A historic but long forgotten cricket ground near Wigan

 By Mike Latham

Walking in the grounds of Haigh Hall the other day reminded me of an excellent recent post by Alan Moore, on the Cricket Grounds of Britain Facebook group, about the site of the defunct Haigh Cricket Club ground.

Haigh is a small village north of Wigan, close to Aspull and Blackrod, Haigh Hall the former home of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, now owned by Wigan Council as a leisure facility.

There’s something eerie about visiting an old ground and you close your eyes you can imagine the sound of leather on willow. The footprint of the ground is still clearly visible, bordered by trees which formed the plantations of Haigh Hall. Approached up Higher Lane off the main Wigan Road from Aspull, the ground is hidden away by trees and forgotten, on the left-hand side just after some stables. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal runs to the south and west.

The site of Haigh CC in 1894

If you examine an Ordnance Survey map of the late 19th century, you’ll see many small collieries dotted around the landscape and the Earl’s family owned the Wigan Coal & Iron Company which employed hundreds of local people.

Haigh was quite a sporting centre at the time. In the 1880s they had a successful rugby team and produced Ned Bullough who went on to play for Wigan and became the club’s first rugby union international in 1892. This was three years before Wigan joined the breakaway and became a founder member of the Northern Union, the game which became known as rugby league.

Bullough was employed by the Haigh Brewery and went on to run several public houses. Neighbours Aspull also had a prominent rugby team at the time and one of their best players was Reuben Sharrock, who also played for Haigh Cricket Club.

Ned Bullough, Wigan’s first international

The cricket club’s roots go back to the mid-1800s. The exact date of formation is unknown, but they were certainly functioning in 1850, as reports of their games appear in the Preston Chronicle. Wigan CC formed in 1848 was a friendly rival.

Haigh’s ground was described as picturesque and one of the prettiest in Lancashire. They certainly enjoyed the patronage of important local people. At their AGM in 1890, for example, Alexander Lindsay, the Earl of Crawford was President and their list of patrons included Colonel Blundell, another important colliery owner and Member of Parliament for Ince, together with three other local MPs.

The old Haigh ground today

In 1886 Haigh CC appointed a club professional for the first time, whose duties also included preparing the ground. They chose wisely, recruiting James Tyldesley, a talented all rounder whose cheerful demeanour made him popular around the club.

Tyldesley went back to his old club, Westhoughton after serving Haigh well for several seasons and produced four sons, William, Dick, James and Harry who all went on to play for Lancashire, Dick in seven Test matches for England.

Haigh joined the Bolton & District Association in 1896 and two years later achieved their greatest feat. Westhoughton won the league and the runners-up were to play them for the Cross Cup. Haigh tied with Halliwell for second place and so the two clubs played-off for the right to play Westhoughton. Haigh won convincingly, 140 plays 37, and met Westhoughton at Tonge CC the following Saturday, their old professional now in the Westhoughton ranks.

It was Haigh’s finest moment, as in front of a large number of spectators they routed the champions, bowling them out for 29, Armstrong, their opening bowler taking seven wickets. Haigh knocked off the target for the loss of two wickets, Sharrock at the crease when the winning runs were hit. Haigh batted on to give the spectators some value for money and Tyldesley captured six wickets in a losing cause.

At the annual dinner later that year at Hamer’s Commercial Hotel in Bolton, all the victorious Haigh players were presented with gold medals by Lord Stanley MP.

For reasons unexplained Haigh left the Association after that season and resumed playing friendly matches, regular opponents being Leigh, Horwich, Wigan, Leyland, Formby, Prescot and St Helens Recs.

Their demise is shrouded in the mists of time, but the club appears not to have resumed playing after the first world war. In 1920 Standish CC bought two pavilions, a mower and a roller from the Haigh Club, suggesting the latter had been wound up.

Reuben Sharrock the cricketer

Reuben Sharrock played for Haigh CC from a young age and the Wigan Examiner reported: ‘when in hitting mood he was a veritable Jessop. Few men in the district could surpass him in slogging.’

After Aspull rugby club folded in 1895, he played a few games for Wigan and later became a director of the club. He was also a director of Wigan & District Co-operative Society before moving to Blackpool to run a boarding house in Bispham with his wife.

His younger brother Jimmy became one of Wigan’s finest fullbacks, playing nearly 300 games and becoming a member of the first Northern Union touring teams, to Australia and New Zealand in 1910.