Northop Cricket Club 1864-2014 by White Fox

NORTHOP

CRICKET

CLUB

Northop Cricket Club played its first game in 1864 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the same year that Wisden was first published and overarm bowling was legalised. In the 150 years since, the club has survived two world wars and witnessed many ups and downs. This book tells the whole story, famous victories and disasters alike. It celebrates a very special milestone. And it gives thanks to generations of players and volunteers who have placed this cricket club at the heart of life in Northop. www.northopcricketclub.org.uk

Designed and produced by www.whitefox-design.co.uk

1864-2014

Celebrating 150 years of village cricket

www.northopcricketclub.org.uk

Len and Ernie Bateman

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Foreword Peter Hybart.

Congratulations Northop Cricket Club on your 150-year anniversary! As the national governing body for recreational cricket in Wales, Cricket Wales is proud of each and every one of our 230 member clubs but those that can boast of 150 years promoting our cherished game at grass roots level are few and far between. Community cricket is a fundamental part of the sporting landscape within Wales (and England) and village clubs such as Northop are the embodiment of the values the game promotes the length and breadth of the country. The service the club provides for the local community is invaluable and perhaps one that is under-appreciated by many in our current age. The fact that Northop Cricket Club has undertaken numerous pavilion upgrades and many additional developments is testimony to the redoubtable nature of the many generations of membership throughout the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence. Local cricket people are unanimous in telling me that the club is enormously respected within North East Wales and further afield, at both junior and senior level, and sets a standard for other sports clubs in the area. The junior development activity in particular is the envy of many but of course is only achieved through the commitment of so many hard-working volunteers. Northop Cricket Club â&#x20AC;&#x201C; well batted on your 150 and good luck in moving to the double hundred! Peter Hybart Chief Executive Officer, Cricket Wales 3

Chairman’s message Mike Hughes.

years and I’m sure this blend of youth and experience means the future is in good hands. There’s no reason to think the club can’t continue for another 150 years. I am acutely aware this publication doesn’t include the names of all the officials, members and players who have served the club so well in its long history. I hope those omitted will realise this isn’t deliberate and that any attempt to do so would have been impossible.

I have always been proud of my association with

The club has been fortunate in being so loyally

Northop Cricket Club and I consider it a great honour

supported in so many ways and its present sound

to be chairman of the club. To hold the office of

and healthy state is a fitting monument to all, sung

chairman during the club’s 150th anniversary year

and unsung, who have made their contribution to

is a privilege indeed.

its well-being.

Reading this book will no doubt revive happy

Finally I would like to congratulate everyone

memories for lots of people including our ex-players

involved in producing this excellent publication,

and those of other clubs, our faithful supporters and the older residents of the village. It should also inspire future officers and players to achieve even greater success for Northop Cricket Club.

Many thanks to the 150 Committee for organising a

which has taken many hours of careful research. It represents not just a celebration of our first century and a half but also the platform on which we can record our future exploits. My best wishes to you all in our 150th year.

programme of events for 2014 and to the officers and committee of the club for their support, dedication and continued hard work. Many of the current committee have served the club for many

Mike Hughes Chairman, Northop Cricket Club

T NOR 4

1864

P C RI CKET CL

150th 150 th Anniversary

2014

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Contents How it all began

Timeline of Northop Cricket Club 1864-2014

The first 50 years

Wartime and beyond

Just a minute

The modern era

Hall of fame

Brilliant footwork from Len

Eight men and Ifor Roberts

Arwyn takes his place in history

When an old cricketer left the crease

Bets, beer and big sixes

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a knockout

Young guns go for it

Our junior internationals

A casual affair

Keeping the show on the road

Feel the force

Up to the mark

Northop Cricket Club 2014

ÂŠ The Chronicle

Credits Published by Northop Cricket Club 2014. The publishers would like to acknowledge the help of all club members and others who have supplied memories, photographs, press clippings and other research material in particular Roy Pierce, Hefin Aubrey, Phil Evans, Nick Pemberton, Len Bateman and The Chronicle newspaper group. Copyright holders have been identified where known. Our apologies for any inadvertent omission. Research, text and editing Neil Bartlem Design and artwork Sarah Bartlem Club logo design Ann Roberts Print Printfine Ltd While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publishers can accept no liability whatsoever for any errors, inaccuracies or omissions or for any matter in any way connected with or arising out of the publication of the information. Copyright for material is held by the publisher and may not be reproduced in part or in whole in any form without written consent. 5

How it all began North Wales teams socialising.

Dr Andrew Hignell, otherwise known as “Higgers”, Archivist of Glamorgan CC and Curator of the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket, explains how cricket in Wales developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. Cricket is the oldest team game in modern Wales. The earliest reference to organised games of cricket dates from the late 18th century, with a letter in the General Evening Post in April 1771 from a gentleman in Swansea bemoaning the fact that “young men gathered together on the Sabbath to take part in a variety of sporting pursuits – football, wrestling, cricket, fighting, jumping and an enormous use of oaths is made their exercise and the pastors of these places generally take too little pains for restraining this vice of profaining the Lord’s day”. 6

There are other quite diverse references to cricket taking place in the late 18th and early 19th century in Mid and North Wales, with a letter (now housed in the archives at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth) from Roger Jones, an attorney in Talgarth, referring to games in July 1787 “on the common near Glasbury Bridge”. It also mentioned a heated dispute between players, probably over an umpiring decision: “The first meeting proved to be a peaceable one, but the second proved to be a bloody one. Capt. Walbeoff and Mr Aythene Lewis fought and there was a great effusion of blood on both sides.” The Salopian Journal for mid-August 1821 refers to a game taking place near Bangor-on-Dee between a team representing the Hundred of Maelor against a combined side from the Hundreds of Bromfield and Yale. There was sufficient interest in the Wrexham area for a club to be formed in 1836. The town’s racecourse was used for their fixtures against teams from Chester as well as Llangollen, where a team had been established in 1841. The following year a club was established at Mold and in August 1842 they challenged and defeated the Barristers of the North Wales circuit. Around the same time a club was established at Holywell, playing at

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS Halkyn, while in 1844 the first recorded match took place in Denbigh. However, fixtures were quite rare as these fledgling cricket clubs operated very much like their modern counterparts in golf with members meeting up to practise and play in tournaments among themselves. A few challenge matches were very occasionally staged but the limited public transport across Wales in the pre-Victorian era discouraged these arrangements. Everything changed with the improvements to the railway network from the 1840s onwards – the creation of thriving cricket clubs in Aberystwyth and Bangor was directly related to the creation of these lines. As teams were now able to travel, they sometimes chose a neutral venue, conveniently located at a mid-way point and usually near a decent public house where the two teams could meet up afterwards and either celebrate or drown their sorrows. The growth of manufacturing industry from the mid-Victorian period onwards gave the game in South Wales a massive boost. In Mid and North Wales, the growth of the tourist industry played a similar role as several of the coastal towns became fashionable resorts. This allowed the creation of a town side as well as visitors’ clubs, populated each year by the gentlemen visiting the resort with their families. These included Barmouth, Dolgellau and Criccieth but the best example was Aberystwyth where Pryse Pryse of Gogerddan, the MP for Cardiganshire, was the leading figure behind the promotion of cricket in the town from 1830. During the late 19th century the growth of resort towns along the northern coast gave a further boost to the spread of cricket, especially as English clubs organised tours to these attractive and popular areas. From 1846 Wrexham had regular contact with the Liverpool club, who clearly enjoyed their time in the Principality so much that they accepted a challenge to play a team representing Conway in 1849.

