At tea-time on Saturday it was snowing, but the following afternoon Tideswell took to the cricket field in Youlgreave for a friendly40-over match – their first of the new season. Your correspondent was not there, so details are sketchy, but it was a convincing win for Tideswell by about 40 runs.
Stuart Scoffins,who will be resuming his coaching sessions in Tideswell this summer, opened and made 30-odd and others chipped in to post a score of 139. Decent bowling then kept the Youlgreave reply to below 100, with James Isaac taking a couple of wickets.
Friendlies are not always a reliable guide to League form, but Youlgreave are in the 3rd Division of the Yorkshire & Derbyshire League and Tideswell in the 5th, after the re-shuffle since the end of last season which reduced the number of divisions from 6 to 5.
Tideswell’s League season begins next Saturday with an away fixture to Whittington Wanderers 2nds, then we have the first home match on Sat 30th April when Chesterfield Barbarians 3rds will be the visitors. On 1 May Tideswell host an Alstonefield team in a 40-over friendly.