Mystery picture appears in the Cricketer.

Posted by Tony Hutton

About four years ago I bought a paperback entitled 'Cricket The Game of Life' by that excellent cricket writer Scyld Berry. I really enjoyed the book, particularly a long section of eleven pages on the history of the famous Yorkshire club Lascelles Hall, near Huddersfield which became known as the cradle of Yorkshire cricket. I lived in the village for three years as a boy and was therefore very sad to see a picture in the book said to be of Lascelles Hall, which all too clearly certainly was not.

This is the picture that appeared in Scyld Berry's book. The first points to make are the buildings on the left and the chimney in the centre of the picture which have never been seen at Lascelles Hall. The second point is the distant view of Castle Hill, a well known local landmark, Next to the tower can be seen another building which was a public house (now long demolished). The view in the picture must have been taken from the north west of Huddersfield, rather than the east where Lascelles Hall is.

As far as I remember Castle Hill cannot be seen from the Lascelles Hall ground, as it is obscured by trees, although it can be seen, looking much nearer, from the end of Highfield Lane adjacent to the ground. So all in all something of a mystery. This month's edition of the Cricketer Magazine compounds the mystery by re-publishing the self same picture, but with a different caption. This states that the game is a Sykes Cup semi-final between Lascelles Hall and Rastrick on July 9 1951.

Part of the picture as it appears in the Cricketer.

Having looked at my constant tool for finding cricket grounds (Google Earth) I came to the conclusion that this could well have been the now disused ground of Britannia Works, who played in the Huddersfield Association many years ago. This old ground is situated just beyond Salendine Nook school on New Hey Road, which leads towards the M62 motorway.

The next question is why should a Huddersfield league cup semi-final be played on a ground outside the league? In addition July 9th 1951 was a Monday, which reminds me that cup games were often played on mid-week evenings until a decision was made in those days. It also seems highly unlikely that a cup semi-final would only attract two visible spectators.

So more questions than answers and it may be that until someone can search the archives of the Huddersfield Examiner in the local library we may never know for certain where the ground really is and why the game was played there.

The real Lascelles Hall.

Ironically on the very day the magazine arrived, the funeral was taking place of possibly the only man who may well have known the answer. Peter Dibb, the legendary Huddersfield league cricketer, had his service from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire streamed online, so that his many friends from the cricketing community could see it due to the current restrictions. The vicar conducting the service made the point that Peter's ashes are to be buried in the churchyard which overlooks the local cricket ground.

Bob Appleyards highest score

By Brian Sanderson

Another signed photograph recently purchased is of Doug Padgett going out on Saturday 27 June 1957 at Tunbridge Wells when Yorkshire were about to beat Kent in two days.

Yorkshire who won the toss ,began badly on a lively pitch and seven wickets should have been down  for 120 Padgett batting at four was out caught by Evans for 17. Instead Wardle, missed when two hit hard for an hour to score 46. Another dropped catch proved costly as Cowan who escaped when 

he had scored ten ,helped Appleyard to add 77 for the last wicket to bring the score to 292.Bob Appleyard made his highest score of his career of 63 before being run out.

Kent collapsed badly in their first innings to be bowled out for 97.Cowan took 5 for 32 and Appleyard 3 for 23. In Kent's second innings Phebey stayed nearly two and a half hours for 61. Also Evans who hit eleven fours took only fifty one minutes over 61. Wardle and Illingworth bowled Kent out for 198 on the second day.

In 1957 Yorkshire finished third but Billy Sutcliffe  announced he would not captained Yorkshire in 1958. Also Willie Watson moved on to Leicestershire whilst Frank Lowson developed leg problems and did not play from mid June.

Eton & Harrow Part 1

posted by John Winn

In a posting I made earlier in the week I commented on a situation that arose in 1939 when Middlesex played a 'home' match south of the Thames at The Oval while some schoolboys were playing at Lord's. Not any old schoolboys however for the match in question was between Eton and Harrow, a match that at that time had not  been played away from Lord's since 1805 except during World War 1.

To assist me in this posting I have used this book which has been on my shelves for a number of years and which as its title suggests is a comprehensive history of the games between the two schools. The author, Robert Titchner-Barrett, an old Harrovian was no mean cricketer himself for in 1961 he bowled his alma mater to an innings victory taking 12 for 76 in the match. RTB includes a press cutting from the match in his account, a report written by the former Welsh Rugby Union player Vivian Jenkins. 'Harrow Bowler takes 12-76 in Eton Defeat' is the headline followed by a report of the match and the scorecard. 

In its heyday the Eton Harrow match was very much part of the London summer social season, indeed as late as 1970 when the fixtures for the proposed shortened tour by South Africa were being arranged concern was expressed that if this involved moving 'the match' it should not clash with Henley Regatta or Wimbledon. To get some idea of how important the match was to those who enjoyed that sort of thing we need only to look at Wisden's account of the 1914 match played on 10th and 11th July in perfect weather. Although war was still three weeks away the flash point of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had set in motion the events leading up to the outbreak of war at the end of July. Whether those who came to Lord's on that July still believed that war could be avoided or had the foresight that it might be the last such occasion for sometime is, of course, not known but whatever their state of mind a crowd of over 38000 attended over the two days. 