decent crowd, with one report for a game at Friars School in Bangor reporting how the cricket field was “thronged with a numerous concourse of spectators, amongst whom was a very liberal allowance of the fair sex, and on whose faces might be traced the various fortunes of their respective champions”. During the late 19th century, country landowners and leading figures in local society also arranged matches on their estates, largely as a form of social entertainment with friends, family and business and political acquaintances being invited to participate in what became known as “country house cricket”. Landowners such as Lord Mostyn in Llandudno, the Earl of Powys of Montgomery plus the various tenants of Marchwiel Hall and Plas Machynlleth gave the game a boost by donating land and creating teams. Some of these developed into quite active gentlemen’s clubs, with two-day matches against similar teams of amateurs and a lengthy fixture list against English teams. One example was the Vale of Clwyd club, who played on the outskirts of Ruthin against teams such as the gentlemen of Cheshire as well as representative XIs from Lancashire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. However, the most active country house team in North Wales in the late 19th century was the Bryn-y-neaudd club established during the 1880s by Sydney Platt – a Caernarvonshire landowner – who financed both the club and the creation of a decent wicket in the grounds of his home at Llanfairfechan. What began as quite relaxed and jolly cricket metamorphosed into a fledgling county club with Platt describing his team as Caernarvonshire, and in 1882 meeting a similar side representing Flintshire and Anglesey, with his team augmented by three professionals whose services Platt personally paid for.

Ruabon Grammar School 1904.

By the 1880s Wrexham had regular matches against teams from Manchester and Chester, as well as other sides from North Wales including Mold, Pontblyddyn, Llangollen and Gresford. Improvements to the education system from the mid-19th century meant that more youngsters had learnt the rudiments of the game at school. With religious leaders also promoting the benefits of healthy recreation as part of the ethic of Muscular Christianity, a number of thriving teams developed at schools and colleges throughout Wales. Their matches attracted a 7

Timeline of Northop Cricket Club 1864-2014

1864 A Northop cricket team plays its first game under the auspices of the Bankes family.

circa 1890s Northop CC moves from a field near the old A55 to its current ground.

1915-1920 No cricket is played because of the First World War.

1933 J H Smith takes all 10 wickets for 16 runs, still the club record.

1942-1945 The club suspends fixtures during the Second World War.

1864 1869 The club is formalised at a meeting at the Red Lion pub.

1903 The earliest surviving team photo is taken.

1921 A Second XI is formed, mostly from junior players, for the first time.

1936 Northop CC win the Chester and District League at the first attempt.

1946-1947 Northop win the Flintshire Challenge Cup two years running.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

1948 Northopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ernie Bateman puts on 198 with Australian test legend Jack Fingleton.

1996 Current pavilion is officially opened by J W Bankes. 1984 First XI are promoted to the top tier of the North Wales League for the first time.

2007 Northop claim their first Flintshire Knockout trophy. The u13s win MCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spirit of Cricket Award.

2012 Northop juniors do the treble as North Wales champions at u11, u13 and u15 levels.

2014

1976 The old wooden pavilion burns to the ground, finally replaced in 1979.

1985 Northop knock champions Marchwiel out of the National Village Knockout.

2004 The club signs its first overseas professional, Australian Bobby Kunesevic.

2014 Northop Cricket Club celebrates its 150th anniversary. 2009 Northop CC achieve Clubmark accreditation from the ECB.

The first 50 years The earliest surviving team photograph of Northop Cricket Club.

The year 1864 was a pivotal one in the history of cricket. It was the year that Wisden was first published, overarm bowling was legalised and W G Grace scored his first century in a major match. It was also the year that a Northop cricket team first took to the field. It goes without saying that this was an awfully long time ago. In 1864 the American Civil War was still raging and Gladstone (who of course lived just down the road in Hawarden) was four years from becoming Prime Minister for the first time. So it’s an extraordinary achievement for this little village cricket club from Flintshire to be celebrating its 150th anniversary – or sesquicentennial if you prefer – in 2014. It has to said that records from the 19th century are sketchy at best. Nothing survives from 1864. But that’s been the foundation date recognised by the club since at least 1935, as testified by a printed photographic mount. 10

According to a 1950 article in The Chronicle, the first formal meeting of Northop Cricket Club took place in 1869 at the Red Lion. Under the captaincy of R M Huntley of Highfield Hall and with no fewer than nine Vice-Presidents including Mr John Scott Bankes and 33 enthusiastic members, the club was considered “successfully launched”. It was decided the club colours should be cherry and black. This may have been the moment the club was made official but by then Northop had already enjoyed five seasons of friendly challenge fixtures. Like many teams of the period, it played under the auspices of the local gentry – in this case the Bankes family of Soughton Hall. By 1871 a young John Eldon Bankes, later Lord Justice Bankes, a High Court Judge of Appeal and Privy Councillor, had been elected captain. It was Sir John who, some time around the turn of the century, offered

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS Northop use of the field under the shadow of St Peter’s church tower. Thanks to the continuing generosity of the Bankes family, the cricket club has played there ever since.

Wilf became one of the outstanding local bowlers of his era. By 1907 he was already Northop’s vice captain before leaving for Buckley in 1923 and then, unforgivably, for Northop Hall.

In 1880 four members of the club were selected to play in a North versus South Flintshire match, no doubt a sign that cricket was really taking off in the area. By now Northop were challenging teams including Pontblyddyn, Bagillt, Mold Cambrian, Mold Alun, Hawarden, Sandycroft and Cestrian Chester.

The earliest surviving minute book, kept by ever-diligent secretary Evelyn Price, dates from 1907 – the year the club joined the Flintshire County Cricket Association. Among other things it reveals that the team travelled to away fixtures by horse-drawn “brake” costing 15 shillings a trip and that the groundsman R L Davies was paid two pounds and 10 shillings for the season. Nowadays, of course, it’s all done for love.

One of the highlights of the Victorian era was the annual Whit Monday match between a side led by Lord Justice Bankes and a local XI. Invariably the great man’s team came out on top, perhaps because he was given a fairly free hand with selection. This tradition continued at least until the Second World War. From the early 20th century, the players of Northop Cricket Club begin to come vividly to life. The earliest surviving team photo dates from 1903, showing a wooden pavilion with a corrugated roof beside the church wall (and a couple of likely looking lads in the background). The players include the Rev W A Davies, one of a long line of cricket-loving Northop vicars, H Watkinson Esq, who is resplendent in cap and striped blazer, all-rounder and future chairman Fred Jones and in the front row, staring meaningfully into the distance, a very young Wilf Astbury.

In December 1908, following the agm, the team were entertained to supper at the Red Lion by the captain R Wynne Banks, a tradition that oddly seems to have fallen out of favour with more recent holders of the office. The club resolved to furnish themselves with new equipment for the start of the 1912 campaign. Two match balls, half a dozen cricket balls, two pairs of pads, two pairs of batting gloves and half a dozen rubber handles were expected to cost 15-17 shillings. They also “agreed to write to Mr Booker calling his attention to the amount of damage on the pitch caused by his cattle being allowed to walk across it on their way to and from the meadow”. Quite soon, though, the club was to have much more important things to worry about. Far left Minute book from 1907. Left Fixtures booklet for 1912. Below Photographic mount showing a foundation date of 1864.

