BEYOND THE BOUNDARY with John Riley: Busy times ahead for Scarborough CC
July and August are the two big income months for Scarborough Cricket Club and we are desperately hoping the current heatwave does not break and spoil our attractive forthcoming Metro Bank One Day fixtures against Hampshire on July 21 and Derbyshire on August 7.
Our first class season is completed with the four-day Rothesay County Championship clash against Leicestershire starting on Friday August 28.
Our marquee has been hosting some very interesting events, none more so than the recent Sportsman’s Dinner hosted by our President, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, and featuring in my opinion the best cricket speaker on the circuit, Geoff Miller, with comedian Josh Daniels.
Celebrity auctioneer Caroline Hawley did a most professional job in handling bids for some great lots which included tickets for 2 at the Lord’s Test which entailed an introduction to the Test Match Special and Sky Sports Commentary Teams and a 4 Ball at the Trump Turnberry Golf Course.
These two items made over £5,000 and we even made £250 for a quite grotesque portrait of local hero Adam Lyth!
The next big Marquee event is our Annual Festival Dinner on August 26, where we’ll be marking 25 years since our Championship title was secured under captain David Byas at North Marine Road.
Tickets for all events are available on our website.
I have continued to trawl through the club’s collection of books and memorabilia to put them in some semblance of order and I intend to run a bookstall on the ground during county matches selling books and old match programmes.
I am finding interesting items all the time including a photograph of a Sussex player involved in deep conversation with Miss Venezuela outside the Visitors’ Changing Room.
This player is now languishing in a Pakistani jail and, yes, it is Imran Khan!
If you have any books or cricket memorabilia you wish to donate for club funds, please bring along the items to the office.
My previous appeal worked as a couple of Life Members donated their collections.
Our junior section continues to thrive and last Sunday morning saw our second Under-9s Festival with 112 children participating while on the same day our Under-13s played in a semi-final at Malton and our Ladies’ Team played out a double-header at Thornton Dale.