Yorkshire restore order

 posted by John Winn

Warwickshire went from 1911 to 1951 without winning the county championship and even allowing for the interruptions caused by two world wars this is a long period. The years between 1919 and 1930 were particularly barren for only twice in this time did they finish in the top ten, ninth in 1924 and 8th in 1925, years in which they could rely on the hero of my last posting, Harry Howell, to bowl a thousand overs and take at least 100 wickets. 

In 'The trouble with Harry' I referred to the one occasion in his career when Howell took all ten wickets in an innings, at Edgbaston in 1923, a season which was typical of many for Warwickshire between the wars. Wisden describes that season as 'disappointing' with twelve out of twenty six games lost and only six won, a set of results that saw them finish 12th out of 17 counties. Harry's 'tenfor' was achieved against Yorkshire in a match beginning on May 23rd and 'put into the shade everything else that was done for the county during the season'. (Wisden). Too much reliance on Howell and a decided lack of class in the batting explained their lowly position. 

Warwickshire came into the match with an easy win over Worcestershire, a draw against Northants and a defeat by Derbyshire to their name. Yorkshire had thrashed Glamorgan, Worcestershire and Middlesex and drawn with Lancashire (of course) before arriving in Birmingham. Rain washed out much of the first day, there was no play until 4:30, but before the close Howell had reduced the champions to 67 for 5, Oldroyd 32 not out. Refreshed possibly by a couple of pints of Brew XI*, our Harry returned next day to clear up the remaining five wickets and leave Yorkshire 113 all out, Oldroyd top scored with 44 and Howell's figures were 25.1-5-51-10.

That was about as good as it got for Warwickshire for they succumbed to 110 all out with Macaulay and Kilner in the wickets. Batting did not get any easier and at 59 for 5 in their second knock Yorkshire's condition was 'critical' but they were rescued by Kilner and Leyland with a stand of 84 and although play could not begin until 3:30 on the third day Yorkshire were able to 'force a win' by 84 runs. WG Quaife top scored for Warwickshire with 22 and Macaulay added four to the five wickets he had taken in the first innings. The two sides met again at Hull in July when Howell bowled another 50+ overs with nine wickets in the match. Yorkshire won by 96 runs but on the first morning Howell threatened briefly to repeat his feat of taking all ten. Yorkshire's first five contributed only 16 runs but Harry's progress to another clean sweep was thwarted when Leyland was run out and Harry had to be content with just six victims to which he added another three in the second innings. Not content with his efforts with the ball our hero scored 36 in the first innings, his highest score in first class cricket. What a man. 

*Brew XI is still available but the beer for 'The Men of The Midlands' is brewed in Cardiff. And people ask what's wrong with the world. 

Six Warwickshire stalwarts of the 1920s

(left to right) 

EJ Smith WG Quaife, FSG Calthorpe, JH Parsons, LA Bates, H Howell

England's most northerly cricket ground

By Mike Latham

One of my favourite cricket grounds is Pier Field, the home of Berwick Cricket Club, the most northerly cricket ground in England.

These days the club fields two teams in the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League.

Getting there by car is not for the faint-hearted. The ground is approached by going through a gap in the historic town walls, then along the narrow road that has a steep drop towards the sea with not even a handrail to assist a pedestrian, never mind a barrier for the motorist.

The famous artist, LS Lowry, holidayed in Berwick-upon-Tweed every year for many years and painted many of the town’s landmarks. There’s a Lowry trail you can follow, which includes the stone-built pier, the distinctive red and white-painted lighthouse and the colourful bandstand that you pass on the way to the cricket.

The cricket-lover then follows the small, narrow road up the hill that opens-up towards the wonderful expanse of land that houses the cricket club.

Berwick CC, founded 1844

Berwick CC have been playing here since 1844 and in 2019 celebrated their 175^th anniversary, a proud achievement. The field is spacious with wonderful views eastwards to the sea and looking south towards Tweedmouth, Spittal and further to Holy Island and beyond.

