Most cricket leagues in Yorkshire about to re-start

Posted by Tony Hutton

As John Winn has already pointed out, league cricket is raring to go following such a long lay off. The club and league officials should be congratulated for coming to terms with such difficult circumstances which have affected our way of life in so many ways. Last weekend saw a bevy of friendly games and inter club matches which set the ball rolling, but this coming Saturday 18th July, will see the majority of Yorkshire cricket leagues back into action.

Collingham and Linton get underway last Saturday.

There are of course one or two clubs that have decided, no doubt for perfectly valid reasons, to shut up shop completely. Notable among these are Scarborough cricket club who will only have a second eleven running in the local Beckett League. The first team has withdrawn from the Yorkshire Premier League North, which will field only ten sides, as the Yorkshire Academy are not taking part either.

Although the Bradford League have not yet released revised fixtures, it is expected that they will start a week later on Saturday 25th July. Again one of the leading sides, Woodlands, have withdrawn and decided to re-lay their outfield and do other much needed maintenance jobs on the ground.

Adel had an inter squad game last weekend.

The Halifax League seemed particularly well prepared with several alternative scenarios ready for when the all clear sounded. Yorkshire Premier League South have decided to run a zonal league cup competition on a forty overs a side basis and the Drakes Huddersfield League have gone even further with just a thirty overs a side competition. It is of course still somewhat unclear what facilities, if any, will be available to the hard core of spectators who follow league cricket in the county. It will obviously be a learning process for all concerned.

The Yorks Senior League has produced a list of new geographically based divisions to shorten some of the travelling distances involved in such a large league. Other leagues which will be getting underway this weekend include the Aire/Wharfe league, the Nidderdale league, the Pontefract league, the Leeds & Wetherby League, the Dales Council and in the far north the North Yorkshire & South Durham league.

St Georges played the Wednesday Knights at Harewood House last Sunday.

Before all that at least two evening leagues are springing into action, the Wensleydale Evening League tonight (Wednesday) and the Headingley Evening league tomorrow night (Thursday). Good luck to them all and let's just hope that we are blessed with some fine weather.

Cricket on the horizon

posted by John Winn

As I'm sure many of of our readers will be aware club cricket has been given the go ahead to resume this Saturday and weather permitting, and the forecast is good, the blog should be able to resume its normal summer service providing eye witness accounts of cricket matches from near and far.  The season of course will not be anything like normal for with the start some three months behind the original date, clubs will not be able to play the full complement of matches and although my research has not been exhaustive several leagues have decided there will be no promotion or relegation.

The two clubs on my door step, Ouseburn and Whixley are both at home, OCC v Helperby and newly promoted Whixley also at home, their opponents Studley Royal II. Each club will play 8 Saturday matches, taking them up to and including September 5th and then the top four teams in each division will proceed to a play off competition.

Ouseburn have emailed their regular supporters setting out the restrictions for watching with the usual social distancing applying. The club room will be closed and there will be no refreshments provided. Spectators will need to bring their own seats and an area will be set aside for their use. I imagine similar arrangements will apply at other grounds. It won't be the same but it's better than nowt.

Back on the road again

10 July 1947

by Brian Sanderson

Today is my birthday and I thought it would be interesting to
see what was going on on this day.

The Yorkshire Post headlines were that Princess Elizabeth was
engaged to Philip Mountbatten.

World Bread Crisis- Frugal use of grain essential.

Tobacco for pensioners  allowed 2oz weekly at the old price.

Use of Yeadon airport will depend on Survey.

England had just beaten South Africa at Old Trafford.
Bill Edrich scored 191 not out in the first innings and
22 not out in the second innings. He also took eight
wickets in the match opening the bowling.

Yorkshire were playing Kent at The Circle Hull. Yorkshire
had been bowled out for 79 with Ridgway taking seven wickets
for 27 and was awarded his county cap.

On the 10th they did not start until 1 o'clock due to over night
rain.Arthur Fagg opened the batting and was still there at a score
of 73. He batted for over four hours to score 121 without a
mistake and included eleven fours. He was caught by Brennan
bowled by Alec Coxon Kent total was 244  with Coxon taking

six wickets for 102 runs.

