Barnard Castle
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Barney won promotion from the
second division of the NYSD in 2010 not
long after their new dressing rooms were
completed, meaning players could move
out of the venerable Victorian building
(which is still much cherished but is now
used as the groundsman’s hq).
It took a few years for a young team
to adapt to their elevated surroundings
but by 2016 they won the NYSD Premier
Division title for the first time along
with the Kerridge Cup, the oldest league
knockout competition in the world.
That was under the captaincy of their
first professional, Yorkshireman James
Finch who instilled a sense of belief and
discipline in the players. It coincided
with the opening at the end of the season
of a new £250,000 clubhouse.
When Finch left at the end of the
2017 season after seven years, the club
decided to award the captaincy to home-
grown James Quinn, one of the products
of their youth coaching policy. It was an
immediate success. Quinn led a team
with an average age of 23 to their second
league championship and was league
player of the year himself.
The team also won the league fair
play award and played on a ground
that was among the best equipped and
most attractive in the North East. Its
youth coaching structure was recognised
when John Ashworth, who has been
instrumental in organising it, was
presented with the Contribution to Sport
prize at the Co. Durham sports awards
this year.
“We know we are a small-town club
punching above our weight and it will
be hard to keep going as we have done,”
says Mr Sparrow. “But there remains a
keenness to ensure that we continue to
14 Issue 01
go forward. When I see the ground on
sunny summer days and evenings with
maybe 300 or so people around the
perimeter enjoying the cricket and the
chat and simply having a nice time it
makes me simply delighted for the club
and our town.”
For 2019, Barney have retained
their Sri Lankan professional, Hashan
Dumindu, and have also signed as
their English professional, the former
Yorkshire bowler, James Wainman. “It’ll
be a hard title to retain as it should be,”
says Mr Sparrow, “but I’d like to think
we’ll be in there with a chance come
September.”
Article provided by Stephen Brenkley
“I first got involved with the club through
a friend of mine, David Stanwix, who
is the club treasurer down at Barnard
Castle Cricket Club. I used to play cricket
for Darlington Cricket Club which is my
home town, but I also played for Durham
County Cricket Club. Barnard Castle
Cricket club is a fantastic club, very much
a social hub for the town with it being
situated in the town centre.
Everyone at the club are very friendly
sociable individuals and I have been
down to watch the cricket there myself,
mainly when they have played Darlington,
and there is always a great atmosphere.
I would like to wish the club all the best
and hope they manage to win the league
again this year; I think they deserve to be
where they are and the development of
the club since I played has been fantastic.”
Andy Fothergill, Seven Sportswear Ltd.