the field, along with 150 villagers, to celebrate cricket’s return.

Gone is the double-decker once used as a pavilion and the cow pats the men used to slide about in.

Instead of the long grass which muffled powerful strikes and swallowed up balls, is an impressive, closely-cropped sward.

Under a cloudless sky farmer and landowner Ken Falkingham, 75, stood by as England seam bowler Katherine Brunt cut the ribbon. Mr Falkingham then bowled the first ball.

He recalled the old days when the cows were taken off the field before a game: “It was long grass which might get cut once a season. If you hit a ball no matter how hard it stopped in the long grass and you’d get a single instead of a four.

“I remember a fielder going for a ball and putting his hand into a cow pat, right up to the elbow. Everybody laughed except him.

“Call up was a big factor. A lot of young lads were good cricketers but National Service was compulsory. I went away to agricultural college and that took me away.

“There were more attractive pitches so people got enticed away, but the main reason was the call up.

“I never thought it would come back, I thought there wasn’t much interest, but then a group of young people came in, and there’s quite a lot of talent. We have some good kids in this village – history has really repeated itself.”

Frustrated by having to play away, three keen cricketers, including Ken’s son Andrew, who had returned to the village in 2007 to work on the family farm, put their heads together one day in the local pub.

He said: “We came last summer and dug out this area, levelled it as best we could and put down some turf and hoped for the best.

“Interest has developed over the winter and come to this.”

A donation from Yorkshire Water of a modular building – it came from Naburn and had to be craned over the hedge – means they now have somewhere to change and CE Electric also played a huge part by taking out the pylons which ran across the field.

Now there’s the prospect of support from the community fund provided by the nearby Drax power station to develop the facilities further.

Vera Maggs used to sit under an old oak tree on the field as a 17-year-old to adjust the scoreboard. She said: “It is just like I have never been away.”

And Les Smith, 83, who played the last season, said: “When I walked through the gates I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It’s a vast improvement.

“They used to take the cows off of course, but you were running about in the long grass and the cow pats. You had a job picking the ball up and finding it sometimes.”

Team secretary Colin Beacock, who has lived in the village 15 years, said: “One of the reasons why the team went into meltdown was National Service. All the young men were conscripted. It didn’t just take them away from the cricket, it took them away from the land.

“It’s a rarity these days to find one reopened.

“We are going to use it for the evening cricket league we play in and for internal competitions in the village. We are also hoping to get more friendlies and perhaps afternoon and evening matches to get people involved.

“Hopefully this will lay the foundations for years to come. The school is one of our biggest assets – it gives everybody a focus and we hope the cricket club will do the same.

“There’s a terrific amount of interest, not just the people who live at present in the village, it’s the people who have lived here in the past.”

COMMUNITY SPIRIT DEFINITELY NOT OUT

It might be at the end of a long dead end road, and according to the last census there was just 345 inhabitants, but there’s nothing dead about Barmby on the Marsh – which for a modern village is unusually well equipped with church, thriving pub and a primary school.

The cricket club will just add to the already strong community spirit.

The first full league fixture is an away game at North Cave on Tuesday, May 10.

The following Tuesday sees the return of competitive league cricket for the first time in six decades when Barmby plays host to the Newport CC. The Canon Headley tie at home to Wheldrake, also due to be played that week, promises to be an exciting match.