No need for sightscreens…

There is no need for sightscreens. If bowling from the north end the bowler’s arm comes out of the sky; from the south end the middle properties in a row of terraces are thoughtfully painted white.

…from either end

The Magdalene Fields Golf Club is situated to the north; beyond a Haven Holiday Park that the famous actress, Julie Walters visited a few years ago for a television series on the area, when she interviewed some of the caravan occupants, struck as she was by the stunning views.

The cricket club was founded on 28 June 1844 when around fifty enthusiasts banded together to acquire the use of land beyond the Elizabethan Walls at the Cowport gate.

It has had many ups and downs since then, at times threatened by extinction due to declining player numbers, only to be happily revived.

The field has also been used for other purposes; once a training ground for Berwick Rangers while grass tennis courts were laid out during the summer months, an annual week-long competition held. There is a nice, modern pavilion and a fine electronic scoreboard and the people involved in the club are real enthusiasts. It is a good job they are, as competing in the league requires often long journeys down the A1. Allendale away requires a round trip of 184 miles.

The Berwick CC marquee for the 175th celebrations 

Back in the day the club was also home to the cricket team from the neighbouring barracks, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Cricketers would come straight from parade in time to bat or bowl.

Many games were staged on Thursdays as the twice-weekly corn and cattle markets, held Wednesday and Saturday, occupied the attentions of many aspiring cricketers.

League cricket came late to Berwick, the team finally entering the Border League in 1986. The second team later entered the now defunct Alnwick & District League, and in more recent seasons both first and second elevens have participated in the Northumberland and Tyneside Cricket League.

One hundred years or so ago the Berwick CC fixture list would look far different than it does today. There was an annual Berwick Cricket Week, often including touring sides from Edinburgh or the Newcastle area, an eagerly contested Berwick v Berwickshire County match.

Coldstream CC, sadly long defunct, were great rivals, including in their number old Etonian Lord Dunglass, later Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the only British Prime Minister to have played first-class cricket (for MCC, Oxford University and Middlesex).

Obtaining a third in Modern History at Christ Church College did not detain him long and, in those days, he seemed far more interested in cricket than politics. A sensible chap, and judging from the reports of the time, someone who was highly respected among the tightly knit Border community.

In 2019 the former Snooker World Champion John Parrott was guest of honour at the club’s 175^th anniversary dinner and by all accounts did an outstanding job. The club also proudly hosted the MCC that year, 25 years after their previous visit.

Previous speakers at the club’s annual dinner include such notables as Brian Close, Dickie Bird, AC (Alan) Smith, Brian Bolus and Phil Edmonds.

Cricket finally returns, July 2020

In July 2020, on the first Saturday of cricket after the Lockdown I attended Pier Field, an excellent in-house game between the club’s members prior to the start of league cricket the following Saturday.

It was wonderful to see cricket being played again after such a long delay.

I noticed a bench seat, a remnant of the old Mound Stand at Lord’s, dating back to 1887

During my visit I got talking to a veteran member who informed me that cricketing greats Frank Woolley and Tich Freeman had once played at the ground.

When I got home, I discovered Pier Field hosted a two-day game between Berwickshire and Kent in September 1925 during Kent’s five-match tour of Scotland.

That got me thinking and, since then, I have researched the tour, alongside my friend from deepest Norfolk, the estimable Mike Davage- and a fascinating story unfolds. It is a story we hope to recreate in book form later this year. It won’t be a best-seller, but it’s a great story all the better for the telling.

The Bramall Lane story

 Posted by Tony Hutton

                           Bramall Lane, Sheffield.

One of my Lancashire friends kindly sent me an article from The Guardian last week which celebrated the fact that it was fifty years ago this winter when the shareholders of the Sheffield United cricket and football club held a referendum on whether to cease playing cricket on their dual purpose ground at Bramall Lane. The result was in favour of cricket remaining, but six months later the decision was made in favour of the football club so that they could build a new stand on the fourth side of their ground.

