160111 - in conversationfiles.pitchero.com/counties/147/1452895602.pdf · 2016. 1. 15. · cherry...

“In Conversation” is a Publication of the League Cricket Conference

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In Conversation The Voice of League Cricket

Issue 1. January 2016

HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?

The League Cricket Conference was founded

in 1962. Such was the importance that the

1963 Edition of the Wisden Cricketers

Almanack devoted space and reporting, on

page 783, that it was formed to meet the

aspirations of “an association of Northern

and Midland Cricket Leagues”. League

Cricket had begun in these areas by the late

1890s, the Birmingham League having been

founded in 1888, during the latter years of

the reign of Queen Victoria. Wisden reports

at the first meeting held on Sunday 27th May

1962 at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground that

the following Leagues were in attendance:-

The Bolton Cricket League, The Bradford

League, The Central Lancashire League, The

Lancashire League, The Lancashire And

Cheshire League, The Huddersfield League,

The North Staffordshire League, The

Northern League and The Yorkshire Council.

Wisden stated that this inaugural meeting

decided upon:

� “The formation of a body “to be

known as League Cricket

Conference whose primary aims

should be to foster the needs of

League Cricket and to guarantee its

future;

� “The emphasis on the payment of

highly paid professionals should be

moved to provide better coaching,

better grounds and better facilities;

� “The Conference should meet in

early March and early October

each year {Editor’s Observation –

Conference in 2016 is resuming

this noble tradition};

� “The MCC to be informed of the

creation of Conference, of the

interest of Leagues in the Counties

Knock-Out Cup Competition and

further that the MCC be asked to

use their influence to remove the

legal obstacles to the playing of

cricket and the collection of gate

money on Sundays;

� “The Birmingham League be

invited to join Conference”.

The concept of establishing an umbrella

organisation which could promote League

Cricket is still enshrined to this day in

Conference’s Constitution, a point re-

affirmed in the Questions and Answers

Section at the end of this edition of ‘In

Conversation’.

A second meeting took place in 14th October

1962, also at Old Trafford, where the

Ribblesdale League was invited to join. This

meeting saw delegates from The National

Cricket Association and the Yorkshire

Federation attend as Observers.

Old Trafford before its 2013 rebuild

In the early years the position of Chairman

was elected for each meeting. The first ever

meeting was chaired by Mr D M Haynes,

then President of the North Staffordshire and

District League. Between 1962 and 1977, 16

different people chaired meetings of

Conference. One individual, Mr J Burnhill

was to chair three meetings over an 8 year

period. It is only since 1977 that the position

of Chairman became a decision of the

Annual General Meeting of Conference.

There have been many individuals associated

with Conference who have gone on to

provide great service to our Summer Game -

Doug Scholfield was a doyen of the early

years of Conference with more recent years

dominated by the presence of the late Robert

Cherry (1977 to 2013) and the talismanic

Neil Edwards (1983 to 2015) who as

Chairman and Secretary respectively

oversaw the expansion of Conference to be a

truly national organisation with Leagues

from Cornwall to the North East of England.

Conference’s first President elected in 1970

was the famous West Indian Cricketer and

long serving stalwart of Nelson Cricket Club

in the Lancashire League, Learie

Constantine. (Nelson won the Lancashire

League in 8 out of the 10 seasons in the

1930s whilst Constantine, who later was

given a Knighthood and made a life peer,

represented that club). It was the West Indies

who provided Conference with one of its

most famous successes in 1993. A

Conference Under 25 Side played the touring

West Indies Under 19 team in a three day

game at Shenley winning by one wicket in a

two innings contest. That West Indian Side

contained five players who went on to play

Test Cricket including Shivnarine

Chanderpaul and Dinanath Ramnarine. The

latter took 6 wickets in the second innings

with a mixture of leg breaks and googlies,

but an unbroken 15 run last wicket stand

between Barry Hamilton and Eddie Shah saw

the Conference home to a dramatic victory

chasing 216 to win in 46 Overs. Shah from

Radcliffe of the Central Lancashire League

had taken 5 wickets in the tourists first

innings, whilst Nathan Wood (son of the

Lancashire and England Test Batsman Barry

Wood) scored heavily in both innings for

Conference.

(We will in future Editions look back in the

annals of the early years of Conference. If

you have your own memories of the early

meetings of Conference, or of the characters

who attended, please send them to the

General Secretary Rob Sproston.)


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CROSS COUNTRY

There is a major re-organisation taking place

in the broad acres of Yorkshire League

Cricket. April 2016 will see the formation of

two new ECB accredited Premier Leagues

based on geography.

The Yorkshire League North will comprise

the existing six “northern” sides from the

Yorkshire League plus the six top Clubs from

the York and District League.

The member clubs are Acomb, Castleford,

Driffield, Dunnington, Harrogate, Hull,

Scarborough, Sheriff Hutton Bridge,

Stamford Bridge, Woodhouse Grange, York

and The Yorkshire CCC Academy.

The composition of Yorkshire League South

comprises the existing seven “southern”

clubs, from the Yorkshire League, four

moving from the South Yorkshire Senior

Cricket League and one drawn from the

Central Yorkshire Cricket League.

The member clubs are Appleby Frodingham,

Aston Hall, Barnsley, Cleethorpes, Doncaster

Town, Rotherham Town, Sheffield

Collegiate, Sheffield Phoenix United,

Treeton, Wakefield Thornes, Whitley Hall

and Wickersley Old Village.