Wartime and beyond On August 1st 1914, Northop Cricket Club dismissed Buckley for 14 runs, thanks largely to the bowling of Wilf Astbury. Three days later Britain declared war on Germany and the bloodiest conflict in history began. That triumph over Buckley was probably the last game played by Northop for six long years. It wasn’t until 1920, two years after the end of the First World War, that cricket was resumed with R W Bankes as skipper and Wilf Astbury as his deputy. On May 4th 1921 a resolution was passed “that every team shall, in future, be selected on its merits”. It’s not quite clear how the team was picked before that. Later that season a Second XI was formed for the first time, made up of junior players. So the club has had an enlightened youth policy for nearly a century.

At this time club subscriptions were five shillings for seniors and three shillings for under 18s. Obviously this wasn’t enough to make ends meet (it never is). A whist drive and dance were held in October 1922 to help pay off the deficit of the previous season. Once the club had forked out three guineas for Buckley String Band, three shillings for powder for the floor and five shillings for the caretaker, they were left with a handsome profit of 13 pounds, four shillings and a penny. Back in the 1920s the Flint Road ground was shared with a tennis club and a football team. The footballers in particular were a problem, churning up the outfield during the winter months, and a long-running feud developed.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Extract from the minutes of 1926.

There were dark murmurings in September 1921 about footballers “monopolising the field” and even hints that they had broken into the pavilion, taken out the mower and broken it, a claim later rather reluctantly retracted. At the end of the season, according to secretary Evelyn Price, the ground “was left in almost perfect condition; at the commencement of season 1922 it was in a deplorable state – holes very numerous and bare patches could be measured in square yards”.

Pierce capturing 100 wickets.The following September it was agreed to present the legendary Ernie Bateman with a pair of pads to recognise his 109 against Penyffordd. Ernie said he would prefer something he could keep, so he got a “ball and shield suitably engraved”. Then once again world events took a hand. In the brief minutes of 29th August 1939, the team to play Penyffordd at Northop the following Saturday was named. Three days later, Germany invaded Poland.

It didn’t seem to hold the cricketers back. In 1922 they won 13 out of 18 games and scored 1,440 runs against 1,167. The highlight was defending a total of 43 against the old enemy Northop Hall by skittling them for 26, thanks to demon bowlers Wilf Astbury and Albert Lovelock. The club had every right to assert: “The season’s record is a splendid one and without doubt stands second to none in the county.” This was still a deferential age. In 1926 Fred Jones was elected captain but the question arose: what would happen when Mr R W Bankes was available? According to the minutes: “Mr Jones explained that there was no reason to elect Mr Bankes as Captain as he already was our President and whenever he honoured us with his presence in the team the Captain relinquished his office as an act of courtesy.” Success continued into the 1930s. Jim Smith took all 10 wickets for just 16 runs against Tuebrook in Liverpool in 1933, still the club record. In 1936 Northop won the Chester and District League at the first attempt, Dai

First XI circa 1955: (back) J Williams, G Lunt, G Aubrey, T Williams, L Bateman, J Birchall, (front) C Hughes, D Pierce, K Jones, E Bateman, P Townsend, K Pierce, A Pierce (umpire). 13

Wartime and beyond

Extract from the minutes of 1940.

“Owing to hostilities the question arose whether to carry on owing to a number of our members serving in His Majesty’s Services. It was agreed to carry on to the best of our ability on the proposal of Mr H Wilson and Mr E Bateman and to run one team.”

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

The next meeting didn’t take place until 19th March 1940 when it was announced that club funds showed a balance of three pounds, one shilling and 11 pence. But there was no reference at all to the Second World War. Two weeks later, however, there is this miracle of understatement and resolve: “Owing to hostilities the question arose whether to carry on owing to a number of our members serving in His Majesty’s Services. It was agreed to carry on to the best of our ability on the proposal of Mr H Wilson and Mr E Bateman and to run one team.” In fact, despite its best efforts, the club had to suspend cricket in July 1941 because of the difficulties of raising a team. But the sound of leather on willow didn’t disappear entirely. The Flintshire Police Recreational Club took over the ground and the club’s equipment in the summers of 1943 and 1944 before Northop CC got back to business as usual in 1945.

After the game Fingleton was said to be so impressed with Ernie’s batting that he presented him with an Australian cap. The Northop team of this vintage was clearly a formidable foe – as Courtaulds of Flint discovered in the early 1950s. Chasing a total of 107, they were humbled for just nine runs with an incredible nine batsmen out for a duck and the surviving batsman left on nought not out. Only G Pratt, bowled for five, produced a scoring shot as Gordon Aubrey (five for one) and David Roberts (four for four) ran riot. In 1951, as part of Northop’s ambitious Festival of Britain celebrations, the club arranged matches against the NFU and Old Maricollians of Crosby. Over the previous 87 years it had become established at the heart of the village and, as the country cast off the privations of wartime, it entered the modern era in fine shape.

Above Fixture lists from the 1940s and 1950s. Below Festival of Britain programme including two Northop CC fixtures.

No one mentioned the end of the war in the minutes of May 1945. But then it was the beginning of the club’s first season for four years and there was a lot to do – not least planning a summer sports day at the suggestion of H Brockley and Ernie Bateman. This extravaganza featured a tug of war, a goal-scoring competition, running races, roll a penny, bucket of water, dartboard, treasure hunt and something ominously called “Hitler’s coffin”. It raised a grand total of 60 pounds, eight shillings and ninepence, which was presented to the Welcome Home Committee. In the immediate post-war period, Northop continued to go from strength to strength. They won the Flintshire Challenge Cup in both 1946 and 1947. In 1948 came perhaps the most famous match in the history of the club. It was the year of Sir Donald Bradman’s “Invincibles” and former Aussie great Jack Fingleton, presumably covering the Ashes tour as a journalist, was persuaded to turn out for Northop against a side from the Wirral. He and Ernie Bateman opened the batting and put on 198 together. Ernie’s brother Len, who played in the game, recalls Fingleton smashing the ball high over a tree: “I’ve never seen a hit like it.” 15

Just a minute Much of what we know about the early history of Northop CC is based on a collection of minute books stretching back to 1907. Along with insights into the daily grind of running a cricket club – the struggles with mowers and the late payments of subs – they contain moments of humour along with the occasional glimpse of tragedy.

Committee meeting March 2nd 1907

“On May 17th we were called upon to mourn the sad loss of our greatly beloved and respected captain (J E E Bankes). The news of his departure from our midst came as a great shock and cast a dark shadow of sorrow over every member of the club.” General meeting Jan 2nd 1909 16

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Minutes of May 29th 1922: the earliest surviving team sheets

“Question arose as to the removal of goal posts which had been erected by members of the Northop Home Guards.” Minutes of June 9th 1941

1st team selected to

“

play Penyffordd at Northop Saturday next: J H Smith, E Bateman, D Pierce, J Davies, T McNiel,

“It should be the object of every member of the 2nd XI not to play as much for self or individual honour but for the honour of the club as a whole, to try to make himself thoroughly efficient in batting, bowling and fielding and thus qualify to take his place in the 1st XI whenever he is called upon to do so.” Secretary’s report, November 1921

B Bellis, J Lloyd, L Bateman, W B Hughes, A Davies, C Hughes. This concluded the business.” Minutes of 29th August 1939, three days before the outbreak of the Second World War. The game probably never took place. 17

The modern era

First XI 1983: (back) G Pierce (umpire), P Kendrick, D Jones, H Davies, A Hughes, F Friend, (front) R Pierce, D Roberts, A Tanton, P Jones, A Jones, P Evans.

