Beauty of a sloping pitch that was bought by valley celebrity

>> IF you know Sheepscombe cricket ground you won't need to be told that it's almost too picturesque for its own good.

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As a spectator you arrive for Saturday's match with every intention of concentrating on the game as the local side takes on this week's competition from the Gloucestershire County Cricket League.

For the first delivery or two, you focus on how the openers are coping with conditions. Is the ball turning through the air? How about movement off the pitch? Will it take spin later on?

Then a buzzard catches your eye, high overhead, slowly circling. Which draws your attention to the tree-clothed hills across the valley swaying in the breeze.

The scene of dappled summer green, punctuated here and there by a distant cottage, the sunshine coaxing a honey-gold hue from its Cotswold oolite walls.

And then applause ripples round the ground, the players come off for tea, the innings is over and you've no idea what the score is.

Like every other village cricket ground in Gloucestershire, Sheepscombe's has a story to tell. And like many it has its eccentricities. It's called Laurie Lee Field, because the county's much-admired writer, probably best known for Cider with Rosie, bought it for £400 in 1971.