{{No footnotes, date=July 2011
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...
which has been held in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, on the east coast of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, since 1876. The ground, at
North Marine Road
North Marine Road Ground, formerly known as Queen's, is a cricket ground in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Scarborough Cricket Club which hosts the Scarborough Festival and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club plays a s ...
, sees large crowds of holiday makers watching a mixture of first-class county cricket, one-day fixtures and invitation XIs in the late August/early September sunshine every year. Many of the world's greatest cricketers have played in festival matches over the years.
There have been 399 first-class matches at Scarborough, the vast majority of these in the festival and as well as Yorkshire's games against county opposition ad hoc teams under the name of H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, Tom Pearce,
Brian Close
Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...
and
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
have entertained touring teams and World XIs on many occasions. A one-day competition, under the names of various sponsors, was played in the seventies, eighties and nineties and featured four counties who would play a knockout semi final and final for the cup.
Two of the greatest batsmen in history scored double hundreds during the festival.
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...
amassed an unbeaten 266 for the Players against the Gentlemen in 1925 while Sir
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. ''Wisden Cricketer ...
hit 241 in the same fixture in 1953. The prolific Philip Mead of Hampshire scored two double tons, 233 for the MCC against
Lord Hawke
Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near Ga ...
's XI in 1929 and 223 for the Players against the long suffering Gentlemen in 1911. The highest innings in festival history came when Ken Rutherford, the former New Zealand Test captain, smashed 317 in a day for the New Zealand tourists against D. B. Close's XI in 1986.
The batsmen did not always have it their own way. The great
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman t ...
pocketed 9 for 24 for CI Thornton's XI v. Australians in 1899 and J. M. Preston had taken 9 for 28 for Yorkshire against
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
11 years before. Johnny Briggs took 9 for 31 for Lord Londesborough's XI v. the Australians in 1890 and
Bill Bowes
William Eric Bowes (25 July 1908 – 4 September 1987) was an English professional cricketer active from 1929 to 1947 who played in 372 first-class matches as a right arm fast bowler and a right-handed tail end batsman. He took 1,639 wickets ...
laboured hard to take 9 for 121 for Yorkshire against Essex in 1932.
The ground, with its limited boundaries, hard outfield and excellent pitch, has seen many high scores during the festival. The Surrey dynamo
Ali Brown
Alistair Duncan Brown (born 11 February 1970), commonly known as Ali Brown, is a former English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club, before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2009 season. He was nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion to ...
thrashed 133 in company with
Graham Thorpe
Graham Paul Thorpe, (born 1 August 1969) is a former English cricketer who played for England internationally and Surrey domestically. A left-handed middle-order batsman and slip fielder, he appeared in 100 Test matches.
Early life
Thorpe was ...
(102*) to help Surrey to 375 for 4 in just 40 overs in a Sunday League match in 1994 while Yorkshire themselves clobbered Nottinghamshire for 352 in 45 overs in 2001 thanks to
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who coached the Australian national team. Lehmann made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection fo ...
's incredible 191 which came off 103 balls in 115 minutes with 20 fours and 11 sixes.
In first-class cricket Yorkshire declared on 600 for 4 against Worcestershire in 1995, thanks to
David Byas
David Byas (born 26 August 1963)) is an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and latterly Lancashire, in a 17-year first-class career.
Byas grew up on a farm in Yorkshire, having attended school at Scarborough College. He w ...
's double century and an unbeaten ton from
Craig White
Craig White (born 1969) is a former English cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He is currently a cricket coach.
Domestic career
Born 16 December 1969, Morley, West Yorkshire, England, White was brought up in Australia, but later moved back ...
, while the North of England posted 590 against the South of England in 1906.