By Brian Sanderson,
I was reading todays Daily Telegraph sport section. The headlines were ECB shocked by sharp drop in club numbers. A survey shown that numbers who played cricket dropped from 908,000 in 2013 to 844,000 in 2014.
Yesterday I had a telephone call to say that Woodhouse cricket club is no longer in the Airedale and Wharfedale Cricket League. This was a club that the late and great Mick Bourne used to visit as it was near his house.We will have to see what happens to the club now. During the same telephone conversation , I heard that Great Horton club will be no longer playing in the Bradford League next year.
On Tuesday this week, I was asked to trace a match between Farley and Pudsey St. Lawerence in 1949 when the league was very strong.One of the young player for Farsley was Raymond Illingworth who was seventeen at the time. The match was played over five nights and went as follow,
27th JUNE Farsley scored 250 for 4 innings suspended.
28 th JUNE Pudsey 132 for 1 Hamer 111 not out.
29th JUNE Farsley 267 FOR 7 with Illingworth 81 not out.
30th JUNE Farsley 394 all out with Illingworth 148 not out with 17 fours and 1 six.
4th JULY Pudsey 298 all out with Waterhouse taking 6 for 74.
Farsley went on to play Yeadon in the final at Bradford Park Avenue. Yeadon won the match with Bryan Stott scoring 9 at the age of 14.
Both Illingwoth and Stott both went on to better things during their careers.
How things have changed.
Post scrip in connection with the loss of clubs , Steve James in the Sunday Telegraph has written another article about the state of league cricket. His headline was "Village cricket is dying,and with it goes our way of life ".
He quotes the following stats:
27 % could play more but the game,s format does not suit them
27% believe games finish too late.
5% matches forfeited by teams unable to raise a team.
47 % want to play more but do not have the time.
I am sure the situation will get worse next season. So more facts to come.
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