Seconds at Hull in 1959

By Brian Sanderson

The above match was played at The Circle at Hull on the 

29 and 30 June 1959 against Cheshire in the Minor County

Championship .

Yorkshire were captained by Ted Lester whilst the Cheshire

captain was Frederick William Millett who played till 1973

for Cheshire. 

Cheshire batted first scoring 187 for 4 in 78 overs with Millet

top scoring with 88 not out. The Yorkshire attack was

David Pickles who finished playing for Yorkshire in 1960.

He was a fast opening bowler who was coached to change 

his action which resulted in him stopped playing first 

class cricket.

Barry Stead  who only played two first class matches for 

Yorkshire before moving to Nottingham where he played

215 matches till 1976.

Michael Hallawell who was born in Keighley but did not 

play for Yorkshire first team but moved to Warwick where 

he played just one first class match. He was a good soccer

player who played for Birmingham City Q.P.R ,Sunderland,

Huddersfield and Peterborough.

Jackie Birkenshaw  who played 30 first class matches before

moving to Leicester in 1961. Played 420 matches for them and

5 Test Matches.

Keith Gillhouley who played 24 matches for Yorkshire before

moving to Nottingham where he played 83 matches .

The Yorkshire wicket keeper was Terry Gunn who was 

born in Barnsley and went on to play for Sussex in 1961 

where he played 41 first class matches.

Yorkshire openers were Dickie Bird and John Bolus.

Dickie was soon out for 7 and the Vic Wilson came in.

There is a note on the scorecard saying Wilson last 

three innings in the seconds was 184, 94no and 

56 no. He finished with a second team average of 84,50.

Yorkshire declared with a first innings lead of 3 runs 

with just one wicket down.

Cheshire then set a target of 221 runs in 115 minutes,

Dickie was hit on the foot and had to retire on 13.

Comment on the scorecard was that all the Yorkshire 

players had a go to win. They just failed by 10 runs

as the match was held up for 9 minutes when Holding,

the Cheshire keeper got hit in the mouth. Otherwise 

Yorkshire would have won the match.

Warwick won the Minor League Championship with 

Yorkshire finishing fifth with 58 points. Cheshire only 

achieved 15 points for the season.

Cricketers of the past - Lancashire 1958

Posted by Tony Hutton

The Lancashire side of 1958 included many talented individuals, but for whatever reasons were unable to pull things together as a team and finished in seventh position. Their only consolation being that they finished several places above their traditional rivals Yorkshire in a season in which Surrey yet again dominated proceedings.        

On the left of the back row is wicket keeper Alan Wilson, a Lancashire lad who stayed with the club from 1948 to 1962. For much of the time he was in and out of the first team, as although a reliable keeper he was very much a tail end batsman and others who could score a few more runs were often preferred. In all he played 171 games for the county.

Next to him is a young, aggressive middle order batsman Peter Marner, who first played at the age of only sixteen in 1952. He stayed until 1964 and as well as making 18 centuries as a batsman, was a useful medium pace change bowler and excellent slip fielder. He joined Leicestershire after a dispute at Old Trafford and played there from 1965 to 1970.

Then we have Colin Hilton, no relation to team mate Malcolm Hilton, who was a very quick opening bowler. He played for Lancashire from 1957 to 1963, but did not become a regular first teamer until 1960. His best season was 1962 when he took 94 wickets, but a knee injury kept him out in 1963. He then joined Essex in 1964 but unfortunately could not cope with the new front foot no ball rule and had to retire from county cricket. However back in Lancashire he then had a very successful career in league cricket.

Ken Higgs, from Staffordshire, was originally a young centre half with Port Vale, but on joining Lancashire as a fast medium opening bowler he soon became a fixture in the side throughout the 1960s when, together with Brian Statham, he formed a formidable opening pair of bowlers.  Higgs played fifteen times for England between 1965 and 1968. He played for Lancashire from 1958 to 1969 when he retired to play league cricket with Rishton. However Ray Illingworth recruited him for Leicestershire, where he was again most successful playing in two Benson & Hedges winning sides as well as a county championship title.