The two parallel competitions will be based

on 50 Overs a side, a maximum of 16 overs

per bowler, a minimum of six fielders

including the bowler and wicket keeper

within 30 yards of the bat at all times and the

use of Duckworth Lewis where a game in

interrupted.

Meanwhile, the Bradford League (formed in

1903) is to amalgamate with the Central

Yorkshire League (founded in 1938 ) with

the aim of becoming an ECB accredited

Premier League by 2017. The two Leagues

intend to work in partnership in 2016 with

full merger to be completed by 2017. Under

the planned new structure there will be below

the top flight, two Championship Divisions

comprising current Division 2 Bradford

League Clubs and teams from the Central

Yorkshire League. The winners of each

Division will be promoted to the new

Bradford Premier League. Below the

Championship Divisions will a Conference

Division made up of the remaining Central

Yorkshire League Clubs.

There will finally be a Champions Trophy in

Yorkshire with the Winners of the Yorkshire

Premier League North, Yorkshire Premier

League South, Bradford Premier League and

the North Yorkshire South Durham Premier

League competing for the accolade of “top

dog” in “the Broad Acres”. The four ECB

champion clubs will play semi-finals at

Headingley and Scarborough in mid-

September with the two winners meeting in

the inaugural final in Abu Dhabi in mid-

October.

In the South of the County, Sheffield United

CC (formed in 1854) and Rotherham

Phoenix CC (formed in 1933 as Steel Peech

and Tozer Cricket Club ) have announced a

merger. The newly merged Club to be known

as Sheffield and Phoenix United will ply its

first team cricket in the ECB Yorkshire

Premier League South playing its home

games at the SHU Sports Park, whilst the

second team will play in Rotherham and the

third team back across the Rivers Don and

Rother in Sheffield. The Club are hoping to

play Sunday League Cricket in the Barnsley

League, though at the time of publication this

is the subject of ratification.

Across the Pennines In the Red Rose County,

league mergers also abound. This has, in

part, been caused by a new Greater

Manchester Cricket League. The League

which launches in April 2016 will be made

up of three divisions of 12 teams.

The Premier Division comprises Bury,

Clifton, Denton St Lawrence, Denton West,

Edgworth, Egerton, Flixworth, Glossop,

Greenmount, Heywood, Prestwich and

Unsworth. Games will be 50 overs aside.

There will be four up four down as the

League looks for a rapid fluidity. The new

League may well become, in cricketing

terms, the equivalent of the words of the

Chancellor of The Exchequer a “Northern

Powerhouse”.

The Central Lancashire League (formed in

1892) has merged with the Saddleworth

League (formed in 1899) to form a Pennine

League from 2016.

The decision was taken on 18th June 2015 at

Ladyhouse Milnrow with the official launch

taking place on 24th September 2015 at

Boundary Park, the home of Oldham Athletic

FC. At the time of publication it is envisaged

that there will be two divisions of 12 sides,

13 sides coming from the Central Lancashire

League and 11 from the Saddleworth League.

The Central Lancashire League made history

in 2015 when Kate Cross, the England Test

Cricketer, became the first woman to play in

the League when taking 8 wickets in an

innings for Heywood. Her cricket playing

team-mate Sarah Taylor this winter became

the first woman to play Australian Grade

Cricket.

The Bolton Cricket League has subsumed a

number of clubs from the Bolton & District

Cricket Association to form an expanded

competition. 2016 will see a 21 team

competition, all sides playing the other once

as a precursor to a two division structure

commencing in 2017. The September 2015

minutes state the top division will be called

“the Premiership” and the lower Division

“the Association” thereby keeping a link to

the past. The Bolton & District Cricket

Association had been formed in 1888, the

minutes of the first meeting suggest it took

place two weeks before the formation of the

Birmingham League. Whereas the

Birmingham League became the first league

in the Country in 1889 the Bolton & District

Cricket Association ran the Cup

Competition. The Cross Cup is said to be

one of the oldest cricket trophy’s which is

still being played for in the cricketing world.

(The Heavy Woollen District Challenge Cup

is believed to be the oldest active competition

having begun in 1883 in the Spen Valley of

Yorkshire.) History appears to be repeating

itself in Bolton however, for the Bolton

Cricket League was formed in 1930

following the breakaway of a dozen clubs

from the Bolton & District Cricket

Association.

As a consequence of these mergers, The

Lancashire County League disappears after

22 years existence.

The West of England also witnesses a re-

organisation but this time among the top

clubs’ second teams. Instead of competing in

their own competition, second teams will

now join the main linear pyramid structure.

For example, Bath 2nds and Bristol 2nds

each find themselves playing in Level 3 of

the WEPL just two levels below their first

teams. The change has also seen an

expansion in the County Leagues in Bristol,

Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire as

second third and fourth teams are given the

opportunity to climb the pyramid in their

own right. Yet mergers even here do bring

casualties along the way as witnessed by the

disappearance of the North Somerset


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Saturday League although the separate

Sunday Competition continues.

A plan described as “radical” by the

Shropshire Star Newspaper put forward by

the Birmingham Premier League to scrap its

fourth tier from the end of 2017 with the

clubs in that Division moving back to the

County Feeder Leagues was rejected by the

Clubs from Herefordshire, Shropshire,

Staffordshire and Worcestershire at the start

of December 2015. The proposal would see

from the start of 2018 season a structure

comprising three tiers, the motivation being

to cut back travelling for Clubs in the fourth

tier and encourage a greater level of

participation at a more local level. Resistance

from Clubs resonated to the theme of status

and prestige at being able to call oneself a

Birmingham League Club. This issue was

still subject to further debate at the time of

publication.

