Thanks Darren, but no thanks…..

Aussie batsman Darren Lehmann hit a brilliant 339 off just 403 balls as Yorkshire looked to make sure of avoiding the drop by beating Durham at Headingley today.

Thanks to that, and some decent bowling, we are in a pretty good position and it would be some cock-up if we didn’t get what we needed out of the game (1 point more than Durham) having said that, this is Yorkshire and I’m not taking anything for granted just yet.

Lehmann’s knock fell just 2 runs short of breaking a 101 year old record for the record innings by a Yorkshire player (George Hirst, 341 v Leicestershire in 1905) and, while I’m glad of the contribution he made, I’m just as glad a Yorkshire record didn’t fall to an outsider – after all it’s bad enough that we let them play for us, never mind steal our records!!

On a more serious note this is Lehmann’s last game for Yorkshire, he may well go a long way to keeping us up this season but, unless we find someone decent from somewhere, I fear for us next year – and as the greatest county in the history of the game there is no way that we should be dropping back into the second division.

A Good Walk

Faced with the options of spending an afternoon watching a lacklustre Challenge Cup final, or visiting Valley Parade for some mediocre League One football, I instead decided to take advantage of the fine weather, and the fact that I live in Yorkshire, to go for a nice stroll through the countryside between Hebden Bridge and Haworth.

I’ve often said that you can’t beat a good walk, except perhaps with a strong cup of tea, but it’s something I haven’t done too much of recently. The walk was about 8 miles, took me about three hours, and was enjoyable. I learnt that my sandals aren’t really suited for walking that isn’t on the pavements of cities, and today I’ve learnt that my knee really is f*cked, but it was well worth it for the air in the lungs and the exercise.

I did take my camera to get some pictures of the route but, when I got it out to start snapping, realised it had no battery, oops but here are some pictures of the route courtesy of the Haworth Village website.

Both Haworth and Hebden Bridge are nice villages, a bit different from the norm and well worth the visit, as long as you can avoid the swarthes of tourists in Haworth getting their Bronte fix and the snooty Southern incomers that have engulfed Hebden Bridge in recent years, a couple of hours spent in such places certainly makes a nice change from the experience of identikit British city centres.

I could do without the blisters though.