The last match turned out to be a Roses championship match with Lancashire early in August 1973, yet another of my 'I was there' moments. Living in Sheffield as I did then and having been a regular at the Lane during the late sixties and early seventies, I had enjoyed watching the Yorkshire side of that time including the famous victory over the Australian tourists in 1968. I recall sitting next to an elderly lady in front of the pavilion who had watched all the great names of cricket over the years and regaled me with tales of Wilfred Rhodes and Jack Hobbs among many more.

                                              Wilfred Rhodes

So it was that the last game began on a sombre note with players and spectators standing in silence before play to remember Wilfred Rhodes, the greatest Yorkshireman of them all, who had recently died at the age of 95. The Bishop of Wakefield read an epitaph to the great man.

Captains Geoff Boycott and David Lloyd at the toss.

The final game proved to be something of an anti-climax. What had always been a daunting place for visiting players due to the often vociferous spectators, never short of an opinion or a reaction to events, was reduced to an embarrassed silence by the poor showing of the home batsmen on the first morning. Yorkshire all out for 99, with Peter Lee the main destroyer with six wickets for 43 runs.

                             The unhappy home supporters did not enjoy lunch.            

Lancashire fared little better when they batted and they were 74-7 when play ended on the first day. The ever reliable Tony Nicholson destroyed the top order in a splendid early burst of wickets. Rain prevented any play on day two but fortunately, due to an invitation from my friend and business colleague Frank Lowson, I was able to join a glittering array of cricketers both past and present at a celebration dinner held at Sheffield City Hall that evening. I had to remind Frank that he and Len Hutton put on 286 against South Africa at the Lane in 1951.

It was an evening of cricketing reminiscences from such great names as Norman Yardley captain of England and Yorkshire, Peter West of the BBC, Alan Wharton of Lancashire, Neil Hawke of Australia, Fred Trueman, Arthur Booth and Bill Bowes all Yorkshire legends.

Boycott leads out Yorkshire for the last time at Bramall Lane.

The last day of cricket at the famous old ground was even more of an anti-climax with the wet weather continuing until mid- afternoon. When play eventually started to ironic cheers from the crowd, Sullivan who had taken four wickets on the first day again distinguished himself with 48 not out to give the visitors a slender lead. They then declared on 111-8 and, with no chance of a result, left Yorkshire to bat out time which they duly did with echos of slow moving games from the past.

With the spectators trying to get the batsmen to hit out to end the game and so many years of history with a six, Sharpe and Johnson plodded on to take the total to 114-2 in 72 turgid overs. Sharpe improved his average with 62 not out and Johnson calmly prodded the last ball, bowled by Simmons, slowly back to the bowler.

Last ball to be bowled in the long history of Bramall Lane cricket.

The pitch was invaded at the end by a crowd of not only young boys but many more mature men, armed with tools of varying descriptions to dig out a piece of the hallowed turf to take home with them. Wonder how many such pieces still survive in the lawns of South Yorkshire.

Now it was time for the local press to provide us with reams of memories from the past, great players, great performances and enough to fill a book. Keith Farnsworth recalled the morning in 1948 when Ron Aspinall, the Yorkshire bowler, claimed the first Australian wicket with the third ball of the morning. The roar matched anything that ever greeted a goal in a football match at the ground.

He also pointed out that one of the last match umpires, Arthur Fagg of Kent, was the only batsman not dismissed by Hedley Verity, who took 9-12 against his county. Horace Fisher famously took a hat trick of lbws, Cameron of South Africa hammered Verity for 30 off one over, and perhaps most memorable of all the July day in 1933 when Douglas Jardine, fresh from leading England to Ashes victory in Australia, was afforded a standing ovation all the way to the wicket when he walked out to bat for Surrey.

One final point made by former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Bill Bowes, by then a most respected journalist, was that there should have been another game at Bramall Lane the following Wednesday. Yorkshire were expecting to play Essex in the second round of the Gillette Cup and plans were already being laid for the game to be televised from Bramall Lane. Unfortunately to most people's surprise Yorkshire had been beaten by Minor County Durham at Harrogate in the first round and Essex had to travel to Durham instead.

Leek takes centre stage in 1986

By Mike Latham

There is nothing like the excitement of seeing cricketing history, especially for a groundhopper.