Travelling down the River Severn, The

Worcestershire County Sunday League has

put forward innovative proposals for the

2016 Season to encourage greater interest

and participation. The proposals involve the

1st XI Competition comprising a T20 format

played over 10 to 12 week period when

Clubs do not have other national and local

Cup Games. The 2nd XI competition would

see a mix of longer and shorter form cricket.

Both competitions would be regionalised at

first instance.

In other news, Ian Britcliffe of Ribblesdale

Wanderers became, in the 2015 season, the

first amateur in 88 years to take 100 wickets

in a season in the Ribblesdale League. The

last amateur player to achieve this feat was J

Pollard of Darwen CC.

In the Bassetlaw League (founded in 1904),

Jim Garton is standing down after nearly 30

years of service on the League Management

Committee. Jim who is also a member of

Harthill CC, has been appointed an honorary

vice-president of the Nottinghamshire based

League.

Across the River Trent, there was a double

celebration for Etwall Cricket Club of the

Derbyshire County League in 2015. Maurice

Vaughan received in the Queen’s Birthday

Honours List a British Empires Medal for

services to cricket. Maurice had been club

captain for 20 years and President for 40. Jo

Webster won the Derby Telegraph Volunteer

of the Year Award at a ceremony in

November 2015. The ceremony was told

that Jo undertakes a staggering list of tasks

for the Division 4 Club.

A British Empire Medal for Services to

Cricket was also awarded in 2015 to

Christopher Evans of Ashford Cricket Club

who play in Division 2 of the Surrey

Championship and Ed Davies of Bishops

Cannings Cricket Club. The latter has been

the driving force in the rise of the Wiltshire

League Division 6 Club, being Chairman,

Fixture Secretary and Groundsman. The

Club was formed in 1988 by “a group of five

friends in a local pub”.

The 2016 New Year Honours List included a

British Empire Medal to John Hilsum for

services to cricket on the Isle of Wight. John

has been a long standing official of Ventnor

Cricket Club and general member of the

Southern Cricket Premier League

Management Committee.

Other people to receive awards at the end of

the 2015 Season were Mike Talbot-Butler

and David Humpage, for 40 years unbroken

service to the Cheshire County Cricket

League. They have been to the fore since the

League was established in 1975.

The North Yorkshire & South Durham

League, the most successful League in the

history of LCC inter-league cricket, enjoyed

another dominant representative season in the

North-east, winning both the senior

Wilkinson Cup and the under 21 equivalent,

and setting seven new competition records in

the process, five of them against close rivals

North East Premier League.

There was double championship glory for

Richmondshire captain Gary Pratt (he of the

Ricky Ponting run out fame) and his club

colleague Toby Bulcock – they led the

Dalesmen to their third Premier title in four

years, and also combined successfully to lift

Cumberland to the Minor Counties

championship. Bulcock was leading wicket

taker in both competitions, an achievement

that earned him the Sunday Sun North East

Cricketer of the Year award.

There were also two truly ground breaking

events.

Helen Fenby & Jack Slatcher with their Awards

Norton’s Helen Fenby became the first

female to play in the NYSD’s Premier

Division, whilst Newton Aycliffe’s Jack

Slatcher took 10 wickets for 4 runs in a

Division Three game – the best bowling

figures in the League’s 123-year history, and

the best figures recorded in all cricket in

England during the 2015 season as evidenced

by the ECB’s popular national honours

boards.

To mark the 25th anniversary of Darlington

Building Society’s sponsorship of the NYSD

25 new inductions were made into the NYSD

Hall of Fame, with Michael Gough being the

final one at the presentation evening in

November. Gough, a former England under

19 captain and Durham cricketer, was voted

the Professional Cricketers Association

Umpire of the Year for an unprecedented

fifth season in a row in 2015. The former

Hartlepool player cut his umpiring teeth in

the NYSD, and still suggests that umpiring in

the professional game is easier!

Bill Dolman, President of Chippenham CC

received an Unsung Hero Highly

Commended Award at the 2015 Wiltshire

Council Awards Ceremony. Chippenham

play in the Glos/Wilts Division of the West

of England Premier League.

Across the River Severn spare a thought for

Yorkley Star CC. The Forest of Dean Club

with a proud 135 year history was unable to

finish the 2015 season due to continuing

damage caused to their “Cut and Fry

Ground” by wild boar. The ground having

been re-laid was left in devastation following

a return visit by boars and bringing into

question the very future of the club which for

many years had played in the Gloucestershire

County Cricket League.

On the other side of the English Channel,

French Cricket (played the English Way!)

appears on the up. Traditionally associated

in the Ile de France around the Paris

Metropolis where ‘ex pats’ have introduced

the game, moves are now afoot to play the

game in Britanny. Central Brittany Cricket

Club, based in the village of Silfiac in easy

reach of the ports of Roscoff and St Malo, is

taking a pioneering role and has asked the

English Recreational Game for help. Clubs

looking to arrange a tour in Brittany can

contact Don Smith ([email protected]).

The Club offers a grass pitch for use from

Mid April to October.