Every venerable institution goes through its share of rough patches. This is particularly true of places such as cricket clubs, which depend entirely on the attitude, commitment and skill of volunteers. By the late 1960s, Northop was lumbered with a crumbling wooden pavilion, which had stood for more than 30 years, and was in financial turmoil. Questions were raised in 1969 about why it was still mired in debt despite a generous donation of £70. Secretary Henry Spencer didn’t hide his feelings: “Members come on a Saturday and midweek without a thought of the preparation of the ground and the pavilion is in a disgusting condition. The answer is simple – every member has to pull his weight or the club folds up.” 18

Henry had already been instrumental in securing that donation from Flint Borough Working Men Club. Together with son Kenny, the club captain, he negotiated a longer lease on the field with J W Bankes and began to plan a replacement pavilion. In doing so, he undoubtedly helped to save the club from extinction. By the mid-1970s, a change of regime had ushered in Les “Chalky” White as chairman. But Northop was still struggling. Both the Firsts and Seconds had been relegated in 1973. And the wooden pavilion under the old oak tree was going from bad to worse. Roy Pierce remembers the difficulties of finding a spot in the changing room without a hole in the floor or a drip from the roof. Equipment was crude, ancient and

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

in some cases plain inadequate. The mower was far too small, the roller far too heavy. “I had to push a wheelbarrow-like device containing a mixture of powdered lime and four gallons of water around the perimeter of the field, laying down a gently curving white line that would be the boundary for the next game,” recalls Roy. But the club had big plans. In July 1976 the Sports Council offered a grant of £802 towards the £1,605 cost of building a new pavilion. A few months later the situation suddenly became more urgent when the decrepit – and uninsured – wooden pavilion burned to the ground. Northop embarked on a frantic round of fundraising. They asked for a £5 donation from every member. Money came in from Flint and Holywell Round Table, British Steel and the Lions Club of Flint and District. Local cricket clubs rallied round including Colwyn Bay, Halkyn, Buckley, Gresford, Kingsley and Shotton. The club, led by Ian Dyment, tried to do the building work themselves to keep costs down. Early progress was rapid and the foundations were in as early as November 1976. But by the end of the 1977 season, only the shell, walls and rafters were standing with a green plastic-coated corrugated steel roof to be added for the winter. In February 1978 they requested a grant from Delyn Borough Council: “This club has struggled without a great deal of success for well over a decade to establish a solid foundation… and we feel the new pavilion may provide the necessary impetus to accomplish this end.” By now costs had risen to £3,519. In April the council agreed to part with £500 – but it wasn’t until 1979 that the long-awaited new pavilion was finally ready for action. For two seasons cricketers had been forced to get changed at the Red Lion pub down the road, which must have been a terrible temptation for a crafty pre-match drink. There was also progress on the pitch. Northop left the Flintshire League in 1977 to join the fledgling North Wales League. By 1980 the Firsts had been promoted to Division Three and the launch of a youth team was being considered.

Top Les “Chalky” White circa 1938. Above Club saviour Henry Spencer. 19

The modern era

This mood of optimism was reflected in a letter to benefactor J W Bankes from secretary Hefin Aubrey: “The club is able to keep its head above water despite increasing costs… interest is much higher than for some time and the club is able to field two full sides every week, something which has not been the case in the past.” There was just one fly in the ointment. Complaints were already being made about the amount of dust coming off the floor of the new pavilion, making teas unhygienic. Nevertheless by 1983 the club was felt “to be in the best position for years regarding playing ability, the wicket and team spirit”. In 1984, under the inspired captaincy of Roy Pierce, the Firsts were promoted to the top tier of the North Wales League, Roy himself taking 60 wickets at an average of 9.11. One of the great days in the history of the club came the following season, when the minnows of Northop knocked out defending champions Marchwiel in the National Village Knockout.

Before the game Roy Pierce was banging the drum in the local press: “We know we are only casual cricketers compared with those guys, but we are looking forward to it and we cannot be written off provided we field our strongest team.” So it proved. On a low, slow wicket and damp outfield at Northop, the visitors were dismissed for just 108, John Paul Jones taking four for 26. Despite early setbacks, a 70-run partnership between Phil Evans and Huw Davies saw Northop safely home and white-hot favourites Marchwiel, victorious at Lord’s in both 1979 and 1984, were sent tumbling to a shock defeat. This was, however, one of the few highlights in a disappointing season (just 24 hours earlier the side had been skittled for 64 by Gwersyllt). By 1992 the Firsts had avoided relegation to Division Three by just two points and the club hierarchy was highly critical of standards of effort and behaviour. Chairman Geoff Pierce (now the President and known as “Mr Northop” because of his contributions as player, umpire and administrator) claimed the club was at

First XI 2013: (back) L Naylor, T Hughes, D Williams, B Page, M Williams, B Beswick, P Roberts (coach), (front) H Lewis, D Foulkes, A Poynton, M Poynton, A Gill. © The Chronicle 20

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Left Phil Evans, hero of the Marchwiel cup victory. © The Chronicle

crisis point. Secretary Hefin Aubrey devastatingly added: “The idea was to enjoy yourself while giving 100% effort. Neither seemed to be happening.” Next season, however, the Northop rollercoaster was back on an upward trajectory again. The rapidly deteriorating “new” pavilion was demolished along with the adjoining band room. This time a site cabin donated by builders David McLean was used to provide temporary changing facilities while construction got underway.

Below The current pavilion was opened in 1996.

This didn’t stop the first team led by Nick Pemberton winning promotion back to Division One of the North Wales League in 1994, thanks to an improbable 10-point victory over Denbigh on the last day of the season to pip Llanwrst for second place. Around the same time huge improvements were made to the square thanks to machinery and expertise from Northop Country Park Golf Club, while a grant from the Lord’s Taverners paid for the artificial pitch that’s proved such a godsend ever since.

Club chairman Malcolm Baynes helped secure vital funding from Delyn Borough Council just before it was disbanded and, on 21st July 1996, the current pavilion with its superb facilities including a previously undreamt-of bar was officially opened by J W Bankes. At the turn of the millennium Northop once again found itself in financial difficulties but a fundraising drive led by Peter and Louise Johansen, together with wideranging changes in the management structure, soon placed the club on the sound footing it enjoys today. On the field, Northop continued to yo-yo between the divisions, dropping out of the top tier only to return in 1999 under Gareth Williams, and spent eight years in the new Premiership in the 2000s. As a sign of its growing status, the club signed the first in a talented line of young Aussie “pro” cricketers, Bobby Kunesevic, in 2004.

Aussie pro Bobby Kunesevic. © The Chronicle

There were also top-flight seasons in 2012 and 2013 under skipper Chris Brookes. But Northop enters 2014 and its 150th anniversary season once again in Division One – hopefully not for long. This would be a very good year to win another promotion back into the big time. 21

Hall of fame Many hundreds of players have represented Northop over the last 150 years. Here’s a hall of fame, or possibly a rogues’ gallery, selected from the club archives. Fashions, hairstyles and equipment may all change but the sense of fun and pride remains the same every season.