In the match Harrow batted first for the twelfth successive year and took a first innings lead of 86 to which they added a further 144. Eton began their reply after 'luncheon'. 'Hambro who got his colours as a bowler, played wonderfully good cricket for two hours and a half''. He was sixth out for 77 at which point 43 were still required but Eton lost no more wickets and won for the fifth successive year with 15 minutes to spare. No match was played in 1915 but a series of home and away matches were played at the school grounds for the next three years before the sides returned to Lord's in 1919.

Godfrey returns

By Brian Sanderson

Another of my recent purchases is the above photograph of Phil Sharpe and Ken Taylor coming out at Canterbury on the 10 August 1967 at the start of the day.

Kent were without Cowdrey, Underwood and Knott whilst Yorkshire were without Close and Boycott. Freddie Trueman was the captain of Yorkshire whilst Kent brought back Godfrey Evans after retiring eight years ago.

Kent batted first and Luckhurst soon had to retire with a broken hand after been struck by Trueman. Denness however batted well and Leary settled in defiantly to bat for three and a half hours .Finally the new ball boosted Kent's total to 223 as Brown hit Trueman for 4,6,4,4 off successive balls .

Soon on Saturday morning Taylor was out for 20 caught by Evans off Brown. Yorkshire chance of first innings points looked desperate at 157 for 8 but big hitting by Trueman and sensible batting by Wilson enabled them to take the score to within six runs of the Kent total. Then Trueman was caught on the boundary by Ealham, sub fielder and a dropped catch enabled Yorkshire to grab

the first innings points by two runs.

Kent lost three wickets for five runs and only 50 by Wilson ,batting with a dislocated finger, enabled them to reach 99 for 8 at the close.

All out for 100 in 50 overs. On the third day .Kent left Yorkshire the task of scoring 99 to win in plenty of time. The Kent attack never looked like stopping them.. It was one of the most successful Canterbury Weeks of all time -some 40000 people in six days of cricket.

Early cricket in Leeds

By Brian Sanderson

Whilst looking through a winter edition of The Cricket Statisicians for 1993, I noticed article on pre 1770 references to cricket in Leeds.

1760 The Gentlemen of Cricket players are desired to meet a tMr Cowling's at Chapeltown on Monday next the 26th at ten o'clock in the morning .Dinner will be up on the table at two o'clock.

1761 "We hear that a great cricket match will be played at Chapeltown on Thursday next"

1765 26 August A cricket match was played on Chapeltown Moor between the Gentlemen of Leeds and the Gentlemen of Sheffield ,which was won by the latter.

Chapletown Moor was a large expanse of land at this time where cricket was played ie the south -eastern part, also known as Potternewton Green near the Bowling Green House. A cricket club was here until 1791.

The site of the Bowling Green House is now occupied by the Mexborough Arms on Harrogate Road.The bowling green itself, all that remains of 20 acres of land that once belonged to the inn survived until 1963 when it was tarmacked over to provide car parking.

John Cowling was the landlord of the inn through out 1760's.

Another sad tale from Norwood Green

Posted by Tony Hutton

This week received a report from one of our regular readers Bob Longward. While out walking recently he came across the old cricket ground at Norwood Green, which is an attractive village to the south of Bradford, close to the borders of Brighouse and Halifax. 

Bob confirms that on it's day this was one of the most picturesque grounds in the area, with a stone pavilion and fantastic views of the south Pennines. It was used by the Craven Gentlemen's team, which played friendlies at weekends. When their side folded, nearby Lightcliffe showed an interest in the ground, but it was not considered large enough for Bradford League cricket. The Norwood Green side, who I have since established were founder members of the Halifax League in 1914 had originally been founded way back in 1867. I understand they originally played on the old village green.

As Bob continues, the club in more recent times were members of the now defunct Bradford Central League and were eventually taken over, like many others in the Bradford area, as a wholly Asian side.

Obviously things have not worked out in recent seasons and Bob reports that the field is now very much overgrown and the pavilion is in a poor state of repair. He assumes the land will eventually be used for housing.

I was able to send Bob the above picture of the ground when I visited way back in May 2002. It took a while to research who was actually playing, but I have now discovered it was Norwood Green against neighbours Low Moor in the Bradford Central League.

This if of course far from the first cricket ground to fall by the wayside and it is sad to remember so many clubs that no longer exist, particularly in the urban areas of both Bradford and Leeds. Brian Sanderson has recently mentioned some of the long forgotten clubs in the Leeds area, which reminded me that the late Mick Bourne had planned to write a book about the lost cricket grounds of Leeds. Sadly I feel that there are too few records of all these old clubs for this ever to happen.

Rain stopped play

By Brian Sanderson

Another photograph I purchased from the same person who I showed yesterday. This match is at Sheffield on the 7 July 1960 against Kent. Bryan Stott is again in the photograph who in this season scored 1548 runs finishing third in the averages. Doug Padgett was top with average of 40.79.