AND, FINALLY, a cricket match with a

difference between an all Muslim Team

known as The Mount Cricket Club (members

of the Huddersfield Central Cricket League)

played a side from the Vatican in Rome in a

one day match on a synthetic pitch in Rome

on 17th October. This is an example of how

sport can build bridges between different

sects. For the record it was a narrow victory

for the RCs.


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1966 - FIFTY YEARS AGO IN

LEAGUE CRICKET

We will, in future editions of ‘In

Conversation’, take a look at League Cricket

of yesteryear. This edition goes back 50

years.

1966 saw League Cricket as still a bastion of

the North and Midlands and South West of

England. The South of England was still

predominantly termed as playing “friendly

cricket” although those who played it at that

time would say that it was still competitive

with a strong will to win. As the Club

Cricket Conference Centenary Handbook

reported at page 21, it was only in “the late

1960s when an evil northern habit comes

south”. A cultural revolution was indeed in

the offing, albeit not one as dramatic as that

announced by Chairman Mao on 1st August

1966 in China! The Surrey Championship

and The Southern League based around

Hampshire for example were established in

1969, whilst both the Kent League and the

Middlesex County League followed a year

later.

The immediate impression when looking at

the statistics from the 1966 season is the

quality of player that turned out in Club

League Cricket. Australian Test Batsmen

Bob Cowper with East Lancashire and Keith

Stackpole for Ramsbottom were the leading

run-scorers in the Lancashire League. Both

had featured in the Aussie Test Side against

England the previous winter, Cowper having

scored 307 in a 12 hour epic innings in the

Fifth Test March at Melbourne in February.

East Lancashire, the Blackburn based club

won the Lancashire League and Worsley Cup

Double. Stockport also achieved a notable

double winning the Central Lancashire

League at a canter and lifting the prestigious

Wood Cup. In the “Port’s” Ranks was

Australian and Lancashire Pro Ken Grieves.

The runners up Crompton were indebted to

the West Indian Pace Bowler Roy Gilchrist

with a staggering 117 wickets in the League

season costing under 10 runs apiece.

The Northern League was won by Darwen

CC. Founded in 1902 this was the first time

that they had secured the Northern League

Title, in the process fending off a strong

challenge from Blackpool. ‘The Sea-siders’

had in their midst the West Indian Test

Player Cammie Smith who recorded two

centuries during that ‘summer of 66’.

Darwen had two notable playing

achievements of their own. Club

Professional A Bolton four times passed a

half century whilst K.B Smith took 6 wickets

or more in a game on no less than four

occasions, his eventual tally of 59 wickets

costing under 10 runs apiece.

Across the Pennines, Idle CC won the

Bradford League by just one point, it being

the second of three successive League

Championships. Idle Cricket Club was

founded as Idle United Cricket Club on 20th

July 1861 although there was a previous club

called “the Flat Pot Club”. Its present name

dates from 1889 and the Club joined the

Bradford and District League in 1906. Two

famous England Players of the early

twentieth century played for the Club during

the First World War – Sir Jack Hobbs,

known as “the Master” and Wilfred Rhodes

(Rhodes holds the distinction of both opening

the batting and being number 11 for England

in his long 30 year career). Idle’s bowling

threat in 1966 was immense dominated by

the Sherred brothers, Richard and Martin

who took between them 140 wickets. This

included Richard taking 9 wickets in one

match against Undercliffe CC and just for

good measure took the catch for the wicket

that evaded him. This achievement is even

more startling when one considers that

Undercliffe had earlier dismissed Idle for just

94. Undercliffe CC might have lost to Idle,

but they had the distinction with the leading

wicket taker in the League, Les Jackson, the

long serving Derbyshire fast bowler who had

played for England as recently as 1961 who

took 63 wickets at a cost of just 9 runs each

in that wet summer of 66.

There was just one point between the top two

sides in the North Yorkshire South Durham

League in 1966, Bishop Auckland pipping

Middlesbrough CC for the principal

silverware. The ‘Bishops’ have won the title

five times in their history, but this success in

1966 was 32 years after its last. Their season

included F.A Campbell taking 8 for 23 in the

victory against local rivals Darlington. In the

South Yorkshire League, Elsecar CC made it

three consecutive seasons as Championships

in 1966. The Barnsley based Club founded

in 1854 also finished runners up that year in

the Yorkshire Cricket Council Honours List.

Even closer was the finish in the Birmingham

and District League, Walsall and

Kidderminster tying on points and being

crowned Joint Champions. Walsall, for three

years in the 1950s, had the West Indian

Mystery Spinner Alf Valentine in its ranks

and is believed to be one of the oldest clubs

in England. Latest records recently

unearthed suggest the club may have first

played in 1812.

1966 saw ex Middlesex fast bowler Tim

Angus take 104 wickets in a season in the

Durham Senior League playing for Horden,

whilst former England and Yorkshire

cricketer Alex Coxon aged 50 had a season

to remember with 71 wickets costing just 10

runs apiece and scoring 504 runs

Whilst one of Huddersfield’s favourite sons,

Harold Wilson was being returned as prime-

minister in the 1966 General Election,

Meltham CC were winning their first ever

Huddersfield Premier Championship.

Meltham CC were founded in 1867, which

ironically was the same year that Queen

Victoria and Napoleon III turned down the

idea of a Channel Tunnel between England

and France.

