A SMALL cricket club in a North Yorkshire valley has been named among the world’s greats, having been featured in a new book highlighting the most remarkable grounds across the globe.

Spout House in Bilsdale, near Helmsley, commands eight pages in the lavishly-produced hardback Remarkable Cricket Grounds by author and lifelong cricket devotee Brian Levison.

Doubling up as a field where sheep graze – they have to be driven off before a match – its one-in-seven gradient and unmown grass outfield test even the most accomplished players.

The book advises visiting teams to check the ground’s rules, adding: “To earn a six, you have to clear the stone wall perimeter; hitting it on the full only earns you four.

“In the outfield, the ball can frequently disappear into the thick grass and while fielders cluster round looking for it, batsmen are free to run as many as they can. Calling ‘lost ball’ at the sixth run usually ends the spree.”

Spout House plays in the Feversham League, which has only four teams, and local farmers provide the nucleus of the team.

The book – which also includes Scarborough’s North Marine Road Ground and Headingley Carnegie Stadium in Leeds – pays homage to Bilsdale’s Ainsley family, notably William and William George, who served as two of only three club secretaries at Spout House during a span of 138 years up to 2012.

Entered through a farmyard, the field lies beside the Sun Inn, managed for generations by the Ainsleys and where players still drink well-earned pints after matches.

Speaking of the club’s inclusion, chairman and former captain Eddie Farrow said: “I think it is amazing. When you look at other grounds and then Spout House. It is a one-off ground – there is nowhere like it, certainly in this country.

“Visitors either love it or hate it, but they will always remember it.”

The professional stone waller said that in days gone by it was easy to put together a team from locals, adding: “At one time it was a question of who do we leave out, we had so many local lads wanting to play.”

Now, he said, they have to look further afield.

Despite its low profile and infamous hazards, a number of famous visitors have trod the club’s outfield.

WG Grace was once bowled for a golden duck, Prince Ranjitsinhji – regarded by some as the greatest batsman of all time – had friends in the area and is thought to have played here. Even Prince Harry has padded up there twice.

Remarkable Cricket Grounds by Brian Levison is published by Pavilion priced £25.