When Derbyshire CCC entered a sponsorship arrangement with Staffordshire Moorlands Council in the late 1980s to take Sunday League games to out-grounds in the district it opened-up a great opportunity to tick off new county grounds.

Beginning in 1985 Derbyshire played Worcestershire at the splendid Knypersley ground, which I’ll write about in due course. The following year it was Leek CC’s turn, the town where the county captain, Kim Barnett, went to school, Warwickshire the visitors.

Kim Barnett batting for Derbyshire, Norman Gifford at mid on

Not only did I find some photographs of the game during a recent loft search, but the programme, too. And to think I only ascended the ladder to find my daughter’s old riding trophies.

Derbyshire v Warwickshire, 18 May 1986, John Player Special League at Highfield, Leek.

I remember going to the game with my dad, driving through Stockport, down the A523 past Macclesfield, finally the helpful and welcoming people on the gate, being able to part the car close to the boundary, the audience a large and respectful crowd of cricket-lovers.

Watching Derbyshire was a joy- so many friendly people including the familiar faces of the programme sellers, the raffle ticket dispensers and the old boy who pottered around with his distinctive Derbyshire tones, ‘Derbyshire Year Book.’

It was a simply wonderful publication, presided over for many years by the estimable FG (Frank) Peach. I collected everyone back to the mid-1960s, they remain a treasured archive. Great attention to detail, the articles written by Michael Carey, especially on departed players, particularly poignant.

The Warwickshire captain, Norman Gifford, won the toss and invited Derbyshire to bat in front of an expectant crowd.

Derbyshire struggled, particularly against Brian McMillan, Warwickshire’s new South African signing.

The Derbyshire innings underway

Then aged 22, McMillan went on to play 38 Tests and 78 ODIs for his country and having served his apprenticeship in Warwickshire’s Second XI in 1985 after coming over on a scholarship deal that existed between Transvaal and Edgbaston, he was keen to make his mark.

Barnett was a victim of McMillan- to a catch off the bowling of Tim Munton for 23 and only county stalwart Alan Hill made much of the Warwickshire bowling.

Alan Hill makes runs through the leg-side

Hill battled his way to 43, easily the county’s top score as Derbyshire subsided to 132 all out, McMillan claiming the wickets of Hill, Reg Sharma and Roger Finney for 22 runs.

The highly respected Gifford, then in his mid-40s claimed 2-15, ending the Derbyshire innings by bowling ‘Great Dane’ Ole Mortensen.

Ole Mortensen bowling for Derbyshire

Jutland-born Mortensen was a huge favourite around the county grounds and a fine fast bowler who gave the county great service, taking over 600 wickets in both forms of the game.

Bruce Roberts, an occasional Derbyshire wicketkeeper

Derbyshire experimented with having all-rounder Bruce Roberts, born in Zambia, as wicketkeeper, and he caught Dennis Amiss off Mortensen as Warwickshire looked vulnerable in their reply.

Roger Finney opened the bowling for Derbyshire

With Andy Lloyd run out and Gordon Lord lbw to Roger Finney, the visitors struggled to 15-3.

McMillan, batting at four, played a highly responsible innings which belied his tender years.

In the generic 16-page programme issued for all Sunday League games at that time, with a one-page insert for the specific game, he said: ‘I like to think I’m not a batsman who can bowl or vice-versa, but a genuine all-rounder.’ The cover of the programme, bizarrely, featured the Essex batsman, Ken McEwan.

He proved the point with an unbeaten 37 and with help from wicketkeeper Geoff Humpage (25) and Asif Din (33) Warwickshire got home with five wickets intact and an over in hand despite some miserly Derbyshire bowling spearheaded by West Indies ace Michael Holding (0-18 off 8 overs).

Michael Holding bowling for Derbyshire

The Highfield ground at Leek has since staged another seven List A games, four involving Derbyshire, the others for Minor Counties or Staffordshire fixtures.