The North Staffordshire & South Cheshire

League, which had in previous seasons seen

Sir Garfield Sobers playing for Norton CC,

was won by Longton, for whom Nasim Ul

Ghani was the leading League run scorer.

The Club which plays its home matches at

Trentham Road Blurton Stoke on Trent were

then to win the title a further four times in the

next six years.

With the Beatles all the rage, their record

Yellow Submarine winning the Ivor Norvello

Award for “ the highest certified sales of any

single issued in the UK in 1966”, it was

perhaps apt that Birkenhead Park should

continue their dominance of the Liverpool

and District Championship, winning the title

for the sixth time in seven years.

In the south west, Cornwall J H B Holmans

CC won for the first time the Runciman Cup,

a feat they were to repeat in the following

two years, the Trophy itself having been

presented by the great Liberal Politician Sir

Walter Runciman to Penzance Cricket Club

in 1934.

The League Cricket Conference Rothmans

Cup Final in 1966 was between the Bradford

League and Bolton League, with the

Yorkshire League Side coming out on top

481 years after the Battle of Bosworth.

1966 was a season made more difficult by

bad weather. The Kinks may have had a

Number 1 Record that summer with “Sunny

Afternoon”, but there were all too few of

them in 1966. More apt was a chart topper of

1966 “The Sun Aint Going To Shine

Anymore” by The Walker Brothers. Such

was the climatic conditions that Wisden

reported a League Season of ball dominating

bat and reducing crowds. We will hope that

in terms of weather and crowd support there

is no repeat of 50 years ago in 2016!


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GROUNDS OF APPEAL

Conference has attended many Club Grounds where League Cricket

is played. Some lie blissfully in rural splendour, others co-exist

within urban sprawl. Most have a story to tell.

“In Conversation” “The Voice of the League Cricket Conference”

will therefore re-tell the stories of some of our most historic grounds

which we have visited and perhaps let you in on a secret or two on

the way!

It is apt that we should start at a Ground which Conference has

visited on the most occasions in its 53 year history, Middleton

Cricket Club in Greater Manchester.

Middleton is to Conference Delegates what Wembley Stadium is to

football followers. It remains the venue that delegates most want to

visit, a Mecca nestled below the imposing inclines of The Pennine

Hills.

Middleton Cricket Club

Middleton Cricket Club’s official nickname is ‘The Moonrakers’.

The Club had a number of homes, before putting down roots firmly

at Towncroft in 1889. The pavilion was opened on 19th April 1889,

historical archives refer to the great and the good attending. John

Willie Lees (J W Lees is a beer still on tap at the ground) as

Alderman of Middleton performed the ceremony. Another

individual who was to gain Alderman Status was a John Henry

Wood, and it was he who purchased what had been Glebe Land

from the Reverend Thomas Jones and the Ecclesiastical

Commissioners for £1,800 in 1922.

The Ground was subject to strict Restrictive Covenants which in

addition to limiting user to a cricket ground for the benefit of the

local town, also prohibited the playing of cricket and the selling of

alcohol on the Sabbath. Within two years the ground comprising in

excess of three acres had been transferred to the Trustees of the

Cricket Club, albeit subject to these Covenants. Readers will be

relieved that they will not have to endure another Legal Update,

hasten to say that the release of the covenants to allow League

Cricket on a Sunday and the opening of a bar for the sale of

alcoholic drinks consumed much time and debate eventually

including a meeting with the

Incumbent of the Parish Church.

It is fitting therefore that we re-

publish word for word a paragraph

from the Club’s Web Site

concerning a discussion between

the Rector (Harry Moore) to

Hubert Taylor (representing the

Club)

“ I have not seen you recently in

Church Hubert”. Taylor is said to

have replied “ No I have not seen

you in the White Horse either!”. A

bar was not opened at the ground

until 1965.

The Ground has witnessed many a

great Player bestride its verdant

field. Names salivate the tongue

like a crème brulee. Hedley Verity

was the Club Professional between

1928 and 1930, playing for the

Club before being able to break in

to the Yorkshire First Team and

thereby continuing the umbilical

chord that has historically existed

with slow left arm spin bowlers

and ‘the White Rose’. Verity was

to dismiss the Great Don Bradman

more times than any other test

opponent. Frank Tyson who ‘The

Don’ described as the fastest

bowler he had ever seen and was

called the Typhoon, learnt part of

his cricket at Towncroft.

Basil D’Olivera, excluded from

playing cricket in his native South

Africa due to the colour of his

skin, took up the mantle of Club

Professional at Middleton from

1960 to 1963 to satisfy English

Residency Requirements. There

he learnt the consummate art of

being able to bat and bowl in

English Conditions.

And so today we return, an annual

pilgrimage to a ground, which if it

could talk, would enrapture.

League delegates can be ‘Curious

Coves’ for example sitting in the

same place in the pavilion for a

hearty lunch year after year. Some

delegates prefer the left hand side

of the room, others bond more

closely to the right to look out on a

ground which has succumbed to

only moderate change in recent

decades. The far side of the ground

from the pavilion stands a long

covered metal enclosure with

wooden benches at ground level

for the discerning to ponder their

latest Club Pro and the abilities of

the next crop of youngsters. This

is the oldest part of the ground

with the housing of the Rochdale

Road behind, a ready reminder of

the northern heritage. The wooden

benches fronting the pavilion have

been replaced with the plastic

bucket seat, perhaps a cast off

from first class cricket grounds,

but like the wooden bench offering

minimal comfort to the posterior.