First XI 1981: (back) P Evans, P Warren, F Friend, R Dyson, D Pearse, G Pierce (umpire), (front) L Jones, H Aubrey, B McGauty, B Williams, G Williams. © The Chronicle

First XI 1983: (back) J Isterling (umpire), H Aubrey, A Jones, P Kendrick, A Hughes, J Pemberton, G Pierce (umpire), (front) R Pierce, P Jones, N Avery, J Pemberton Jnr, A Jones, D Harley.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS Second XI 1988: D Harley Snr, H Aubrey, A Oxton, D Harley Jnr, D Parry, G Thomas Jnr, D Williams, (front) D Harley Min, M Gedd, G Thomas Snr, M Richards, Oxton Jnr.

First XI 1993: (back) D Owen (umpire), L White, R Swarbrick, R Turton, D Harley, I Hughes, M Williams, P Hannaby (umpire), (front) R Pierce, S Jones, N Pemberton, M Baynes, H Davies, N Avery.

Second XI 1993: (front) D Harley, S Jones, J Rice, B Houston, N Collings, R Stenhouse, (front) J Jones, I Hughes, D Jones, S Roberts, M Gedd.

Hall of fame Second XI 1994: (back) E Rogers (umpire), J Rice, D Harley, R Turton, M Gedd, S Jones, M Pumford, â&#x20AC;&#x201C; (umpire), (front) A Oxton, D Smith, D Jones, J Pemberton, J Jones.

First XI 2002: (back) T Williams (scorer), D Stopford, C Williams, A Flynn, D Williams, M Poynton, M Williams, (front) P Evans, A Poynton, G Williams, K Thompson, D Harley.

Second XI 2007: (back) R Turton, P Tulley, M Allman, C Lehman, M Williams, B McGauty, (front) D Foulkes, J Evans, G Johansen, L Hayes, J Haupfleisch. ÂŠ The Chronicle

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS First XI 2008: (back) J Evans, N Jenson, L Hayes, J Haupfleisch, M Poynton, G Williams, (front) K Owen, K Thompson, A Poynton, C Brookes, T Hughes. © The Chronicle

First XI 2012: (back) P Roberts (coach), M Poynton, R Walker, J Darcy, J Roberts, J Haupfleisch, (front) A Poynton, D Williams, C Brookes, H Lewis, N Howatson, L Hayes. © The Chronicle

Second XI 2013: (back) P Cartwright, H Bartlem, M Price, M Williams, D Harley, S Hafijul Islam, R Johnson, (front) S Oates, D Nicholson, K Totty, M Allman, A Oates.

Brilliant footwork from Len At the age of 91, Len Bateman is Northop’s oldest ex-player. He’s also one of the most distinguished. In a career stretching back to the 1930s, he notched a hard-hitting unbeaten century and recorded some of the finest bowing figures in the club’s history.

Northop has always liked to start its cricketers young. But when Len Bateman and his brother Alf first trod the hallowed turf at Flint Road, it wasn’t as players. They were being paid threepence each to clear the sheep manure off the pitch. By the time he was 14, however, Len was a fixture in the Second XI, following in the footsteps of big brother and virtuoso batsman Ernie. In those innocent days without cars and televisions, cricket was a welcome distraction. Up to 20 players would be out on the field honing their skills every night of the week, presumably avoiding the sheep as best they could. Even though he was in a reserved occupation as a foundryman at John Summers steelworks, Len was called up in 1943 and it wasn’t until the end of the Second World War that his cricket career really took off. Len was surrounded by fine players – including bowler Dai Pierce, wicketkeeper Harry Jones and the burly Hugh Evans, who chopped down trees by hand on the Bankes estate and generated fearsome pace from a two-yard run-up. Even in this company, Len stood out. An attacking batsman who liked to impose himself, he still had enough class to register the magic three figures with 102 not out against Shell Mex. 26

Above Len Bateman and brother Ernie stride out to open the batting. Left Len’s trophy for taking all 10 wickets against Buckley.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS But Len actually considered himself a bowler. “When I played I was very determined,” he says. “I had a 12-yard run, would vary them a bit and it just came naturally to me. And I had great stamina, I could go on for ever.” The evidence is there in black and white. Scorebooks of the 1940s and 1950s are littered with Bateman five-fers and better. His finest hour came on 14th June 1950 when he captured all 10 Buckley wickets for just 24 runs. Entertainingly, his final victim that day was his woodwork teacher Cyril Peters. Len’s reward was to keep the match ball, mounted with an engraved plaque. But you won’t find it in pride of place on the mantelpiece of the house he built himself in Church Road, just a stone’s throw from the ground. Modest Len has it tucked away in a drawer upstairs. He almost did it again six year later. In a game against Birkenhead Wayfarers, only one batsman escaped him – and that was a run out. Len finished with figures of 13-2-36-9. In those days, cricket wasn’t just a game. It was a way of life. “When you went to work on the bus, the game

would be the subject of conversation,” says Len. “It involved your life more. You would be down at the cricket club most nights of the week in the summer and stay for a chat.” Wives and girlfriends would wait anxiously for stumps to be drawn at 7.30pm so they could catch a bus down to Flint for an evening at the cinema. They’d also accompany the players on the coach to away games, sticking around for a dance afterwards and being raucously entertained by accordion, violin and singing on the way home. No doubt Len, a lifetime teetotaller whose favourite post-match tipple was Ribena, always behaved impeccably. He may have been a demon bowler but he was pretty nifty on the dance floor too. In fact he and wife Sheila only gave up dancing a couple of years ago. It’s been the great passion of his life, surpassing even cricket. It may go a long way towards explaining that unbeaten century. After all you can’t bat like that without brilliant footwork. Perhaps a post-match dance at the Edith Bankes Memorial Hall is a tradition well worth reviving.

A 1968 retired Northop cricketers XI: (back) D Thelwell, N Jones, D Roberts, H Young, H Hughes, N Bellis, J Edwards, (front) T Hughes, R Bateman, C Hughes, E Bateman, H Jones, L Bateman. 27

Eight men and Ifor Roberts

A first XI circa 1982 containing eccentric Ifor Roberts: (back) A McCormick, D Etchells, G Pierce, F Friend, A Hughes, I Roberts, (front) P Kendrick, A Jones, P Winston Jones, R Harris, P Evans. © The Chronicle

Hefin Aubrey remembers one of the more bizarre victories in Northop’s long history. In 1979, on the day of the FA Cup final, Northop CC could only muster nine protagonists for a fixture at Marchwiel, who at that time were the flagship team in North Wales. A good thrashing was envisaged. The majority of our side arrived a little late (to audible mumblings from the hosts) for the 2pm start. The Marchwiel ground was looking its normal picturesque, immaculate self. The wicket was excellent and the outfield short. The consensus was either bat first or keep them to around 200 and make it respectable. 28

They claimed the toss and we took the field at approximately 2.30pm – all seven of us. (Another member arrived some 15 minutes later.) In the first over bowled by our “quickie”, Bob Dyson, their experienced opener pulled and middled a juicy leg side full toss. I was the only fielder on the leg side. I put my hand in the air, heard the ball fizzing and closed my eyes. The ball stuck, to the disbelief of the batsman and fielder alike. Was this an omen that it was going to be our lucky day? At 3.45 pm with the hosts struggling at 50-5,we had given up on our ninth player. Where, oh where, had Ifor Roberts got to? This was only his second game for us. As we found out over the next few years, Ifor was an enigmatic and slightly eccentric character – inspirational and with a huge desire to win. He always had some tales to tell, and this day was no exception.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

At 3.50pm, a car arrived near the gates and Ifor emerged and jogged onto the pitch.

was waiting for instructions when one of players came running over to me with a quizzical frown on his face.

