North Marine Road Park, Scarborough

Yorkshire v Leicestershire

(County Championship - Division One)

28-29th August 2026

(days 2&3 of 4)

I would assert for even the most casual of UK cricketing enthusiast, a trip to Scarborough to watch Yorkshire play at one of their two current out grounds, to be a pretty much essential visit.  I would further argue, one's British (English, really I suppose) cricketing experiences would be forever incomplete without one such.

The ground, which sits on the town's North Marine Road, just a lengthy fast bowl away from both Peasholm Park, and North Bay Beach, is an absolute delight.

It was first used by Yorkshire CCC way back in 1878, and a whopping 22,946 bods squished into the venue to watch a match with Derbyshire just after WWII.  The ground today is a marvellous collection contemporary(ish) erections, a pavilion which dates back to 1895, and some gloriously borderline decrepit wooden bench seating.  

The whole place exudes a slightly sad, faded elegance retaining, some might argue, only a tangential relevance to the 21st century.  A descriptor which, when I think about it, could also apply to the once vibrant seaside resort of Scarborough itself.  

Indeed, it does not really take a whole lot of extrapolation to postulate the North Marine Road Ground to be a particularly apposite metaphor for the current state of Great Britain as a whole.

So - you can play cricket in the rain !

Anyway - I attended Days Two and Three of this match, wherein I witnessed Yorkshire's first innings complete on 263, they having picked up from Day One on 144/5.  James Wharton top scored for the hosts, grinding out a 70 from 131 balls.  All six of Leicestershire's bowlers took at least one wicket each, with Josh Hull finishing on top of the pile with 3/57.

Visiting openers Rishi Patel and Sheridan Gumbs then successfully negotiated 3.4 overs before, first rain, then bad light ended the action prematurely, with Leics on 12/0.

More wet stuff overnight meant the ground-staff had to do a lot of mopping up, before we saw any cricket on Day Three.  

When proceedings did get under way, it soon became clear Leicestershire's prime target for what play was going to be possible was, rather than going for a batting bonus point, more preventing their hosts garnering any bowling bonus points.  Thus we were treated to a stultifying, yet oddly engrossing, 70-minute morning session, as Patel and Gumbs' Safety First approach added just a further 31 runs to the total.

I left at this point, as I had a date with York City FC an hour's drive along the road; but the blackening skies and occasional spits of rain on my glasses, suggested I would not be missing much here.   

And so it proved, as the business limped on for just a few more overs after lunch, before the long-forecast deluge arrived, ending the day's fun.

By the time a draw was agreed, around early afternoon on Day Four, without any play having been possible, I was well up the road back to Caledonia.

Leicestershire had reached 84/0, so were miles short of any batting bonus points.  But, as they had earlier picked up three bowling BP's, the final harvest of from the encounter was Yorkshire 9pts Leicestershire 11 pts.  A modest step in the right direction, I suppose, given all the other Division One matches being played in this round all also ended in draws.

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When in Rome, ye dae as the Romans dae.  Or so they say.  So, when in Scarborough, I did a bit o' the seaside holiday-maker thing.