New cricket season – Raby Castle face touch opener against defending darlington andn District League champions

Darlington and District League

THE top division of the Darlington and District Cricket League has a real rural look to it this season.
Teesdale is represented by four teams – Raby Castle and newly-promoted Middleton-in-Teesdale plus Barningham and Lands.
Aldbrough St John, Barton and East Cowton add to the village feel of the division, but it is Haughton, on the outskirts of Darlington, that is the team to beat.
As with last season, the opening Saturday sees the champions visit Raby Castle, who are expected to be there or thereabouts come September.
Joe Dent will lead Raby for a fourth season and the core of the team which finished in third place last year will be back again.
Missing will be Joe Haines, who has decided to return to Newton Aycliffe in the NYSD, and Andrew Glover, who will turn out for Cliffe this time round.
“If we can get our strongest 11 out I think we have got a good chance,” said Mr Dent.
He said he was looking forward to the prospect of a few more spectators to the club’s pitch in the castle grounds.
Raby Castle will be open to visitors on a Saturday for the first time, and while this may pose a few distractions with people moving behind the bowler’s arm, many will stop and watch at least part of the action.
“We don’t normally play in front of a lot of people, but I always think it adds to the game if there is a crowd.”
Lands narrowly escaped the drop last season and skipper Mark Little says this year’s campaign is something of a step into the unknown after the club’s second XI folded in the close season.
Kieran Brown has signed from Witton-le-Wear, but Ben Howe may return to Evenwood.
First up for Lands is a visit to East Cowton’s quirky rectangular ground.
“They are one of those teams who seem to beat us at their place while we beat them at ours – I often wonder if it has something to do with ground sizes. Theirs is small while ours in big and I think that might affect the way we play,” said Mr Little.
Despite the loss of the second team, he is looking forward to the weeks ahead.
“As a club we are not in too bad a shape. The core of the side will remain.”
The relatively dry spring has also helped Lands' ground which, due to its position, often takes longer to recover from the winter.
Middleton-in-Teesdale, who were promoted as runners-up to B division champions Nunthorpe, have the experience of Anthony Coatsworth to call on as captain. Secretary Dave Garth said last season’s success was built on a mix of teamwork, experience, player availability and good weather.
“The team’s strength is a mixture of youth and experience, teamwork, several good all round players and a sense of self belief,” he said.
“We hope during the 2017 season to consolidate our squad and position in the A division.”
Middleton begin the campaign with a home game against Richmondshire IV, who were quite unpredictable last season.
Despite struggling at times to field 11 players, Barningham finished last season in fifth place and defeated Haughton to take the Cec Leece Cup.
Paul Keogh again takes the helm and welcomes a couple of players at either end of the playing scale.
Teenager Joe Toulson has signed up for a game and looks an exciting prospect, while veteran Stuart Laundy’s planned retirement was put on hold after an invitation to put the boots on again – at least until Dan Swires returns from teaching duties in Taunton for the summer holidays.
Barningham and Raby will field second teams in the B division, while Etherley are the dale’s representative in the C division, where they finished a creditable fifth place last season.
The experienced Chris Atkinson will lead a team in which youth will once again be given a chance and with a couple of seasons’ experience on their belt they should continue to develop.
The club's Peter Caine said: “The plan was always to give 15 and 16-year-olds the chance to become decent cricketers at 18 and 19.”
He said the ground was in good shape, with work continuing to bring the wicket back up to the standard of earlier years.
Eryholme, who finished third last season, will provide a good challenge first up on Saturday.
It will be interesting to see how the season develops. Last season a number of teams struggled to raise 11.
In the winter Brompton and Trimdon folded while other clubs, such as Lands, reduced the number of teams. This has meant there are now 11 teams in the bottom two divisions.