Rain on the first and third day prevented a decision even on the first innings .Kent were well placed for the lead when the game ended.On the first day Yorkshire lost four wickets for 52 runs in
ninety five minutes.

Recovery came when Phil Sharpe and Vic Wilson put on 122 for the fourth wicket and Don Wilson helped Phil to add 117 for the seventh wicket stand. Phil ,who drove and cut delightfully batted five hours and thirty five minutes for 152 which was his highest score of the season .He hit twenty three four's. Yorkshire finished  on 315 .He was given his County cap this season with Cowan, Bolus and Don Wilson.

The two opening bowlers were Mel Ryan and Mike Cowan as Trueman was playing for England against South Africa at Trent Bridge. Pheby  and Peter Richardson opened with a stand of 142 for  Kent .Pheby occupied the crease for five hours and ten minutes for his 122 not out. The Kent innings finished on 263 for 3.
.

Yorkshire without showing really outstanding form won the Championship for the second year running .Considerable credit must go to Vic Wilson who was the first professional captain of Yorkshire who took over from Ronnie Burnet at the end of the 1959 season had much to lose and little to gain with the side already Champions.

Another signature

By Brian Sanderson

Recently I purchased the above photograph of Bryan Stott signing a young boy's autograph book at Gloucester on the 16 July 1953. Looking in Wisden for that match it seems Bryan was twelfth man.

He had made his debut for Yorkshire the previous year against Scotland.

In this match Yorkshire lacked Hutton and Watson whilst Gloucester were missing Graveney ,Emmett and Milton.Yardley 's gamble of putting Gloucester in to bat was fully justified.

Mick Cowan, the left arm fast bowler doing most of the damage. His seven wickets for forty four was best figures at this stage. Although he only played his first championship match on the
9 May that year. Gloucester struggled to 72 all out.

Yorkshire opening pair was Frank Lowson and Harry Halliday who was in his final season. Yorkshire batted steadily to reach 306 for 6 declared with Yardley top scoring with 80 not out. Kilburn's report on second day stated the cricket was dull to the point of dreariness played beneath grey skies. There was also a cold and blustery wind, notably uncharitable on a ground of tents and backless benches round the boundary edge.

In the second innings again Cowan troubled Gloucester and only Lambert, Crapp and Young defied the attack for long. They were bowled out for 170. Wardle conceded no more than fifty eight runs in forty overs and Illingworth bowled twenty five overs for twenty six runs. Yorkshire won by
an innings and sixty four runs.

Wisden states that Yorkshire will want to forget the 1953 season -probably the worst in their history. Runners up to Surrey in 1952 , they finished twelfth. Bryan Stott had  only two first class innings in this season.

Another lost cricket ground

By Brian Sanderson

Whilst looking through a old White Rose magazine , I noticed an article written by Tony Woodhouse about Sheepscar Cricket Club.

The photograph was taken on land where now stands Charles F Stead & Co  Ltd Leather Manufacturers Sheepscar North Street Leeds 7.Sitting on the wall is Tony Woodhouse who is quoted as Yorkshire CCC Curator and Historian. Tony wrote two important books about the history of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and was a collector of 13000 cricket books.

On the 30 April 1892 the Sheepscar Cricket Club (formally known as the Sheepscar United Leather Works ) played the first ever Leeds League cricket match. The match was against Leamington who played at Holbeck. It ended in a draw greatly to the advantage of the Leathermen for whom T.
Greenwood scored 75 , J.Hainsworth 37 and F.Sharpe 40 in a total of 205 for 4. Leamington finished on 47 for 3.
In the article it quoted the date as 23 April in error.

The next match was away to North Leeds whose opening batsman was Mark Heaton who started at Leeds Blenheim Clarence and then Burmantofts Clarence .Both clubs are no longer playing.

Sheepscar club left the Leeds League at the end of 1898 and were not heard of again. At this time they were at the bottom of the table.Ironically the last match against Wortley was rained off.

Following On

posted by John Winn

Those who read yesterday's posting more than hour after it appeared on the blog will know that I belatedly discovered the reason for Middlesex's visit to Hornsey in 1959. It was not part of an attempt to spread county cricket to outlying parts of the county but merely a solution to avoid a double booking at Lord's which on those three days in July was needed for a game between MCC and Cambridge University. It was not however a kneejerk response for the 1959 Wisden lists in its fixtures for that season a championship game at Hornsey between Middlesex and Hampshire.

I also mentioned in yesterday's addendum that the match at Lord's was won by Cambridge, their only win in nineteen first class matches that 'most disappointing season' (Wisden). Henry Blofeld's century, the only one he registered in first class cricket, helped him to second place in the university averages but take away those 138 runs and only 490 are spread across 21 innings, an average of 23.33. Far and away their star that season was Michael Willard who topped both batting and bowling averages but whose first class career never extended to championship cricket. He made 81 and 87 in the victory over MCC.