Oxford University 1948

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Having recently gone back in time to look at an outstanding Cambridge University side it is perhaps only fair that I have now come across a picture of Oxford University's 1948 team, which includes many notable characters as well as a few surprises. Oxford were perhaps never quite able to match the superior talents of Cambridge, but still did pretty well with later teams under both Colin Cowdrey and Mike Smith. The 1948 team however were able to pull off a major surprise with an innings victory in the Varsity Match at Lord's against a Cambridge side which included Dewes, Doggart, Bailey and Insole, all future England players.

                                Oxford University 1948                

Back row:- Nigel Bloy (12th man), William Davidson, Basil Travers, Chris Winn, Basil Robinson.

Middle row:- A.H. Kardar, Philip Whitcombe, Tony Pawson (capt), Tony Mallett, Geoffrey Keighley.

Front:- Clive Van Ryneveld and Hubert Webb.

Starting with Nigel Bloy who was from Plymouth and later played Minor Counties cricket for both Devon and Dorset, as well as Gloucester second. A left hand batsman his top score in first class cricket was 77 against a strong Yorkshire side in 1946 when he was dismissed by the leg spin of Len Hutton.

William Davidson, born in Middlesex was a wicket keeper with few pretensions as a batsman. He played for Oxford in 1947 and 1948 and occasionally for Sussex between 1948 and 1951. His highest score in first class cricket (31) came in 1956 when playing for M.C.C. against Oxford.

Basil Travers was born in Sydney, Australia and was an all round cricketer as well as one of three players in this side who all played Rugby Union for England. He was a flanker and collected six England caps before returning to Australia. He began well as a cricketer scoring 167 not out and carrying his bat through the innings for Oxfordshire Minor Counties against Bedfordshire in 1946.

Never quite matched this for the University with a highest score of 65 not out and best bowling of 4-65.

Chris Winn, from Beckenham, was another Rugby Union international winning eight caps for England as a winger. He was a left hand bat good enough to play for Sussex between 1948 and 1952.

Basil Robinson was an off break bowler from Eastbourne who had two seasons with Oxford taking a very useful 53 wickets in that time with a best performance of 6-55 and making a top score of 51. He later played cricket for Canada and was an all round sportsman at soccer and rugby who lived to the ripe old age of 93, before he died in Ottawa, Canada.

Abdul Hafeez Kardar was an all rounder, left hand bat and slow left arm bowler. Born in Lahore he represented India before partition and then later played 23 Tests for Pakistan, many of them as captain from 1952-1958. He also played for Warwickshire from 1948-1950.

Philip Whitcombe was a Londoner and an opening bowler who bowled very quickly, enough to be considered a Test prospect at one time. Especially when he clean bowled Len Hutton twice in a match against Yorkshire, taking 5-32 in the first innings. Very tall, at six foot four, he bowled well in the Varsity match of 1948 taking 7-51 and also did well for the Gentlemen v Players that year. He then dismissed Don Bradman when playing for Middlesex. However these proved fleeting moments of fame and he disappeared from the first class scene to play Minor Counties for Wiltshire from 1947-1962.

Tony Pawson, the captain, was a right hand bat and yet another good all round sportsman. He had played for Kent seconds as a teenager before the war and continued to play for the county from 1946 to 1953. He also played in two amateur cup finals at Wembley for Pegasus and briefly first division football for Charlton Athletic. He scored seven first class centuries and in 1988 was made an O.B.E. for services to angling.

A.W.H. (Tony) Mallett was yet another Kent cricketer from 1946-53. Was a team mate of Trevor Bailey at Dulwich College and at one time considered his equal as a cricketer. He became a schoolmaster and spent many years teaching in South Africa.

W.G. (Geoffrey) Keighley was another man of many parts. Born in Nice, France he captained Eton College and was considered as a future captain of Yorkshire. Indeed he was awarded his county cap in 1951 after he had scored 110 against Surrey at Headingley. He also scored 99 for Oxford in the 1947 Varsity Match at Lord's and it was rumoured he had been offered the captaincy of Middlesex when amateur captains were all the vogue. However he turned his back on all this and emigrated to Australia where he became in turn barrister, farmer and member of the New South Wales legislature.

