Nostalgia yet again

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Brian's recent posts regarding old scorecards from the past confirm that it is that time of year again. Old scorecards can trigger off memories from the distant past and bring back long forgotten stories. The comment about Bob Appleyard having a puncture on the way to Scarborough for the Yorkshire v Scotland match in 1951 is just one example. 

This reminded me of a story from Stephen Chalke's excellent book on Appleyard, 'No Coward Soul'. He explained that Appleyard normally travelled by car along with Frank Lowson, who on this occasion was playing for England. Suffering a puncture without assistance he struggled to change the wheel and arrived two hours late. Subsequently he was suspended for one match, which turned out to be the vital championship decided with Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Yorkshire were already without Hutton, Lowson, Watson and Brennan, all playing for England in the final Test with South Africa.

As a confirmed Yorkshire supporter, living in exile in the Midlands, I was distraught to see Warwickshire win by an innings and finish the season as champions. At the time the press did not report the reason for Appleyard's absence, during the season in which he took 200 wickets, and it remained a mystery to me until the publication of Stephen Chalke's book over fifty years later.

Frank Lowson and Bob Appleyard together at Headingley.

(From Stephen Chalke's book 'No Coward Soul').

Yet another bit of welcome nostalgia arrived on my computer this week. This time it was the full scorecard of a benefit game for Martyn Moxon at which I was present back in 1993. Thanks to Nick Briggs who I have recently got to know through a weekly Zoom meeting for local cricket enthusiasts and who actually played in this game for Bilton-in-Ainsty, a village team on the road between Wetherby and York. He jogged my memory last week during our chat and produced the very well kept and detailed scorecards.

Bilton-in-Ainsty 1993

I only stayed for the first innings of the game and my normally comprehensive records were incomplete, just showing that Yorkshire made 185-9 in their thirty overs, with the beneficiary appropriately 106 not out. I presumably left under the impression that the local club side, even with the assistance of one or two guests, would not bat for too long. How wrong I was!

Martyn Moxon takes a breather between overs.

Despite losing their two openers with the total on only two, the Bilton -in-Ainsty Invitation XI knocked off the runs to win by five wickets, with two overs to spare. This was largely due to the efforts of just two batsmen, West Indian Test player Clayton Lambert who made 90 before retiring and S. Ratcliffe who made 65. No one else made double figures. Lambert was then playing league cricket in the North Yorkshire and South Durham League and may well have left early in order to play for another team in the Harrogate Evening League.

The tented village at Bilton-in-Ainsty.

However an exciting finish which again I was completely unaware of over a period of twenty seven years. Just to complete the story my informant, Nick Briggs, had bowled eight very tidy overs and taken the wickets of Craig White and Jeremy Batty for just 42 runs before Martyn Moxon cut loose at the end of the innings and plundered a further 33 runs from his final two overs. Good to know that Nick is still turning his arm over for Yorkshire over 60s and appeared in the final match of the season for Arthington at Harewood recently.