Our 1st XI players, Harry Crawshaw and Jonathan Bushnell, have jetted-off overseas to play cricket in Australia. They have both signed to play grade cricket “down under” for Scarborough Cricket Club, Perth. They’ll be returning back to England in the early part of 2023.

Scarborough Cricket Club, )who are nicknamed “the Gulls”), have produced a number of Australian Test cricketers, including Justin Langer and Marcus Stoinis.

The Head Coach at “Scarborough” is H.D. Ackerman, who played cricket for Blackhall before going on to play for Leicestershire County Cricket Club, where he set a number of batting records. One of Ackerman’s career highlights occurred whilst at Blackhall, when he had the honour of opening the batting with our very own Michael Gough Senior. According to Gough Senior, Hylton was a very good listener, taking on board all of his imparted cricket knowledge. “HD” went on to play for South Africa, applying what Gough had taught him!

Harry had an excellent 2022 season for Hartlepool, although he was forced to miss part due to a shoulder injury that he suffered whilst fielding at Richmondshire Cricket Club. Post injury and his return to the 1st XI, Harry’s batting and bowling were excellent. He was of central importance to how the 1st XI performed in the second half of the season, ie. winning eight and drawing two of their last 10 NYSD Premier League games. Earlier in the year, Harry represented England Under 19s when they toured Sri Lanka. Harry is held in very high regard by his Hartlepool teammates, plus supporters. Durham County have a really exciting cricketer on their books!

Jonathan also had a terrific season for Hartlepool, although his availability was impacted by his commitments with Durham County. He played for Durham 2nd XI in 2022, scoring some 580 runs at an average of 75, with him also claiming 10 wickets. He was voted Durham’s 2nd XI Player of the Season. His top score was 187, which he made against Lancashire County Cricket Club’s 2nd XI. He made excellent contributions to our 1st XI, scoring 100 not out on his debut, which included some classic cover drives and square cuts. He bowled extremely well for the 1st XI too, bowling with pace and varying his pace to out-fox batters. Jonathan finished the season playing in Durham’s 1st XI, with him averaging some 40 runs per game, with him also putting in some decent bowling performances too. He’s another exciting cricketer for Durham!

Harry and Jonathan are wished all the very best across the Australian Summer, as they both continue their cricketing education with “the Gulls”.

Many thanks to Michael Gough Senior for penning the outline of this article.