PATROLLED by gulls, perched near clifftops overlooking a glorious bay and packed tightly into the midst of sloping terraced houses is situated one of the most evocative grounds in world cricket.

Forget Lord’s and the Oval, the MCG and the SCG, even Adelaide –North Marine Road is one of the most sumptuous sites this glorious sport has to offer. 

Scarborough Cricket Club played host to Yorkshire Cricket Club, who in turn were hosting their Surrey counterparts during a July heatwave. 

You could tell it was hot because the patrons on the Popular Bank’s sloped wooden terraces were in shorts rather than sweaters. 

The stand was sited behind a slew of B&Bs that were built in the Victorian era, a nod to when this grand old town accommodated holidaymakers in their droves, long before package flights grabbed their custom. 

Yet, similar to so many things following the pandemic, Covid has unleashed a cultural sea change. 

Social distancing meant stay at home, which in turn became a staycation. Tourists shunned sunnier climes to sample their own country. Not least God’s Own Country in Yorkshire. 

County cricket has benefited from this fad (or cultural shift), not least outground cricket. 

This week’s Scarborough Festival saw nearly 10,000 aficionados ease through the clanking iron turnstiles over the course of the match this week. Attracted by competitive sport and a convivial atmosphere as much as the unmistakable aroma of fish and chips on sale to hungry punters at this wondrous seaside ground, a good 90 miles from their Headingley HQ.

A southern voice could be heard asking a tad cheekily: “Why are we playing Yorkshire’s second XI?”

“‘Cos they’re all playing for bloody England” came the equally impish Tyke reply. Surrey’s world class wickie Ben Foakes and June’s Test debutant Jamie Overton did feature, along with imperious South Africa run accumulator Hashim Amla.  

In a gripping finish for the ages, Surrey edged home by four wickets with only three balls of the match remaining – after both sides hit 500+ runs in their first innings. 

The long ruined, but still mesmerising, Scarborough Castle that practically overlooks North Marine Parade is only a few miles further south than the remains of Whitby’s Priory — which prompted Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein – and there was certainly plenty of gothic horror for Yorkshire fans as Foakes, England’s finest wicketkeeper, steered Surrey home with the bat on Thursday evening.

It helped that the sun shone all week on the setting, allowing spectators to observe a brownish pitch – one that shared with Lord’s a sloping outfield that went across the wicket – and a fast outfield, which proved to be abundant in other ways. Not least if you were a batsman. 

Adam Lyth, born not far from this parish, up the road in Shelley’s Whitby, relished making runs, 183 of them coming from his first innings to be precise. While Surrey’s former England Test opener Rory Burns made 132, with matchwinner running out of partners just short of a first knock ton.  

Lyth, another former England Test opener, may not have been given a fair crack of the whip during his curtailed international career, but he is certainly loved in these parts, despite the defeat. 

Speaking to the Morning Star he assessed his team’s narrow loss, saying: “It was good for us to get 500+ on the board in the first innings and personally it’s always nice to get a big century, but the most important thing is the team. 

“Coming from Whitby, Scarborough is always a great outground for Yorkshire to come and play cricket.”

There was a time when every county had a raft of these homes away from home, Middlesex had Uxbridge and Richmond, Surrey had Guildford, while Warwickshire had the iconic Courtaulds Ground in Coventry, until it was abandoned, sadly now in a desperate state of disrepair. 

Inclination, or lack of, logistics, time and of course, money — or lack of it — put paid to many of these sites. Abandoned forever, lost to developers and apathy. 

Yet the post-coronavirus era has seen a resurgence of interest in outground cricket. 

Perhaps it’s the fact spectators wish to sample live sport once again, after being cooped up for so long. Outgrounds provide a welcoming link to communities and members not always evident at bigger metropolitan grounds. As befits a seaside location, Scarborough provided deckchairs and even had an enclave entitled a quiet room.

Sports fanatic Alex Laidman, who had travelled to Scarborough for the match, said fittingly: “It’s a brilliant outground with a special atmosphere. I love coming to places like this. You’ll always have your stalwarts, but post-Covid there does seem to be renewed interest in attending county games at outgrounds up and down the country.”

250 miles further south, the sentiment was similar where north-west London meets Three Rivers’ Hertfordshire. Where Moor Park played home to Middlesex CCC, a mere handful of miles from the Home of Cricket, sited a few postcodes away in St John’s Wood. 

A generous selection of trees offered cooling shade at a broiling Moor Park, one of Middlesex’s ever decreasing number of outgrounds. 

Home for the week for the famous London club was Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood, the site hosting Worcestershire CCC in Division Two of the County Championship. 

The school that loomed in the background, square of the wicket, was founded in 1561 and is as storied as the professional cricket club that played in its grounds — offering a selection of poets and authors, actors and academics, even boasting a Nobel Laureate in physiology. 

Yet it was for the noble sport of cricket that around 500 spectators travelled this week for every day’s play.

The home side started in second spot, determined to win back their place at the top table in the long form version of our summer sport – even if a disappointing batting performance in the first innings ruined their chances, as the Welsh side ultimately won by a comfortable seven wickets.

The county championship has endured in various guises over the years, surviving changes, plans, programmes, projects, grand schemes and ill-advised tweaks. 

The view of the domestic four-day game from many administrators is at best, paternal and patronising, with a selection of stuffed shirts regarding the long-form game as an anachronism – one they hope will die out one day. 

The fact it still survives is testament to its enduring appeal rather than endearing administrators, not to mention plenty of spectators who care, albeit quietly rather than fervently. As well as the £1.3m handout to every county arising from the ECB’s latest idea, The Hundred. Which is also the reason that, while we are fortunate enough to have county cricket at all during July, after this month concludes, the longer game won’t appear until September.

However, despite the focus groups and breathless marketing for the shorter form of the shorter form (imagine if the four-day game had a fraction of advertising spent on it) relish for county cricket was reassuringly evident this week.

This was true as much in North Marine Parade as it was Northwood, as a pleasing selection of weeping willows complemented the sound of willow on leather hundreds of miles away from the Scarborough coast, as the brown tiles on the pavilion scoreboard at Moor Park were garlanded by further greenery. 

Talk in Moor Park beer tent was of North London football clubs, while those who took shade under trees spoke of cricket games improbably snowed off. Cricket lends itself to conversation, the ebbs and flows, rhythms and timbre are suitable for a long day in the sun. 

Some are longer than others, which brought to mind the only previous time this correspondent visited Northwood — when the game was rained off, not a ball was seen bowled on a grim day of waiting around, amplified by a lack of facilities. 

Fast forward nearly a decade and the site is now flourishing. 

Two temporary stands offering 300 seats, along with marquees, that, while not exactly replicating the Mound Stand at hallowed Lord’s, were certainly convivial. And while the conversation at the nearby ice cream van was more to do with 99s than centuries, outground cricket appears to be experiencing a resurgence. 

For where else – for fewer pennies than a night at the cinema – can you savour eight hours of professional sport, replete with Panama Hats and pints. 

While the vista is open to everyone, underlined by a multi-faith prayer room – or tent – true believers are to be found populating the ground. 

No wonder Alex Laidman added: “If you love cricket – and even if you don’t, I’d urge everyone to sample outground cricket. It’s great fun.”