“Where have you been? I prompted. “Tell you later,” Ifor replied, with a twinkle in his eye.

“‘Who are you and what are you doing?’ he enquired. ‘I'm Ifor Roberts – sorry I'm late getting here. I haven't played at Marchwiel before.’ ‘And you still haven't – this is OVERTON and we are playing Nantwich.’”

Incredibly, the nine men dismissed Marchwiel for 77 that day. There were no smiles in the home dressing room at the tea interval, whereas raucous laughter emanated from the away one, as Ifor told his tale. “I knew we were playing at Marchwiel,” he commenced in his Caernarfon accent, “but I got lost. I knew I was somewhere near and asked a passer-by where the cricket ground was. I got out at the ground and went straight onto the field.” (He was already wearing his whites.) “I looked over to the middle and thought I recognised one or two of the team and waved and someone waved back although he looked a bit mystified. Anyway I fielded on the square leg boundary for one over and

Well, we all fell about in the changing room. And it must have helped our demeanour because despite Marchwiel's grim determination not to lose to the minnows from Northop with nine men, we did manage to reach 78 and win by four wickets (in effect two of course!) mainly due to a top score from a 16-year-old Phil Evans. The image of Ifor's escapade still remains in my mind's eye and makes me laugh whenever I see him or travel through Marchwiel or Overton. There will be stories similar to Ifor's wherever cricket is played. To have been understrength and underdogs and to have won in such a manner is one of the joys of playing the game.

Arwyn takes his place in history Arwyn Hughes wasn’t the first bowler to take all 10 wickets in a match for Northop. The feat had been achieved by Jim Smith in 1933, Hugh Evans in 1940, Len Bateman in 1950 and by Dai Pierce too. But Arwyn’s performance was perhaps the most dramatic – and poignant – of all, as Roy Pierce recalls. “The Most Wonderful Of All Happenings!” These were the words that Sir Neville Cardus used to record Jim Laker’s feat of taking all 10 Australian second innings wickets at Old Trafford in the 1956 Ashes Test. They could also apply to what happened on the old Gresford cricket ground in July 1981, when Northop, or rather Arwyn H Hughes, bowled them out for 99 off the final ball of the 45th over. For us bowlers, dismissing Ian Weaver, Gresford’s implacable opening batsman, had very often required a little devil worship. Perhaps that was what we were lacking that afternoon as Arwyn prepared to bowl the final ball of their allotment to him. He had batted through the innings and stood on 49 not out. Arwyn Harding Hughes was a tall, square-of-shoulder, wiry, immensely strong, athletic young man with tousled light-brown hair. He used his height well when bowling, which he did briskly in right-arm, over-thewicket mode with an open-chested action. Unassuming in nature, no one could accuse him of over-appealing and his inswinging deliveries made LBW decisions hard to come by. But I can hear his rare appeal ringing out now, a sharp “Haz-zarrr?!” and it was all over. If Ifor Roberts was keeping wicket to him there might be an exchange between the two in Welsh, along the lines of “Dyna’r bel, Arwyn bach, dyna’r bel. Chwarae teg!” 30

There would be no fuss if the appeal was turned down, just a wistful smile, and he would hurry back to his mark. And that’s where we find him again, about to bowl that final ball to Weaver and having already taken all nine wickets to fall. Arwyn sent the ball down on a yorker length. There was a tell-tale swirl of dust raised by Weaver’s swishing bat and the ball rapped against his hitherto well-guarded stumps, sending the bails flying like a couple of scalded frogs. “Tim-ber!” Gresford 99 all out, I Weaver bowled Hughes 49. Arwyn, for all his heroics, trudged off, head slightly bowed in unaffected modesty. He was not one given to shows of immoderate excitement, even following a win for his beloved Everton, but I do remember his smile being even wider than usual during the tea interval. That was about the extent of it. Northop knocked off the runs quite easily, although I had tried to make it look as difficult as possible by scratching around for a while until Phil Lloyd-Jones (27), Phil Evans (16 not out) and Tim Williams (38 not out) took us past Gresford for the loss of only three wickets in our 42nd over. Arwyn had two spells that afternoon. In the first he bowled 18 overs with eight maidens, taking seven for 38. In his second two-over spell (a bit of inspiration

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Left Ten of the best... the scorebook from Arwyn’s finest hour.

from captain Hefin W Aubrey), he bowled one maiden and took three for two. So overall his figures were a magnificent 20-9-40-10. Eight batsmen had been clean-bowled and two caught out. Like I said, he didn’t appeal much! In the days following “Arwyn’s Match” a reporter arranged to come to Northop one evening to interview our hero. He wanted a snap of Arwyn dressed in cricket whites. Since my kit bag was still in the boot of Arwyn’s car, he ended up wearing my shirt and sleeveless sweater. It was probably one of the rare occasions that he wore a proper cricket shirt as he had a penchant for playing in round-necked T-shirts or sometimes a white “dress shirt”. He was pictured tossing up a ball beside the headline: “Set them up, says Arwen” (they spelled his name wrong). Of all the things he might have said, this was the least likely. When we next played (at home), a mysterious character arrived on a bicycle and took up a position by the churchyard wall, quietly watching the game, sandwiches and flask of tea at the ready. Spectators were extremely rare in those (pre-bar) days so I just had to find out what this person was about. Then I told Arwyn: “See that chap? He’s read about you in The Chron and has made a special trip just to watch you bowl, mate!” Smiling widely and stretching out his arms in bewilderment he asked me, “When is it going to end, Roy?” This isn’t just a sentimental cricket story. To me it’s part of the history of the game of cricket, just as much

Below “Arwyn’s Match” became famous. © The Chronicle

a part as the exploits of Ian Botham during that same Ashes summer of 1981. A remarkable part that will forever belong to all of us members of Northop Cricket Club, past, present and future. It is something beautiful to look back on. When we lost Arwyn in 1987 following the bravest of battles with a completely unfair illness, it was a tremendous shock to all of us. He was given out when he had hardly “got in”. He was an integral part of the lives of those us who were lucky to share his humour, companionship and generosity. He is still very much missed by many, and I never met a man yet who was more “the same every time you met him” than Arwyn, even during his long battle against that despicable illness. Determined to keep his memory alive his playmates from Northop approached the late Stan Taylor, Chairman of the North Wales Cricket League, to see if we could commission a trophy in Arwyn’s memory. And so each year whoever has had the greatest single success with the “crimson rambler” receives the Arwyn Hughes Memorial Bowling Trophy and their name, too, goes down in history. I sometimes wonder whether this would meet with his approval at all? I am sure that each year when his name is read out and his trophy is handed over to the lucky bowler, somewhere out there in the ether Arwyn is stretching out his arms again, and asking the same question of me: “When is it going to end, Roy?” And yes, still smiling broadly. Not for a while yet, Arwyn bach. Not for a while. Chwarae teg! In memory of Arwyn Harding Hughes, died March 17th 1987. 31

When an old cricketer left the crease Looking back over three decades of stalwart service to Northop Cricket Club, Hefin Aubrey finds his memories just as bright as ever. Here are just some of the thoughts that crossed the mind of this “old cricketer” on his last walk back to the pavilion.

