Blackpool Cricket Club
Cricket
County Championship
Blackpool
Score:
40
/ 60
Overview
Blackpool Cricket Club is a charming ground. With its mock Tudor pavilion and the town’s famous tower looming in the distance, it’s very pretty to look at. A relatively small playing area provides a close-up view of the action from almost everywhere around the boundary. The catering is of a high standard for an out ground, with local vendors providing coffee and cake as well as freshly made pizza. The spaces around the nets up on the bank that overlooks the field of play are taken over by impromptu matches played by spectators throughout the intervals. If the weather isn’t looking favourable, be sure to bring an umbrella or a raincoat. There is no cover in the public sections of the ground. The wind blowing in from the Irish Sea can be bitter, even at the height of summer, so come equipped with something warm as well.
Score Summaries
Atmosphere & Experience: 8
It’s a beautiful setting. Blackpool itself may not be the prettiest town, but its cricket club looks like the kind of idealised cricket ground, all crisp whites, sunshine, and quaint pavilions, you’d see on the cover of some nostalgic account of cricket between the wars. On a Championship Monday in term time, a healthy, if greying crowd was in attendance. These are county cricket purists who love the game and many of them have travelled from around the county for the match. Spending a day in their company is a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Seats: 7
Seating is a mixture of long wooden benches built into one of the banks around the field of play, lawn chairs, and one stand of fixed seats. Views are good from all over the ground, but the seats aren’t necessarily the most comfortable and are very much exposed to the elements.
Catering: 8
While there’s not necessarily a wide selection of food available, the catering on site is of a high standard. The freshly made pizza is particularly delicious. The bar marquee provides a good selection of beers, including a few local to Lancashire.
Facilities: 4
Portaloo’s. Quite a lot of them. But still Portaloo’s.
Getting There: 7
It’s a 20 to 25-minute walk from Blackpool North to the ground. It’s a fairly mundane stroll through mostly residential streets. You can get to Blackpool North directly from Manchester, Liverpool, York, and London.
Getting Away: 7
The same walk in reverse. Relatively frequent trains from Blackpool North will take you to a range of destinations across northern England, while less frequent direct trains will take you towards London.