The MCC side was described by Wisden as 'moderate' but it contains some interesting names including England opener Peter Richardson who had left Worcestershire and was qualifying for Kent, Denis Compton and WHH 'Billy' Sutcliffe who two years earlier had been captaining Yorkshire. He made 98 in MCC's second innings, an innings in which MCC were bowled out for 404 and still lost by 50 runs.

Responses to the posting of the have thrown up a few other occasions when Middlesex have played away from Lord's, on two occasions going beyond the historic county boundary. The most recent of these was in 1977 when their home game with Somerset was postponed to allow a rain affected Gillette Cup semi-final which stretched over six days to be completed, eventually by a 15 over match. The switch to Essex fared little better for no play was possible on the third day. The seven points Middlesex gained were sufficient to give them a share in the title with Kent.

Going further back Middlesex had played a 'home' match at The Oval in 1939, this time because Eton and Harrow had use of The Long Room. Crossing the Thames brought Middlesex no luck for they were on the end of  a mauling by Notts. Batting first the visitors hit 560 for 9 with Walter Keeton hitting 312 not out which remains the highest individual score for Notts. Middlesex were bowled out twice on a rain affected wicket with Voce taking ten wickets in the match. They returned to The Oval later in the season, this time to the away dressing room and did a little better but were still beaten by 8 wickets.

To find the occasion before Hornsey when Middlesex had played away from Lord's but within the county we need to go back to 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. This excursion took them to Chiswick Park and a three day match with Oxford University. The students batted first and were all out for 555, Key (281) and Philipson (150) adding on 340 for the seventh wicket. WJB Soppitt bowled 64 overs and took 5 for 159. It should be mentioned that these were four ball overs. Middlesex were dismissed for 119 and 207 to lose by an innings and 229.

Chiswick Park hosted one other first class match when CI Thornton's XI entertained 'Australians' in 1886. In a three day match Thornton's XI scraped a draw. Cricket Archive records other non first class matches played at the ground with the final one in 1980 but according to other sources it was built on after World War Two. More next time.

Middlesex go the Palace.

This rare photograph appeared on twitter earlier in the week and it dates back to 1959 when, for the first time in sixty years, Middlesex played away from Lord's*. Such excursions away from the home of cricket are not so rare today, they were scheduled to play at Merchant Taylors' school this July and in the not too distant past I have seen them at Uxbridge and Southgate. Wisden describes the ground as a 'pleasant new venue in the shadow of Alexandra Palace', its famous mast can just be seen in the far distance but pleasant or not, they have not returned. 

For whatever reason this experiment became a one off, lack of excitement cannot be cited for opponents Hampshire won by two wickets with just three balls to spare having claimed the extra half hour and a typically adventurous declaration by skipper Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie set up this thrilling finish. On an easy-paced pitch Middlesex scored 293 with Fred Titmus top scorer, as he was in the second innings and he had a stand of 79 for the sixth wicket with JT Murray. Marshall and Jimmy Gray got the visitors off to flying start with a stand of 127 and Gray went on to make 155 including twenty fours. The declaration came on the second evening with Hampshire only 47 ahead but such boldness paid off with Middlesex losing Gale and Russell (WE) for 13 before the close. Thanks to Hooker and Titmus Middlesex reached a position where they too felt able to declare setting Hants 189 to win which they reached when Canning hit a four off the third ball of the last over which was bowled by Titmus. Grey again top scored for the victors. 

Wisden quotes the attendance for the three days as 'about 5000', which given that it did not include Saturday play by today's standards might seem quite reasonable but if we look forward a month to a match against Yorkshire at Lord's which Jack Robertson wisely chose as his benefit, the recorded attendance was over 21000 and therein perhaps lies the reason why championship cricket has never returned to Tivoli Road. Yorkshire won this match and two weeks later, as Brian has described in a recent posting, were crowned champions. At Lord's they had Stott and Bolus to thank for runs and Illingworth for wickets. Set only 81 to win they lost four for 56 before Illingworth saw them home. 

*Since posting this an hour ago I have discovered that Lord's was not available because landlords  MCC were playing Cambridge University. The match was won by the university with Henry Blofeld scoring his only first class century in their second innings. 

Final M.C.C test match of Australian tour of 1904.

By Brian Sanderson

The final Test was back in Melbourne on the 5th March to the 8th. As in the previous Tests the weather decided the match but this time Australia benefited. Trumper batted brilliantly for Australia scoring a fine 88 out of a total of 247.Victor Thomas Trumper was a genius and had the ability to make big scores in impossible conditions. There was no limit to his range or flaw in his fluency and timing.In this series he headed the averages of both sides with 574 runs

at average of 63.77.

Len Braund of Somerset took 8 for 81 in the innings. He was one of the greatest all rounders who played for Surrey for three years before going to Somerset in 1901. He was an aggressive right hand
bat with powerful strokes on the leg  and a bowler who could bowl fast medium to slow medium leg spin and the finest slip  fielder.