The pavilion includes a mock-

tudor facade

The Hollins Lane End reflects the

development of cricketing

facilities with all weather nets and

a store area to house ever larger

and more elaborate ground

machinery. It is also the entrance

to the ground from the road which

makes its slow descent to the town

itself

The Towncroft End is the least

disrupted, trees offering a discreet

curtain from the ‘Between the War

Houses’ a product of this country’s

Ribbon Building era. The Ground

remains quintessentially English, a

Town Club set within the Town’s

Immediate Catchment Area. This

is no ‘out of town purpose built

facility’ lacking gravitas. The

Ground’s historic pedigree emits

from its every orifice. The

memorabilia in the pavilion its

living testament.

Next Time- Journey to the Centre

of the Country.


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‘LEAGUE PEOPLE’

Every foot soldier needs a capable leader; a

person who can through intuition and

understanding put forward a favourable battle

ground. Leagues over the years have been

dependent on its capable leaders to ensure

that Club Cricket can endure and prosper. “In

Conversation” “The Voice of the League

Cricket Conference” will provide recognition

to some of our leading administrators who

have led their field. This Edition offers a

panegyric on Clive Harris of Derbyshire.

Clive Harris is your archetypal Trade Union

Leader. He is passionate about the cricket

playing membership of Derbyshire which he

represents. Blessed with fine oratory skills

and reasoned arguments, he has been one of

the most effective of League People.

Derbyshire League Cricket has prospered as

a result.

Clive Harris

He was Chairman of the Derbyshire County

Cricket League for 17 years until 2001. The

Ripley and Heanor News wrote, at that time,

of Clive that he transformed a League “near

bankruptcy into an organisation with assets

in excess of £31.000”. At the same time he

brought a unity to League Cricket being one

of the drivers in the merger of the Derbyshire

County League with the Central Derbyshire

League. Derbyshire as a County is as diverse

as you can get. It has a proud industrial

history yet at the same time some of the most

outstanding scenery in the Country, the Peak

District became the first National Park in

1951. Yet Clive was able to succeed in

bringing clubs with very disparate

backgrounds into an epi-centre of cricketing

might. The Derbyshire County League

became one of the strongest in the country

led by a strong willed Chairman.

A quality of leadership is being able to get

others to buy into your vision and Clive built

a management structure which his

successors, as officers of the Derbyshire

County League, were able to build upon

when a new challenge arrived for Clive. As

the twentieth century was about to draw its

last breadth, the England and Wales Cricket

Board evolved the concept of Premier

Leagues. Embodied with the twin objectives

of raising the standard of the top level of the

recreational game and improving the player

pathway, it required League People of

Eminence in Counties Nationwide to

implement. Clive was that person in

Derbyshire working with people who would

follow in his drive. The Derbyshire Premier

League was one of the jewels in the ECB

Crown. The DPL became a template which

other Leagues acquiring Premier League

Accreditation in the early part of the 21st

Century could follow. Clive became the face

of Derbyshire Cricket in the same way that

Bill Gates was the face of Computer

Technology. Success came on the field as

well. The League’s representative side

winning the Conference’s Presidents Trophy

three times in the first six years of the

noughties, whilst Sandiacre CC triumphed in

the National Clubs Final beating Bath at

Lords in 2004. The Pop Singer Prince may

have sung “Party Like Its 1999”, but there

was plenty to have a party about in

celebration of Derbyshire Club Cricket in the

ensuing years.

Clive was also an influential voice on the

Clubs and Leagues Committee at ECB

providing vital insight from the coal-face to

the Governing Body’s ‘Honchoes’. To many

in League Cricket, the deleterious decision

taken to remove this influential and

important line of communication has been to

the detriment of League Cricket. Clive was

also the League Representative on the

Derbyshire County Board, as always when

Clive spoke, his audience listened. His voice

is distinctive and gruff. The vowel

pronunciations epitomise a born and bred

Derbyshire dialect. Public speaking appears

to be a natural for Clive. When standing to

address a meeting the spine is slightly craned

backwards. It is as if it is done to enable the

words leaving his mouth to have extra space

travelling across a room. The flow of words

are measured, neither rushed which would

indicate fluster, nor paused to imply

hesitancy.

Those many years addressing his club

memberships in meetings across the County

have left a polished performer. Indeed in

1997 Clive secured a world wide audience

recognition being the summariser for Asia

Net TV who agreed to broadcast the League

Cricket Conference Presidents Trophy Final,

which ironically his own League the

Derbyshire County Cricket League went on

to win!

The December 2015 meeting of the League

Cricket Conference saw Clive as ever

eloquent, bringing an ECB official to task on

what he perceived to be a loophole in the

Governing Body’s transitional rules on Club-

mark Accreditation which could adversely

effect some of ‘his’ clubs. Albeit, Clive had

stood down as Chairman of the Premier

League after 14 years service, he was still the

Trade Union Leader, defending what he

regarded the well-being of his members.

With the demands and complexity of cricket

administration seemingly necessitating an

expertise and qualification in branding,

business and marketing, is there a danger that

“League People” such as Clive Harris could

now be regarded as surplus to requirements?

The answer may depend on who is

responding to the question. Yet it takes a

special type of person to understand the

“animal” that is League Cricket. To nurture

and ween the “animal” and bring it into a

long and healthy adulthood requires an

understanding of its very organisms. Clive

has been and remains that very special person

with that very special understanding.