Hefin Aubrey circa 1982.

Furtively sneaking from the council estate across

Playing Llandudno 2nds on a wicket on the

open fields where St Peters now is, to be a “junior”

outfield, which had been cut by the Council, the

scorer, aged seven, in 1958 when his father Gordon

grass being shorter there than on the square

played (until a slipped disc finished his career) and

because, yes, the mower had broken down.

watching a strong Northop team including several Flintshire players such as Len and Ernie Bateman,

Being inside what remained of the old wooden

quickies Davy Roberts and Bev Johns, wicketkeeper

pavilion when it rained, vying with team members

Harry Jones and all-rounder Jossie Williams.

for a dry spot where there was no hole in the floor and no hole in the roof above.

His first game aged 11 (at the old Pant, Halkyn), where he ran a player out and had a first taste of

Erecting the “new” prefab pavilion (supplied by

bitter and failed to keep it down.

David Pearse) slab by slab with other enthusiastic “labourers” and trying to show the hard work was

When Northop had only one team and finding

easy when in fact it was anything but.

11 players to play on a Saturday was an achievement; winning was a rarity.

Catching 17 moles with the old snap traps and having recurring nightmares about giant molehills

Knocking on various doors in Northop on a

ruining the square.

Saturday morning desperately trying to borrow a mower to cut the wicket because the club one had

Pulling, with others, the old hand-drawn heavy roller

broken down, again.

(it needed three to pull it) on Friday nights and Saturday mornings.

Cutting long blades of grass on a length with

scissors because the mower had broken down, again,

Having to put on the pads of the outgoing

and no one was at home on a Saturday morning to

batsman as quickly as possible, there being only

lend one.

two pairs of pads available.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Having only two “club” bats (few had their own in

On the slightest hint of rain, Graham Twinnie

those days).

Williams saying “I am not going out there if it’s drizzling”. And he never did.

Watching the 1966 World Cup at Shell and, as a young and enthusiastic Welshman, being the only

For the first time, being apprehensive at the crease

one to cheer Germany's equaliser in normal time.

facing several bouncers from Andrew Light, a West Indian quickie, in a foggy and dark Bethesda with

Having the best batting average in 1968 but being

seven slips, a cover and a fine leg.

denied recognition because the captain forgot to send in the averages by the specified time despite

Getting very drunk on the day Northop beat old

several reminders.

adversaries Hawarden Park with a last wicket stand of 90 between Ali Jones and Derek Harley; what joy.

Attending regular race nights at the homes of Ali Jones, Paul “Wally” Jones, Neil Avery and Leigh

Getting very, very, very drunk on the night Northop

Jones, among others, to raise desperately needed

beat the mighty Marchwiel in the Welsh Cup with

funds for internal decoration to the new prefab

renditions of “Who beat the Marchwiel” (Sospan

pavilion.

Fach) and “New York, New York” bringing the Red Lion to a standstill, led by the irrepressible

Watching the genial, ever-present and reliable

enigmatic Hugh Davies.

Derek “Mustard “ Roberts bowl the same ball every over, every game and play the same shot every ball, every game. Asking “Whispering” Bob Harris, after he took 7-14 in his second game for Northop, what he bowled – seamers or inswing or outswing – and getting the reply: “Don't know, I just grab the ball and bowl it.” Peter “Joey” Brown sending Ken Francis (w/k) off the field for courteously calling a batsman back to the crease, saying that it was unsportsmanlike. Both the batsman and Ken Francis “walked”.

The “good-hearted souls” of 1983.

Finally, I remember some of those good-hearted souls who in the 60s, 70s and 80s played week in week out alongside me or who were officials or helpers and who in their own way kept Northop Cricket Club in existence. If anyone is not included or forgotten, do not take umbrage, as this old cricketer 's memory is not what it was: Geoff Pierce, Phil Evans, John Simpson, Ken and Henry Spencer, Les “Chalky” White, Mark White, Leigh Jones, Paul Warren, David Pearse, Harry Evans, Barry Williams, Tony Bailey, Stevie Price, Derek Roberts, Ian Collins, Joey Brown, Dave Linton, Bob Harris, Bob Dyson, Frank Friend, Malcolm Baynes, Neil Avery, Roy Pierce, Ali Jeffcott, Hugh Davies, Arwyn Hughes, John Morris, Ken Francis, Dennis Williams, Ifor Roberts, Nick and John Pemberton, Graham and Stephen Williams, Mikey Williams, Timmy Williams, Derek Harley, Paul Kendrick, Barry McGauty, Brian Strong, Ian and Mike Dyment, Eric Catherall, Keith and Andy Roberts, Mike Gedd, Tom and Johnny Roberts, Russ Swarbrick, Nutty Nige (Nigel Collings), Dennis Parry, Geoff Rutherford and not forgetting all the Joneses: Elgan Jones, Paul “Wally” Jones, Ali Jones, Pete Jones, Pete “the Pad” Jones, Steve “Scooter” Jones, Stan Jones, Phil Jones, Phil Lloyd Jones, Adie Jones, Ken Jones (Northop) Ken Jones (Mold) and Lionel Jones. 33

Bets, beer and big sixes

The promotion-winning first XI of 1994: (back) R Pierce, S Jones, B McGauty, A Flynn, N Collings, C Williams, (front) D Harley, D Williams, N Pemberton, N Avery, P Evans.

Former NCC skipper Nick Pemberton recalls some of his favourite cricketing stories of the last 40 years – or at least the ones fit to print.

From about the age of eight (1966) I would be down the field always asking the late great Henry Spencer, “Can I play this week please, Mr Spencer?” “Maybe next week,” was always the reply. Well, in the end I got a game last minute when they were short or someone didn’t turn up. From those humble beginnings I went on to captain the second team and then the first XI. No doubt I could write a whole book about the goings-on from those days but I’ll restrict myself to three or four of the best stories. Like the time we were drawn to play Oulton Park in the Village Knockout in about 1990. We went out to toss up and, as we were short of bowlers, sportingly stuck them in. We thought at least we’d have a day out and the standard 10-pinter after the game. They made about 275 off 40 overs and lost about five

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

balls in the process, most of them off P W Evans, although to his credit he did return 9-0-72-2. During the tea interval the opposing captain came up to me and said: “What do you want on it, skipper?” Well, all those years playing in North Wales and no one had ever asked me that before so I replied: “Oh you want a bet now you’ve got 275 on the board!” To my embarrassment it turned out he meant what type of roller would I like on the wicket for our innings. Another great memory is heading out to Colwyn Bay for a Welsh Cup game and meeting their captain Lloyd

So too Barry “Bazza” McGauty. At Bala I once asked

Conaway in the middle. “Heads,” I shouted and heads

him to pad up from the toss and float in the order. But

it was. “We’ll have a bat mate, all the best,” I said.

he never got a bat. He was not impressed that day, Old Baz.