Clive Van Ryneveld was a South African, but that did not stop him playing Rugby Union for England winning four caps as a centre. He later captained his native country at cricket being a splendid right hand bat and occasional leg break bowler. He played 19 Test between 1951 and 1957 and was a practising lawyer in South Africa.

Finally last but certainly not least we have Hubert Webb, born in the strangely named Indian town of Tonk in Rajasthan. He was a racquets blue as well as a cricketer and his moment of fame came in the 1948 Varsity match. Batting at number six, with a season's average of only 18, he came in with the Oxford score on 96-4 and made an impressive 145 not out, with 17 fours, in only 170 minutes. He shared in an eighth wicket partnership of 112 with Mallett and took the Oxford score to 361-9 declared. After just one match for Hampshire in 1954 (against Oxford) he turned his back on cricket for a career as a specialist in neurovirology becoming a professor at St Thomas's Hospital in London.

The Trouble with Harry

 posted by John Winn

In my last posting which concerned the unfortunate Roy Park who played one test for Australia in which he was bowled first ball in his only innings the supporting cast was led by Harry Howell who bowled the best ball of his career to dismiss Park. Howell died in 1932 aged 41 and in his obituary Wisden describes him as 'a famous fast bowler' who 'dropped out of first class cricket in 1929. This description of the conclusion of Howell's career does not tell the full story. 

Howell's career started in 1912 but his golden years began in 1920 when his 132 wickets for 'a poor Warwickshire side' earned him a place in the Players' eleven for both games against the Gentlemen and selection for the MCC team to tour Australia in 20-21. 1923 was perhaps Harry's best season, a season in which he bowled over 1000 overs taking 152 wickets which included all ten Yorkshire batsmen at Edgbaston in May of that year. This was a feat he never repeated but he did on two occasions take nine wickets in  an innings, 9 for 35 against Somerset at Taunton in 1924 and 9 for 32 against Hampshire at Edgbaston the following season. 

Illness delayed Harry's start to the 1925 season but he was fit enough to mop up Surrey's tail at The Oval before the end of May. This after Hobbs and Sandham had added 160 in the first ninety minutes. 'Welcome back, Harry, hope you are feeling better'. By the end of the season our hero had bowled over 800 overs and taken 111 wickets, 52 more than his nearest fellow Bear, WG Quaife.

Wisden began its report on Warwickshire's 1926 season with these words: 'Warwickshire no longer commanding the services of Harry Howell.....' but the averages show he did play one championship match in which he bowled 35.4 overs taking 1 for 119 and did not bat. This was in the last match of the season away to Somerset.. Harry's absence was not due to injury or illness for the invaluable Cricket Archive reveals that he had been playing in the Lancashire League for Accrington as professional and in the last match of the season away to Bacup he had top scored with 18, not bad for a man who averaged under eight in first class cricket. 

Howell is next seen in first class cricket on June 15th 1927 playing for Warwickshire at The Oval and Wisden reveals that his appearances were restricted to mid week matches during the second half of the season because of his league commitments to Aston Unity CC, a team still in existence and with a history going back to 1868. Despite his part time status Harry managed to garner 30 wickets but his six visits to the crease yielded only 12 runs. 

Harry was to play a further 7 matches for his native county and his last appearance in first class cricket was at Egbaston beginning on July 18th 1928 when Kent came to town. Characteristically he got through 31 overs in Kent's first innings. For his last victim he took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Kent opener HTW Howell for 17 as the match petered out to a draw. A return of 21wickets at a cost of almost 39 apiece suggests the old fire had gone, he was approaching forty. Cricket Archive lists 18 matches for Aston Unity in 1929 and in what appears to be his last recorded match he took 2 for 20 in 5 overs. Just a week before he had scored 35 and taken 6 for 39 at home to Smethwick which shows he was still a force in league cricket. Sadly just three years later he was dead. I can find no reference to the cause of such an early death

That's entertainment- but with a Government Health Warning

 By Mike Latham

There was something magical about the John Player League in the early 1970s. Sundays back then were not the sport-filled days that followed, too many regulations and restrictions on pub opening hours, shopping a no-go.

