Boundaries, Poets and Grey Foxes

To be perfectly honest I had very little awareness that there was a Cultural Olympiad run in conjunction with the regular athletics. The knowledge was sort-of there, in the background, but it never really crossed over into the mainstream media that I tend to inhale. At the launch of the Grey Fox over 50’s cricketing competition and the Runs on the Board project this notion was firmly thrust under my nose, and I’m a much happier person for it.

The launch was held at Headingley Cricket Club, an incredible arena that anybody who has an interest in cricket will know intimately. When it is empty, with no people in the stands, no players on the pitch it feels much smaller than usual. The stadium is considerably more than the sum of its parts, and being able to see it empty was a surprisingly humbling experience. Anyway, that’s not what I’m supposed to be writing about.

As part of the cultural olympiad there was a process whereby people were invited to pitch ideas at Imove, an organisation taking part in the Cultural Olympiad in Yorkshire & Humberside. The first idea that was commissioned (although not the first to be put on) was Runs on the Board. This is an exhibition – a celebration – of those stalwarts of the Yorkshire summer landscape, cricketers of the over 50 age group. These hardy souls are found on pitches all over the country but they do seem to be particularly concentrated in pubs and patches of lush verdant sward tucked away down hidden ginnels in Yorkshire, and poet Andrew McMillan and photographer Anton Want went out there to recognise these giants of the game. The result is a fantastic collection of photography and poetry inspired by the game that just smacks of being sat on the grass drinking tea, eating cake, and chatting to friends on lush summer days.

The exhibition itself is a weathered, beaten up sight screen with some embellishments; a radio that has Andrew’s dulcet tones pouring out, a monitor displaying Anton’s photos, jumpers, balls, some slightly dodgy pictures torn from *ahem* magazines and two glass cases, containing the trophies that will be presented to the winner of the Grey Fox tournament created by two Sheffield artists, Tim Sutton and Rob Young aka The Curious Guide.

Yes, this is not just an arty thing, it’s a mashup of art and sport. Graham Roberts, the brains behind the idea, not only wanted to celebrate the stalwarts but give them some way of getting them involved. The obvious answer was to sort out a cricketing tournament comprising of exclusively over 50s squads. Ten teams entered, and they shall be competing for… well, it’s a glass cake. This, quite frankly, is bloody brilliant. A honest to goodness victoria sponge, cut into 12 (so each man on the squad has something to take home), moulds taken and cast in glass so each piece is unique and should all fit approximately together on a glass cakestand. Glass, cake and cricket are three of my favourite things and I’m only disappointed that I’m too young to compete. There’s also a trophy for man of the match, but I won’t spoil the surprise.

The Grey Fox trophy is a fantastic piece of art, but it is what it represents that is far more exciting. This is all about participation; getting people who wouldn’t normally be involved in London 2012 beyond spectating involved in a cricketing competition, and it’s all local. And it won’t just be those 120 men, but their families and friends, the communities they belong to, and people like me who just love the game. And there’s a cultural element – this isn’t so-called “highbrow” art, anybody can view it and feel involved in the event as a whole. The Runs on the Board exhibit is one thing – and a truly great thing it is too, read the website, get involved by sending them your photos, your audioboos, your video, your words and stories and thoughts and feelings about the game – and the artwork involved is a great thing, but when you put them together they are, a little like the stadium in which the launch was held, considerably more than the sum of their respective parts.

Part of me just can’t help wondering how many other people who ought to be aware of this aren’t. But the team draw was on Look North, and with the weight of Auntie behind it I can feel confident that more of the Imove programme will become more present to the community at large.

For more about the imove programme take a look at their website; I hope to attend many more of their events over the summer, especially a cricket match or two. Runs on the Board is well worth taking a look at; the exhibit is at Headingley Cricket Ground until 15th June, then at Barnsley Civic from 17th June to 31st July and there’s a book coming out of Anton and Andrew’s work on the 19th, which I look forwards to seeing. The final of the Grey Fox will be at Headingley on 2nd September, unless Yorkshire do really well in the challenge cup (and we can only hope), in which case it’ll be elsewhere. Keep an eye on this one, it promises to be a corker.