A considerable amount of rain fell and England were bowled out for 61 with Noble taking 4 for 19 and Cotter 6 for 40.Albert Cotter was a fearsome fast bowler with a similar style to Jeff Thomson. He toured England in 1905 and 1909. He was killed by a sniper during the First World War.

Australia batted again to score 133 with Duff top scoring with 31.George Hirst took 5 for 48.Reginald Duff was a right hand bat who watched the ball closely and drove powerfully. He came to England in 1902 and 1905.He was third in the Australian averages in this series with 30.40.

England had no chance in chasing 320 runs to win. They were bowled out for 101 with Foster top scoring with 30.HughTrumble bowled medium paced off spin of the highest class. Twice he performed the hat trick, each time at Melbourne and in his final test he took 7 for 28 so helping  Australia to win by 218 runs.

The top batsman for England was Foster with average of 60.75.Top of the bowling was Rhodes who took 31 wickets at average of 15.74. Rhodes mentioned that during this tour he bowled a trifle quicker than in England. When he returned home he continued to bowl slightly faster,never going back to the pace of his first six seasons in first class cricket.

Knight's day

By Brian Sanderson

The fourth Test of the 1904 series was in Sydney from the 26 February to 3 March, England batted first and began badly with Warner going for 0 and England were at one stage 66 for 4. Albert Knight of Leicestershire saved them batting through the rest of the innings ending with 70 not out in four and half hours ,as England reached 249. Knight was a outstanding character among the professionals of his day. A right hand batsman who was very strong on the off side. He scored 1000
runs in a seasons ten times making his highest score 229 not out against Worcestershire in 1903.A Methodist preacher,he would pray before going in to bat. and sometimes
at the wicket- Walter Brearley threatened to report him to M.C.C for taking unfair advantage!

Australian first innings only reached 131 .Duff and Hill scored all but 51 of their runs. Arnold who was the Worcestershire all rounder took 4 for 28. In  four consecutive seasons he achieved the double. Wilfred Rhodes also took 4 for 33.

Rain interfered with much of the play as England built up a substantial lead of 328. Thomas Haywood , the Surrey opening batsman scored 52. He was tallish and well built with a military moustache and bearing .Patient and watchful ,he reached his 1000 runs for 20 successive seasons. He was first choice for England from 1896 until 1909.In 1913 he became the first professional to reach his hundredth century in first class matches.

When Australia batted they were baffled by Bosanquet bowling his googlies. He took 6 for 51 runs in 15 overs. His main fame is due to him being  the inventor of the googly  The main batsman was Montague Noble with 53 not out.He is regarded as the greatest all rounder produced by Australia.In his career from 1893 until 1919 he scored 14034 runs at average of 40.80 and took 628 wickets at 23.08. Australia were bowled out for 171 so England won by 157 runs and the Ashes.

Facebook goes to Derbyshire

Posted by Tony Hutton

I spend a considerable amount of time posting pictures from my rather extensive collection on a Facebook site called 'Cricket Grounds of Britain'. I have recently posted three groups of club grounds in Derbyshire which I have visited over the years. There are over eight thousand members of this site and it really is fascinating to see some of the pictures they come up with of obscure grounds all over the country.

Quarndon, Derbyshire.

One of the benefits of publishing a large number of pictures is the response I get from other members, who often remember incidents that happened to them at particular grounds in their playing days from long ago. Others take objection to not having their own club grounds included and often post pictures themselves to put the record straight. For instance this week a gentleman from Buxton complained that I had not included a picture of the very attractive Buxton cricket ground. I had to explain to him that although I did see cricket there in the early 1970s, I did not have a camera with me and therefore have no pictures.

I was delighted to receive three aerial pictures of Buxton, taken by a drone, which obviously far exceed anything I could have produced. Another gentleman complained that I had not included the best ground in Derbyshire and sent me a picture without telling me where it was. It took me some time to work it out but eventually decided it was an up to date picture of Shipley Hall cricket club. It is much changed since I visited on the occasion of the club's centenary in 1999, but there are still small similarities with the pavilion. Fortunately I could inform him that two pictures appear today in my final instalment of Derbyshire pictures.

Shipley Hall, Derbyshire.

Possibly the best comment came from a gentleman from the north west of the county who thinks that I am missing out by not visiting several of the clubs in that part of the world. He waxes lyrical, saying that they are beautiful, idiosyncratic and all very different. He has promised to send me pictures to encourage me further, as if that was needed!

Most of the comments are complimentary and I enjoy sharing my pictures and travels from the past with a whole new world of fellow cricket ground enthusiasts.

Australian victory

By Brian Sanderson

On the 15 January 1904 in Adelaide ,Australia began in fine style after two defeats .Trumper scored 113 in just under three hours in a opening stand of 129 with Duff scoring 79. Hill with 88 and

 Noble with 59 enabled Australia to get to 365 for 6 by the close of play.

However Bosanquet bowled then out next morning for 388. Rhodes taking 1 for 45 and Hirst 2 for 58.

By the end of the second day England were 199 for 8 with Hirst with 58 and Warner 48 making reasonable scores. Wicket keeper Kelly ,took a remarkable catch on the legside to dismiss Tyldesley for 0. England were then all out next morning for 245 giving Australia a substantial lead
of 143.