If you know of ‘League People’ in your area

deserving of special recognition please send

the details to the General Secretary Rob

Sproston


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UMPIRE’S CORNER

Should we be concerned about our Spirit?

Conference is a talking shop for league

cricket but we tend to restrict our discussions

to the running of the leagues and league and

club affairs.

Are we missing anything which we can do,

perhaps, to increase our own remit?

Most league umpiring panels regularly

complain of the shortage of new umpires, the

retirement of good umpires and the ever

increasing average age of the existing

officials.

Why are we losing umpires? Why are we

struggling to recruit new umpires? Many of

our older players state that there is no way in

which they will carry on to be umpires when

they hang up their whites and many of those

leaving the ranks early do so for the same

reason, the behaviour of the players. The

newspaper sports pages are dominated by

soccer and, invariably, how games have been

lost because of the officials, television shows

players arguing openly with officials when

the decisions go against them and the

commentators seem to concentrate on

scrutinising the officials rather than judging

the overall play.

Are we allowing cricket to start down this

stony path? Are we doing sufficient to ensure

that “The Sprit of Cricket” is being followed?

Umpires are asked to call captains to account

when their players stray away from this spirit

so well propounded by the late Colin

Cowdrey and brought into The Law by the

MCC. Are we, as league managers, doing

enough to ensure that this is happening?

The writer witnessed two matches last season

in which there were several occasions of open

dissent to the umpire’s on field decisions. At

the end of both matches, the umpires were

overheard stating that they would not be

reporting the matter but warning the captain

about his and his team’s behaviour. This is

not good enough. But how do we get the

umpires to report all instances of

unacceptable behaviour and, if it is reported,

that the sanctions are sufficient to cut out this

sort of behaviour?

Do the league management committees speak

to and address the umpiring panels and, if not,

why not? Umpires have to be convinced that

dissent in any form must be reported every

time without exception – ticking captains or

players off will not change their ways, if not

reported they will continue knowing that they

are immune to sanctions. ECB have laid

down its code of conduct but this can only

have effect if followed by the leagues and

fully supported in every way by the umpires.

We must make every effort to ensure that

“The Spirit of Cricket” is followed in every

respect from the top to the bottom of our

leagues.

.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

David from Witney asks – “What is the

purpose of the League Cricket Conference in

the 21st Century?”

The role of Conference is as an Information

and Networking Organisation for Leagues in

England and Wales to be represented by an

Umbrella Organisation. It seeks to act as an

effective conduit between the National

Governing Organisation (‘The ECB’) the

County Boards and Leagues. It seeks to

provide services for the betterment of the

game which are considered by its

stakeholders can be best provided by League

People

Jeremy from Islington asks – “What is the

role of the Conference Codes of Conduct on

the Movement of Clubs in the 21st Century?”

The role is to ensure that there is a smooth

and transparent system which affords a

fairness to both an existing League and its

continuing member clubs and a Club’s

proposed new League. No League should be

unaware that an existing member club is

being approached by another League or is

approaching another League. The Code does

not seek to prevent a club which wishes to

improve its standing within a League

structure but insists that movement is carried

out openly and with honesty to all effected.

Tim from Westmoreland asks – “What is

the relationship between the League Cricket

Conference and the National Cricket

Conference?”

The League Cricket Conference is one of

three constituent bodies which comprise

National Cricket Conference. The other

constituent bodies are The Club Cricket

Conference and the Midland Club Cricket

Conference. The National Cricket

Conference is a Company Limited by

Guarantee and three Executive Members of

the League Cricket Conference are Directors

of the National Cricket Conference. The

National Cricket Conference is viewed as the

necessary vehicle of recreational cricket

clubs and leagues which the National

Governing Body wishes to work with in

conjunction with their own County Boards. It

has a specific function of offering a

nationwide Fixture Bureau and Find a

Ground and Find a Club Bureaux

(If you have any Questions appertaining to

League Cricket in England and Wales please

refer these to the League Cricket Conference

General Secretary Rob Sproston.)


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LEAVING THE CREASE

NEIL EDWARDS

Honorary Secretary of the League Cricket Conference for

over thirty years

The devastating shock news of Neil’s death at the age of 69 in

August 2015 produced an outpouring of grief throughout

recreational cricket in England and Wales.

Neil, a stalwart of cricket administration, had been Secretary of the

League Cricket Conference for 32 years. He was ‘the dynamic’

which enabled the League Cricket Conference to flourish and

become recognised as one of the key stakeholders in the recreational

game.

Yet Neil would never have seen it as a “one man show”, although, in

truth, for many years it was.

Neil believed in the concept of the team working together for the

betterment of Cricket. The many messages from Cricket Leagues

across the Country had a consistent theme namely ‘his helpfulness

and consideration”.

One League Secretary wrote “Neil tried to be so helpful to

everyone” whilst another stated “Neil was the person you would

first turn to, if you had even a minor query”.

Neil, who worked for Norwich Union for many years, had time for

everyone. He was an inspiration to many, finding solutions to what

appeared to others intractable problems. On moving to County

Durham in the early 1970s, Neil joined Burnmoor Cricket Club

where his passion for cricket was clear to all. He raised £1,500 in

fund raising, a considerable sum in those days, so that the Club

could engage an overseas’ professional. There followed a series of

fund raising events which enabled this proud Club to prosper. This

included the Club being able to

sign a young Australian Paul

Hibbert who was to later play Test

Cricket for ‘the Green and Gold’.