Geoff Pullar, was a left hand opening bat who also went on to play for England. He played for the county from 1954-1968 and made 28 Test appearances between 1959-1962, scoring four centuries. He joined Gloucestershire in 1969, topping the averages in his first season, but the following year was forced into retirement with arthritis in his knees.

Tommy Greenhough was an outstanding leg spin bowler, who had to face fierce competition from the more senior spinners Malcolm Hilton and Roy Tattersall. He joined Lancashire in 1951 but it was several years later before he became a regular. 1959 and 1960 were his best seasons with 93 and 111 wickets and he even managed four Test for England. However a combination of injuries and loss of form rather hindered his career. He left Lancashire in 1966 to return to league cricket.

Last man on the back row is Noel Cooke, from Liverpool, who played as a batsman for the second XI in 1956, but made the first of only twelve first team appearances in 1958. He later played Minor Counties cricket for Cheshire.

First left on the front row is the Australian Ken Grieves, who came to England initially as a football goalkeeper who played for Bury, Bolton and Stockport County. However he soon settled in the role of a county cricketer with Lancashire and gave them distinguished service from 1949 to 1964. Although mainly a batsman, who scored well over 22,000 runs, he also bowled occasional leg breaks and was an outstanding slip fielder who took 555 catches. He captained the county in 1963 and 1964.

Then we have Bob Barber who had a long and distinguished career with Cambridge University, Lancashire, Warwickshire and England. A left hand opening batsman and another occasional leg break bowler, he was with Lancashire from 1954 to 1962. He was made captain at a young age in 1960 and 1961 and did not enjoy that period of his career. However a move to Warwickshire in 1963 seemed to remove the shackles and he played with much greater freedom. His best remembered innings was for England at Sydney when he made a wonderful 185. He retired after the 1969 season.

Cyril Washbrook was for many years the epitome of a Lancashire professional cricketer, a firm disciplinarian as captain and an outstanding opening batsman and cover fielder both for the county and for England, in partnership with Len Hutton. He played for the county from 1933-1959, interrupted by the second world war and was captain from 1954-59. His partnership with Len Hutton for England during his 37 Tests included a record opening partnership of 389 in South Africa in 1948, during which he made his highest Test score of 195. He was President of the county in 1989 and 1990.

Malcolm Hilton was a slow left arm bowler who earned fame as a nineteen year old by dismissing the great Don Bradman twice in a match in 1948. However he did not get a regular place in the side until 1950 and although good enough to play for England four times and to take 104 wickets in 1955, plus his only first class century, and even better 147 wickets in 1957, he suffered from lapses in confidence. He left the county after the 1959 season, both he and Tattersall were not selected to play in their own benefit match.

Roy Tattersall was an outstanding off spin bowler. A tall, slim man who came to county cricket at the relatively advanced age of 26 in 1948. He got a regular place in 1950 when he took an amazing 193 wickets. He continued to get over 100 wickets a season with regularity and was capped sixteen times by England despite considerable competition for places. Before leaving the county in 1960 he had taken a total of 1,369 wickets.

Frank McHugh

By Brian Sanderson

Recently I purchased  this signed paper image of Frank

McHugh who was one of  a few Leeds born cricketers and who only 

played three matches for Yorkshire in 1949.

He was born in Burmantofts on the 15 November 1925

and died on the 21 February 2018 aged 92 .He was a 6 foot 3 

inch right arm fast bowler. Initially  Frank came into the

Yorkshire side when Ron Aspinall was injured. His debut 

was against Essex at Headingley .His record with the ball

for Yorkshire was four wickets costing 147.With the 

presence of Coxon, Trueman and Appleyard ,he could 

not even play in the Second Eleven in 1950.

He then moved on to Gloucestershire where he took 

276 wickets in his career at average of 24.84

Consequently McHugh became with George Lambert

the best pace attack the county had known. In 1954 

he took 92 wickets for exactly 20 runs and in 1955

did almost as well with over 75 wickets ,whilst in 

1956 his average fell further to only 19 runs a wicket.

McHugh suffered from illness during 1956 and did not

play after June but bowled well in his last match taking

11 wickets for 112 runs. However he was discarded in 1957 

for David Smith. who went on to play 357 matches for 

the county.