The 40-over league, one match televised live and uninterrupted on BBC2, introduced by Peter West, commentary by Jim Laker and John Arlott was a highlight of the week for many cricket badgers like me.

Back then, largely as a result of watching the Sunday League on tv, that’s if you didn’t manage to attend a game, you could quickly name each County XI, recognise virtually every cricketer. I certainly couldn’t do that now, not even with Lancashire, my own county, or Derbyshire, who I followed avidly back in the day.

Another good thing was that counties took games to out-grounds, creating a real sense of occasion and excitement.

Yorkshire, a case in point, taking games back to Fartown in Huddersfield, often rewarded by their highest crowd and day receipts of the season. Last a first-class venue in 1955, Yorkshire played Sussex there in 1969 in the John Player League, then returned each year from 1974 until 1982, most of which I attended.

Long one of my favourite Rugby League grounds, the rugby pitch to the north, a shared doubled-sided grandstand in-between- since the ground was transformed in 1891- having previously overlapped with the cricket.

Fartown in 2020- a depressing sight and site

Pre-Lockdown a year or so ago I re-visited Fartown while researching a rugby league article I was writing. It was heart-breaking to see the dereliction to the site, the famous clock tower monument to the trio of Huddersfield-born cricketers, Schofield Haigh, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst forlorn. Why on earth hasn’t this iconic memorial been re-located to a friendlier location? It should be a designated as a national treasure.

The famous clock tower

I thought back to the first day I saw cricket at Fartown. Yorkshire v Northamptonshire, John Player League, 2 June 1974.

There was a five-figure crowd, the ground, decaying but still capable of staging such an auspicious game, a huge sense of occasion.

Yorkshire batted first, only captain Geoff Boycott making much of the Northants bowling. A decent attack too- Sarfraz Nawaz, a highly respected Pakistan Test cricketer, John Dye, left arm opener, ex-Kent, the great Colin Milburn, in what proved his final season in the first-class game with fellow Durham lad Alan Hodgson, David Steele, soon to be an England hero and the redoubtable captain, Jim Watts.

John Player the sponsors. Each packet carries a Government Health warning, so the scorecard read. But you can still sponsor us. Different times, different values.

The scorecard for the Yorkshire innings

Boycott, my scorebook tells me, was missed off difficult chances at 15 and 89. After a lean spell he had scored two centuries in the Test trial at Worcester the week before- remember those games?

Boycott reached his second John Player League hundred- the first an unbeaten 104 against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay the year before- in the 39^th over. He finished unbeaten on 108. At first, I thought, scoring, it was 110, but the last ball, an apparent six off Sarfraz, was later confirmed as a four, the last of 14 he hit off 118 balls.

Richard Lumb and Phil Sharpe were the next highest scorers, 18 apiece, Colin Johnson with 10 the only other to reach double figures.

Each Packet carries a Government Health Warning. But you can still sponsor us.

Northants’ reply was dismal. In no time at all they were 46 for 7, two wickets for Tony Nicholson, three for Arthur Robinson.

Milburn, batting at six, received a warm reception from the Yorkshire faithful. After hitting three fours he was caught by Nicholson off left-armer Bore.

Wayne Larkins was then aged 20, struggling to adjust to first-class cricket. Northants showed great patience with him, obviously seeing his potential, later realised with 13 Tests for England, 25 ODIs. Batting no7 he hit 45, seven fours, one six, his highest one-day score to date. He went on to hit 26 one day centuries, a further 59 in the first-class game.

Wicketkeeper George Sharp, another Durham born lad, hit three sixes in an eighth wicket stand of 48 that helped Northants creep over the hundred-mark.

The scorecard for the Northants innings

They finished 127 all out, a win for Yorkshire by 59 runs. Robinson 3-22, footballer Arnie Sidebottom, fresh off a relegation season with Manchester United, 3-34.

Start at 2pm, over by 6-17pm. 25 minutes for tea in-between.  Local joy unconfined. That’s entertainment.