Australia surged ahead leaving England to score 495 to win. A brilliant innings by Gregory of 112 in 115 minutes was in a stand of 162 with captain ,Noble, for the fourth wicket .Bosanquet bowling well in the a late spell takingthe last four wickets. Rhodes and Hirst both taking one
wicket.

A great opening stand of 148 by Warner and Haywood was not supported by the other English batsmen as they compiled just 126 between them . Hirst scoring 44 and Rhodes 8.

Hopkins was the most successful Australian bowler taking 7 wickets in the match. This was a good displayby the Australians but a dismal one by England. The result left it open for either side to win the series.

A Milestone at The Riverside

posted by John Winn

 There was some discussion on twitter yesterday which caused confusion  in some people's minds over the distinction between first class and championship when they appear in front of the word matches. Sticking my oar in  I used the example of Durham's first first class match being against Oxford University at The Parks in April 1992 but their first championship fixture being a couple of weeks later when Leicestershire were the visitors and the venue was The Racecourse Ground by the banks of the Wear in Durham City.

This discussion arose because this week marks the twenty fifth anniversary of a game between Durham and Warwickshire at The Riverside Chester le Street which of course was both first class and championship and the first in either category to be played at Durham's then new hq.

The first three years of Durham's first class cricket career had not gone well, they had finished bottom twice in the three seasons but at least the 1995 season had begun with a win when Hampshire lost by 26 runs at Stockton. In a low scoring match runs for Manoj Prabhakar  allowed Durham to set Hants 232 to win which they seemed certain to achieve with Robin Smith hitting 50 off 51 balls but when he fell to Simon Brown Hampshire collapsed to 205 all out and  John Wood had the honour of taking the tenth wicket.

It was soon back to square one for Durham with two heavy defeats, by eight wickets at Old Trafford and an innings defeat at The Oval, big scores here for Alec Stewart and Mark Butcher helped Surrey to their sixth highest total in championship history.

And so to The Riverside on May 18th when champions Warwickshire who had started the season with two wins but a loss at Old Trafford, won the toss and batted and after going for 652 at The Oval Durham's attack conceded 424 at their new home. Runs for Moles and Nick Knight. In Durham's reply John Morris had the honour of being The Riverside's first centurion and Prabhakar hit 66 in the second innings but that was about it and in bitter weather The |Bears were winners by 111 runs.

Play gets underway at the Riverside for the first time in 1995.

Durham;'s sequence of losses carried on until late June when Derbyshire became the first team to lose at The Riverside. Wisden remarked on the variable bounce of the wicket but Morris hit 99 against his previous teammates and a dogged 75 not out by Steve Birbeck gave Durham a decent first innings lead. Nine wickets for Simon Brown set them up for an eight wicket win when on the final morning Phil Defreitas, who had joined the match late having been released by England,went for 46 off 8 overs  as Larkins hit 50 and Roseberry who had a miserable first season as captain hit 36 not out.

This win meant Durham swopped places with Derbyshire at the foot of the table but by the end of the season the Peakites had risen to fourteenth and only Kent kept Durham off the bottom. Kent's wooden spoon was their first for exactly 100 years. For Durham things could only get better and they did, but not for about ten years.

The picture at the head of the blog takes us back to 2016 and the advent of the uncontested toss. Somerset captain  Chris Rogers became the first of many skippers at The Riverside to exercise his option by asking Durham to bat. A surprisingly large crowd has gathered to watch a man not toss a coin and another man confirm a decision he had probably made as soon as he saw the fixture list. 

The second picture shows the score at close of play on the fourth day of the last match of the 2015 season. The score 291 for 7 meant Durham had beaten Worcestershire by three wickets thus confirming the visitors' relegation and the not out batsmen are Richardson on 65 and McCarthy on 12. Borthwick had earlier hit 99. That this should rank amongst my favourite photographs might surprise readers for in those days when Durham's top order included the likes of Stoneman, Jennings and Borthwick chasing down a generous target was hardly reason for cracking open the Bollinger. The twist is that the picture was taken almost seven months later on April 5th 2016, a day on which Durham should have opened their season against Durham MCCU but rain wiped out wiped out play for the day. When the scorers, showing commendable optimism, opened up the scorebox up popped the score from the victory over Worcestershire from 2015 illuminated by the Stygian gloom. I love the idea that Richardson and McCarthy had been not out all winter and that Harrison might  still smarting for it is he against whose name the lbw had stood for seven months. If memory serves the score remained in lights until play was abandoned for the day in mid afternoon. 

New Year in Melbourne

By Brian Sanderson

The Second Test was practically decided on the first day. By careful batting England scored 221 for 2 at the close. Rain then ruined the pitch making it very difficult for the batsmen. Warner and Haywood had begun with an opening stand of 122. Tylesdsley and Foster took the score to 221 with the latter 49 not out.