McHugh 's batting was consistently inept. His average 

was 2.63 is the lowest by any first class cricketer to 

play more than fifty first class games. His  highest score 

was 18.

He moved to Bristol and played club cricket for Bristol

Optimists.

More about Charlie

posted by John Winn

Not for the first time during lockdown one thing has led to another and following Tony's follow up yesterday on C Aubrey Smith my reference to CA Absolom on Monday has led me to dig a little deeper into this enigmatic character's background.

Charles Alfred Absolom was born at Blackheath in 1846 and as I described in my last post died as the result of a dockside accident at Port of Spain in 1889. Educated at Calne School in Wiltshire he went to Trinity College Cambridge where he gained his blue for both cricket and athletics. In 1868 whilst playing for Cambridge against Surrey at The Oval he was given out 'Obstructing the Field', the first instance of this kind of dismissal, for 38. Details of this are sparse but it appears that while attempting a seventh run (sic) the ball being returned to the wicket came into his contact with his bat which presumably was the result of a wilful act on Charlie's part. Surrey won the match by 14 runs so the decision was crucial as well as historic.

Charlie's first class career began in 1866 at Lord's when he played for Cambridge against MCC and he made a promising beginning with 5 wickets and a useful 26 not out in the university's innings. Representative honours came his way in 1868 when he was selected for the Gentlemen v the Players. Absolom's first county match came later in the season when he played for Kent v Surrey at The Bat and Ball Ground in Gravesend, a ground where first class cricket was played from 1849 until 1971. He made an inauspicious start with the bat and did not bowl. His career with Kent continued until August 1879 when he again did not fare well in what proved to be his last first class match. This was v Notts at Trent Bridge and in an innings defeat for Kent he made 0 and 1 and went  wicketless.

The pinnacle of Absolom's career came in January 1879 when he was part of Lord Harris's  XI in Australia and New Zealand and in the only test match, played at the MCG, he entered the ranks of 'one cap wonders'. Five other English players in that match gained the same status, it was their first and last test. England were bowled out for 113 in the first innings, Charlie top scored with 52 mainly in a partnership with his lordship. He made only six in the second innings as 'England' fell to an innings defeat.

Absolom had studied at The Inner Temple with a view to entering the legal profession but nothing came of this and little is known about the last ten years of his life or at least how he made his living. A year, 1879, which had begun with him playing test cricket ended with him setting sail for the USA but it was by no means the end of his cricket career and thanks to Cricket Archive there is access to scorecards for many of these matches. In the meantime the intrepid Charlie spent time living with the Spokane American Indians along the Columbia River and records show that he worked as a purser on at least two ships.

He resumed his cricket career in 1888 playing for Staten Island CC in New York City, second XI. You can imagine the skipper saying 'Sorry Charlie, you may have played with Lord Harris at the MCG but you will have to start with the stiffs,' As he only made 1 this may be considered to have been a wise decision. Promoted to the firsts his cricket career in North America  takes him to places like Chicago, Ontario, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Brooklyn

Absolom's last recorded appearance was for All New York v Gentlemen of Ireland played at Livingston Field Staten Island where cricket is still played. He made a useful 36 in the first innings but the Irish visitors won by nine wickets.  Since Monday I have found a little more about the circumstances of his tragic death in Trinidad and it appears that he was killed by a falling crane which was loading a cargo of bananas. How and why did a man from Kent, who played cricket at Lord's and the MCG, and who won a test cap, just up sticks and leave England and leave virtually no trace until his death was reported. Forty years ago the late Benny Green wrote in The Cricketer of his obsession
with Absolom and that he had enough material to write a book but I have found no record of it having been published.

I have just found this picture of Charlie Absolom and it is nothing like the image of him that I have carried in my head since first coming across him two days ago. From it one can see how he came by his nickname navvy and believe  that his athletics' blue was for field events rather than running but it does support an account of his batting which spoke of his powerful hitting and disregard of the length of a delivery.  What trouble me is that the picture below also purports to be our man Charles and although facial hair of this length was popular amongst young Victorian gentlemen it is a gigantic leap to say it is the same person as above. Mystery man indeed.