Neil was a wonderful motivator to

those around him in all walks of

life. He got people to volunteer for

anything. Yet, despite all these

responsibilities placed on his

shoulders, he remained calm and

engaging. He also found the time

to play the game he loved being a

right handed batsman and a left

arm medium pace bowler. After

moving back to Lancashire, his

County of Birth, in the early 1980s

Neil became a loyal servant of

Formby Cricket Club.

Neil, on becoming Secretary of the

League Cricket Conference in the

1980s, soon impressed, gaining an

in depth knowledge of the Work

Permit Regulations which many

clubs used over the next three

decades when bringing Overseas

Players into this Country. He was

at the forefront of many campaigns

to defend the cause of recreational

cricket, one of his endeavours

resulting in the now annual

meeting in Parliament with a

Committee of MPs and Lords and

Ladies.

The League Cricket Conference at

the same time expanded from

being a bastion of Northern

Leagues to a National

Organisation, boasting a

membership from the South West

of England to the North East. The

very essence of a National

Organisation would not have

happened but for Neil’s

endeavours and dedication.

When playing the game ceased so

another chapter opened in terms of

both coaching and umpiring, both

ventures taken up with gusto and

warmth from those around him. It

is said that Neil never lost his

temper or got angry with those

around him despite the cricketing

responsibilities which he imposed

upon himself. A dedicated man of

cricket there can be no doubt

Neil was personally respected by

the England and Wales Cricket

Board, these contacts ensuring

Club and League Cricket could

prosper. Neil was one of the

drivers in the establishment of the

National Cricket Conference

comprising the Club Cricket

Conference, The Midland Club

Cricket Conference and his

beloved League Cricket

Conference.

Cricket was also not the only

beneficence of Neil’s energy and

expertise, for Neil as Chairman of

The Sefton Sports Council over

many years, enhanced the sporting

opportunity for the population in

this area of Merseyside

It is perhaps fitting that one

concludes by sharing the words of

the Secretary of the Northern

League who so eloquently wrote

“his passing will never be replaced

by any one with as much passion,

professionalism and enthusiasm as

Neil gave”. Neil will be

remembered as both a doyen of

cricket administration and a friend

to us all in the game of Cricket.

Neil married Jean Burke in 1969.

She survives him together with

their two daughters.

Neil Edwards, born 15th

November 1945, died 8th

August

2015.

Prepared by Malcolm Buck from

the many tributes received from

friends across the Country with

particular mention to Ian Linsley -

Secretary of Burnmoor Cricket

Club County Durham and John

Isterling of the League Cricket

Conference.


of 9

TOM GRAVENEY

President of the League Cricket Conference

Having suffered the unexpected loss of Neil Edwards in August,

Conference were then hit by the sad news that Tom Graveney, who

had been our President for many years, passed away in November at

the age of 88.

Tom Graveney, pictured in 1953

As might be expected for a man

of such stature in the game, the

eulogies from the cricketing

world have been numerous and

fulsome, all describing the many

playing attributes of the most

wonderful and graceful of

players.

Aside from the playing skills,

the other messages conveyed at

the time of his passing

predominantly referred to a true

gentleman, someone who served

the game with distinction and

who gave back much to the

game he so dearly loved. And

that was our experience of him

at Conference.

Tom was President of the

League Cricket Conference for

many years. No doubt some

will recall that he regularly

attended our meetings where his

contributions were always

thought provoking and

beneficial to our organisation.

A remarkable man with the

common touch, he had that

ability to converse with league

delegates without making them

feel in awe of being in the

presence of a former England

captain.

Even when health prevented his

personal attendance he still

retained contact with

Conference officials. Tom

would speak his mind,

notwithstanding that it may not

always have been the official

line of the Governing Body. He

said what he thought was best

for the game, and league

officials from around the

country valued him for that.

Whilst not entirely unexpected,

Tom’s passing provoked another

keenly felt bout of genuine

sadness as Conference lost

another highly valued member

of our organisation.

Tom Graveney, born 16th

June

1927, died 3rd

November 2015.

CLOSE OF PLAY

The fate of any periodical is determined by

the response of its readership. ‘In

Conversation’ “The Voice of League Cricket

Conference” is designed for the Players,

Officials and Supporters of Club League

Cricket across England and Wales. Its title is

deliberate.

We want to share what is the wonder of our

summer game with as many people as

possible. That requires Leagues to

disseminate this Newsletter to their Clubs

and Clubs to do likewise to their members

using IT technology for speed and at no

expense. But it is a Conversation. It is not

the League Cricket Conference saying how

wonderful it is.

It is about YOU in YOUR Leagues and

Clubs telling us how wonderful you are,

which will enable us to communicate this to

the widest audience possible.

Let us start this conversation.

We can, first of all, do so by each League

sending to Rob Sproston, the General

Secretary of the League Cricket Conference,

YOUR Preview of the 2016 Season. In

addition if you have comments, good and bad

about this first edition OR other suggestions

to improve this publication please let Rob

know. The LCC Executive has very broad

shoulders and thick skins!

Rob Sproston is happy to receive comments

at - [email protected]

The Next Issue - April 2016 will include a bumper league by league preview of the forthcoming season.

Produced by Malcolm Buck

Edited by Chris West, Rob Sproston and John Isterling.

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