The next day Foster was unable to continue his innings through illness. With rain interfering with most of the second day it was not until the third day that England's first innings was completed .The last 6  England wickets fell for 38.On a difficult wicket Tyldesley batted superbly before being out for 97.England finished on 315. Hirst scoring 7 and Rhodes 2 now batting at nine.

Brilliant batting by Trumper, who scored 74 of his side's total of 122, saved Australia from following on. Rhodes exploited the pitch by taking 7 for 56 in 15.2 overs. The innings was completed in 30.2 overs.

It was England's turn to cope with the difficulties of the pitch.At the close of the third day they were 74 for 5.

Play could not start on the fourth day until 3.30 but 14 wickets fell before the close at 6pm. Tyldesley again was the saviour for England batting superbly for 62 out of a total of 103. Relf was the only other batsman to reach double figures. Trumble was the best Australian bowler taking 5 for 34 .Foster was unable to bat.

Australia had no chance at all of scoring the 297 needed for victory and Wilfred Rhodes made sure by taking 8 for 68 in 15 overs. His 15 wickets in the match was a record which he held till it was
equalled by Verity with a slightly better average.

Hampshire's First Championship

posted by John Winn

This photograph popped up on twitter last week and its description leaves several questions unanswered. It is not dated, but must be 1961, only one player is named and we are left to identify the ground which is Dean Court, Bournemouth. With assistance and common sense the line up from the left is Peter Sainsbury, Leo Harrison, Butch White*, CI-M, ?, Danny Livingstone, ?,?,?. 

Tracking down the match is a little more tricky. Given that it is at Bournemouth and it was there on September 1st that a victory over Derbyshire clinched, after 66 years of trying, their first championship then this seems the most likely occasion. Hampshire batted first so it is not the first morning, Derbyshire were 23 for 1 over night, the clock if a little slow suggests this was the start of a day's play, and Hampshire began the third day at the crease which reinforces the idea that it was Thursday August 31st, the second of the three days. If so, the unidentified or missing players are Marshall, Gray, Horton,Barnard, Wassell and Shackleton. Marshall seems to be missing or obscured for he always wore glasses and I think I would recognise Derek Shackleton. 

Things become a little more complicated if we think it might have been some other match at Dean Court that year for Hampshire played six championship matches at the lovely ground in that historic season including one starting the day after the championship was won when Yorkshire, stung perhaps by surrendering the title to Hants, were victors by 58 runs, a century for Bolus and 12 wickets for Illingworth. Yorkshire batted first so it does not seem unreasonable that the photographer took this opportunity to capture the new champions. Hampshire were unchanged. Wisden attributed Yorkshire's failure to claim a hat-trick of titles to inconsistent batting for which even their excellent attack could not compensate. 

In Peter Wynne-Thomas's history of Hampshire County Cricket Club there is an excellent double page spread picture of the 1961 championship side with names but even with this to hand the quality of the photo at the top of this posting has not helped me to identify the full Hants' XI. Perhaps some of our readers will be able to help. 

* One Hampshire devotee believes this to be Henry Horton, not Butch White. 

Thanks to Tony we can now identify all ten players, whole or part, on the photograph.

from left to right Peter Sainsbury, Leo Harrison, Henry Horton, Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, Jimmy Gray, Danny Livingstone, Roy Marshall (obscured) Butch White, Mike Barnard, Alan Wassell, Derek Shackleton (missing from the copy I posted on Monday.

I should have trusted the man who said he recognised 'his old friend Henry Horton' rather than the man who said third from left was Butch White. 

Wilfred's first Test Match in Australia

By Brian Sanderson

Among my cricketing memorabilia I found a sketch book about the M.C.C. tour to Australia in 1903-04. The first test was at Sydney from 11-17 December 1903.The match was described by Wisden as 'a finer game has rarely been seen in Australia'. There was some fine batting in which 1541 runs were scored in the  match which was won by England by 5 wickets.

The Australians won the toss and batted first .Devon born Arnold soon struck twice having both openers caught. Three wickets down for 12 then the Australian captain ,Noble and Armstrong set about restoring the innings by adding 106 for the 4th wicket. At the close on the first day the Australians score stood at 259 for 6.

After rain during the night the Australian innings ended at 285.Hirst and Rhodes took two wickets apiece. England lost two quick wickets with Warner going for a duck. When Foster and Braund came together the innings began to flourish. At the end of the second day the score was 243 for 4.The next day they took their partnership to 192 when Braund was bowled by Howell for 102.Hirst, Bosanquet and Lilley both went quickly and the score stood at 332 for 8.Then came two stands of 115 between Foster and Relf and 130 between Forster and Rhodes .Foster was last man out having scored
287 in 7 hours of batting with 38 fours. It was his first innings in Test cricket. Rhodes  finished on 40 not out.

Australia with a deficit of 292 staged a great fight back. Rather surprisingly they changed their batting order and opened with Gregory and Kelly. Trumper opened the batting in the first innings but came in fifth in the second. He scored 185 not out .He batted for ten minutes under four hours and hit 25 fours.The innings ended at 485 leaving England 194 to win. Wilfred Rhodes  was the outstanding bowler sending down 40.2 overs with 10maidens and took 5 for 94.

