The Nursery of English Cricket On this day in 1970, the South Yorkshire Times published the Summer Holiday notes of one of its cricket-loving journalists, Alan Banks. He covers the ground's history, the characters that performed here, and, like many visitors, bowls an imaginary ball in his mind's eye. Alan Banks, published 22 August 1970

On the final morning at Headingley in July 1948, England declared on 365-8 and set Australia 404 to win in 345 minutes. Nobody had ever chased 400 to win a Test match. The pitch was worn, taking spin and bounce, and England had run the heavy roller over it for good measure. The Yorkshire papers had Australia out by lunch. Instead Arthur Morris made 182, Don Bradman 173 not out, the pair added 301 in a little over three and a half hours, and Australia won by seven wickets with

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: for Brigands to field ten men once might be considered a misfortune. To do it two matches running looks like carelessness. At Broadhalfpenny Down on Wednesday, thanks to a printer issue of all things, ten Brigands took the field against eleven from Whitchurch, the visitors marking 250 years and welcoming back Hampshire and MCC wicketkeeping favourite Paul Bailey. Whitchurch won the toss and invited the home side to bat. Sue Bailey and Peter Danks se

The Stragglers of Asia are perhaps the best-travelled side on the Brigands' fixture list, so we turn to the author Pete McCarthy for guidance. In his 2000 book about a journey round Ireland, McCarthy set down a numbered list of Rules of Travel; never given in full, the numbers jumping about, which was the joke. He died in 2004, aged fifty-two, with a third book unfinished. The Brigands have taken his list and revised it. A good number were observed on Sunday, and one of them

On Sunday evening, Robbie Savage opened his radio phone-in with a question for the nation: which square on the Monopoly board best describes each of the four World Cup semi-finalists? The first caller offered England as Coventry Street. At Broadhalfpenny Down this weekend, the Brigands were Pall Mall and the Old Seagullians were Park Lane. The Old Seagullians are alumni of St Andrews University. In the Eighteenth Century, when the Hambledon Club was shaping the laws of cricke

More wins and losses, and three in a row for the first time this season. 4 close finishes too. There are tougher tests to come, with the visits of Old Seagullians, Sussex Martlets and Australian High Commission who always send down strong teams for a day at the cradle of cricket.

The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City sits at 7,352 feet above sea level, a plateau where the oxygen is thin and where Maradona scored with the Hand of God. And where, last night, England beat Mexico 3-2 in the World Cup round of sixteen. Jude Bellingham scoring twice, Jordan Pickford decisive throughout as ten-man England held on. Broadhalfpenny Down in Hampshire sits at a more modest 518 feet above sea level and hosted Brigands v Saints yesterday in an equally hard-fought sport

Brigands 190-5 declared beat Nairobi Nomad 138 all out by 42 runs Preece opened up for the Brigands Preece caught behind Nairobi Nomads brought their supporters, who wisely found the shade for the afternoon The cricket tea was splendid, as usual Nairobi Nomads, 2026

We are now almost mid-way through the 2026 "Third Stump" season, with nine Sunday afternoon games played on Broadhalfpenny Down; three won, four lost, two drawn. It has been a testing summer with one game played in extreme heat, others shortened by the rain. The ground, however, has come through in excellent condition. Credit for that belongs to our ground team. Led by Mark Smith as the Ground Committee member, with Dennis as head groundsman, Cyril on the square and Gail on t