Craven League secretary Ann Coe has revealed that working on behalf of ‘cricket mad’ people is the motivation behind her role.

The position of secretary has become an increasingly onerous one – as Joy Wigglesworth from the Bradford Mutual Sunday School League would attest – in some leagues.

But Coe provided an excellent answer as to why she does it in her report at their annual meeting this week at Skipton LMS Sports Club.

She explained: “In January last year, one team in our league had some bad news (Cowling).

“Their second-team captain (Mark Batty) had cancer. He was not expected to see the season start, but he did, and not only that, he nearly managed to see the end of the season.

“I saw him and his family a few times during the year and was impressed by his fighting spirit and determination. But it was his funeral that brought everything home to me.

"Mark had planned everything and had decided to be buried at Tarn Moor Memorial Woodlands near Embsay – an organic burial.

“He arrived in a wicker coffin with his cricket bat strapped to the top. When I asked his wife why the cricket bat was there, she simply said that he would need it where he was going.

“That is why I work so hard for this league, because people in this league are cricket mad. They enjoy their sport and couldn’t possibly live without it.”