Tom Haywood stood firm as Warner 8,Tyldesley 9 Foster 19 and Braund all fell at the other end as England slipped to 82 for 4.Hirst was then missed before he had scored but when on to take the score to 181 with Hayward when the latter was out for 91 by then the match was won. Hirst finished
on 60 not out.

1st September 1959

By Brian Sanderson

Whilst reading an old White Rose magazine I noticed an article
 by Nigel Pullen on Ronnie Burnet who he visited in 1994 and
talked about his life.


One of the most important matches he played in as Captain of
Yorkshire was the Sussex match in 1959.

He stated that Yorkshire could not get Sussex out on the last day before lunch .Sussex batted 40 minutes after lunch before Birkenshaw caught Marlar on the boundary. By then we were seething with Marlar for not declaring but he could not be seen to assist other counties. So we had to score 100 an hour and in the dressing room I said that we had two choices -we could shut up shop or have a go. The players all said "lets have a go " We changed the batting order a bit, I wanted Doug Padgett at No4.Some players objected that he could not hit but I said "he will score off every ball ".Doug and Bryan Stott put on 141 in just over an hour scoring more twos than fours so good
was the running between the wickets. There was even a three minute delay as Close hit a six out of the ground but
we scored 217 in 97 minutes " .So winning the Championship,the first since 1946.

Ronnie believed that Brian Sellers made two significant misjudgements ,when the Committee was not fully  consulted ,which had a long term detrimental effect on Yorkshire Cricket. The first was the decision to release Ray Illingworth. Sellers showed the letter to the press at Bradford without either talking to the Committee or the player.

Ronnie was also critical of the dismissal of Brian Close, again without consultation  with the full Committee. Ronnie also supported Close over the Edgbaston incident in 1966 when Yorkshire
was accused of time wasting.Brian Sellers wrote to M.C.C apologising which put Close in a difficult position.I was with Herbert Sutcliffe when he snaw  the letter and they were both
incensed.

Two sports in a day

By Brian Sanderson

On the 8th of April 1952 Yorkshire won their first match of the season at Park Avenue Bradford. But they only scored 77 runs.  No Championship was at stake for their opponents were Bradford
Park Avenue footballers. The two teams met in aid of the Olympic Appeal Fund.
Cricket took preference, the teams donned their whites and Bradford fielded first. Each batsman could receive a maximum of six balls and each fielder had to take his turn at bowling. Before a crowd of 2000. Hutton and Lester opened the innings. Billy Sutcliffe top scored with 12.

The highlight of the innings was when Don Brennan ,above, was given out for obstruction when he kicked the ball after scoring 9 runs. "I have got to get a bit a practice in for the football match, haven't I?' he commented.

Bradford were dismissed for 44 runs .Fullback Jeff Studdards and left half Deplidge were the footballers' top scorers with 11 and 9 respectively.

The football was refereed by Bill Bowes and the linesmen were Arthur Wood, above, and Ernest Ward the Bradford Northern captain. Bradford won the match 3 -1 with Leadbeater scoring for
Yorkshire.

Maybe this could be a good idea after lockdown..

Farewell to Peter Dibb

Posted by Tony Hutton

Yesterday brought the very sad news of the death of Peter Dibb at the age of 86. Peter was truly a  league cricket legend in the Huddersfield area for so many years. He first played in the Huddersfield League way back in 1948 and only retired following an incredible career with nine different clubs in the same league just ten years ago. Even then he carried on playing occasional Sunday games for a club called the Penguins and was obviously loath to give up the game completely.

The Huddersfield cricket league has always been a very close knit community and the number of tributes and condolences on social media speak volumes for the affection every club had for this outstanding servant of the game.

Always an all rounder, until his batting understandably declined in his later years, he won the league batting prize as long ago as 1953 with Honley and thirty years later won the league bowling prize with Paddock. His career figures make awesome reading - 12,759 runs at an average of 23.63 in 842 innings at first team level and 2,140 wickets at an average of 15.73, having bowled 13,228 overs.
He moved around the league after spending many years at his first club Honley and was obviously in demand as a professional for several clubs who all still remember him with great affection.

Not only was Peter a cricketer but a keen hockey player for many years and a regular athlete with Longwood Harriers taking part in races of all distances including veterans events well into his seventies. He also played bowls in his later years and all in all could perhaps be compared with the great 'Wilson of the Wizard' as an all round sportsman.

I personally only got to know him during the last ten years or so when I often shared his company watching Yorkshire at Headingley and at regular winter lunches with other cricket lovers from the Huddersfield area. Being only a few years older than myself, I found that he shared my views on many aspects of the present first class game and like me he disliked Yorkshire's current policy of short term overseas signings and players from other counties at the expense of their own youngsters.

He certainly lit up the dullest day at Headingley and was always a delight to talk to. He will be sadly missed by so many people who played both with him and against him over the years. I can only conclude with a description from one of his former team mates and oldest friends - we have lost a lovely man. May he rest in peace.