His face was a picture. He must have thought we’d stick them in. No way, we wanted a sesh and got a

We had some team when I had the honour of winning

respectable 185 off our 40 overs, Andy Flynn hitting a

promotion to the old First Division from Division Two

big six up the bank in the process. They knocked them

in 1994 – Carl Will, Flynny, Denny Will, Joey, Dale,

off for three with Welsh international Andy Puddle

Steve “Scooter” Jones, Rich Turton, Roy Pierce, Barry

scoring 80-odd not out. But they didn’t win the second

Mac and Nutty Nige Collings all doing their bit during

innings in the bar!

the season.

On a personal note I have fond memories of hitting a

Thanks for the memories fellas and what a night we

six to win a Village Knockout game at Hale Widnes.

had in the Red and later on in Chester that promotion

From about 80-8 Nigel Collings and I managed to get

season. Great, great days.

us home chasing 130-odd. I don’t know what came over me but the bowler just popped it up there so I knocked it back over his head. Geoff Pierce, who was the bowler’s end umpire, muttered some swear word and said “Game, gentlemen!” Toft in Cheshire was another day not to be forgotten for the classic Pete “The Pad” Jones knock of about 11 off 18 overs. When he got out, he had the cheek to say: “What a nice track.” Well some swear words went his way but Pete was a good club lad for sure. 35

It’s a knockout

First XI from the cup-winning year of 2007: (back) M Hughes, G Thomas, M Poynton, J Evans, D Harley, G Williams, D Jones (umpire), (front) D Bignall, J Schiller, P Evans, A Poynton, G Williams. © The Chronicle

Success for Northop in the Flintshire Knockout competition had always proved elusive. After the first leg of the 2007 final, it looked like history was going to repeat itself. Skipper Phil Evans remembers what happened next. Northop CC have always appeared to enjoy the knockout format of cricket competitions and frequently exceeded expectations, achieving success both in our area and beyond. Our cup exploits – be it Welsh Cup, Village, Cockspur or the oldest competition we enter, the Flintshire 20/20 knockout – have been manifold. Stories are retold to this day in the darker regions of the bar to any loiterers who hang around too long in the vicinity of the dreaded ex-players’ contingent. 36

However, material success in cricket is a thing few clubs achieve in abundance and Northop are no exception. Although we’d reached the final of the Flintshire 20/20 many times we had never actually won the trophy. So once again in 2007 Northop found ourselves in the not unfamiliar role of underdog in the Flintshire KO final against old adversaries Mold. These games are played over two legs in the last week of June (because of the nice long sunny nights, apparently). In the first leg at Northop, Mold won the toss and batted. We finally bowled them out for 137 in the last over, a fantastic innings of 59 from James Griffiths at more than a run a ball underpinning their total. Northop’s bowling was well served by the experienced pair of Mark Poynton (5-2-17-2) and Gareth Thomas (4.4-0-33-6). Northop’s anaemic reply left us on 91-8 from our full quota having at one stage been 61-1 in the 12th over. Gareth Williams (22) and the promoted Dave Bignall (26) were the only double figure contributions. A deficit of 46 runs – or in football parlance four-nil down at half time.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS Precedents in sport can be wonderfully placating. But none of the Northop elders or anyone else for that matter could raise even a semblance of hope and the cricketing term “not a cat in ’ell’s chance” seemed to be the most optimistic prophecy. Ironically a slight glimmer of hope was raised when someone recalled that NCC had in fact lost a 33-run advantage over St Asaph in 2005 but someone quickly said only Northop could do that. The second leg was delayed owing to the aforementioned long sunny June nights. Some of us didn’t care if it rained for all of June and July. No such luck and we duly turned up at Mold preparing ourselves for a bit of damage limitation. Our mood wasn’t helped by their team sheet showing that they had in fact been able to strengthen an already long and proven batting line-up. Mold were duly asked to bat again and were 15 for 0 (61 overall) off the first eight balls of the innings. Things were not looking good. Suddenly fate played a card and before completion of the third over we had clean-bowled both their openers including the ever-dangerous James Griffiths. Maybe we had bought a little time whilst they regrouped? Not the Mold team of this vintage. They kept coming at us and amazingly we kept taking wickets: 49 for 5 off 11 lurched to 64 for 8 off 16 and ultimately 68 all out in the 19th over. Fantastic seam bowling from the Poynton brothers supplemented by Dave Bignall and Gareth Thomas, all of them taking wickets, had given us a sniff. Never give a sucker an even break! Quarter-to-eight and the reply began with 115 needed. We decided that now might be a good time to give 15-year-old Lloyd Hayes his chance to open the batting with our saviour on so many occasions, Gareth Williams. Sixteen off four overs, before Lloyd was undone and big Donk loped out to bat. It did not take long before the great buddies got their act together and the sixth over went for 18 including three sixes leaving us on 59 for 1 going into the 10th over. This wasn’t in the script; it might be easier than we thought. Not quite. Darren is out for 20 and time for another leftfield decision – first leg number 11 Gareth Thomas comes in at number four. Cue puzzled looks from Mold players and a few caustic comments in his direction. But Gareth (Perry) is a consummate sportsman who thrives on situations like this and

together with the accomplished Williams he moves it on to 75 before the opener is out. Time to show off our young talent again and in comes another 15-year-old, Jordan Evans. He along with the now flourishing all-rounder Thomas takes the score into the 90s before the youngster is out for 14. Perry continues to chip, nurdle and nudge (I would never say edge) the ball around before he is out for a run-a-ball 20 leaving Andy Poynton and Chris Brookes to score the final runs with a leisurely eight balls remaining. Remarkably we had turned it around and for once we had set a precedent worth emulating. It had taken Northop a very long time to win a knockout trophy and, in our very own inimitable way, we had done it. Mold players were extremely gracious in defeat at a time when I’m sure inside they were seething with emotion. Events inevitably led to many renditions of our very rude and bawdy club song until the small hours. 37

Young guns go for it North Wales u15 champions 2012: (back) S Oates, N Roberts, A Andrady, A Oates, R Warrenger, R Alderson, (front) B Beaver, J Andrady, T Blackwell, R Harman, G Spalding, J Christopher. ÂŠ The Chronicle

Juniors are not an afterthought at Northop. For nearly 30 years theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been the lifeblood of the club, providing a steady stream of talented youngsters for the senior teams. Northop junior cricket played its first game in 1976, an u18s game against Northop Hall. An astonishing nine-wicket defeat to the noisy neighbours was not what our aristocratic rivals had envisaged but that is what happened with a scruffy little medium pacer named Phil Evans taking four wickets (probably still his best bowling analysis) as they were bowled out for 60-odd. This was duly knocked off by Chris Poynton with the only casualty being R D Pierce. Following such an auspicious start it was only right that the club decided we should stick at this junior lark and 38

Les White, Derek Harley, David Jones and Barrie Collins took it upon themselves to run junior XIs in various friendly games and latterly a Flintshire league with luminaries such as Dale Harley and Mark Poynton being excellent by-products. The first real sign of major talent coming through was when the teams were entered into the new North East Wales League structures. Talented youngsters such as Andy Poynton and Mark Allman quickly established themselves as young players of obvious talent. By 1999 Northop CC were playing in each of the four age group leagues. Success came rapidly as by 2001 both the u9s and u11s had won their leagues with the u11s, led by the incomparable Ben Williams and coached by Allan Jones, going on to become North Wales champions. This was the first of a record 10 North Wales championships and countless league titles for our junior section, culminating in 2012 with the unprecedented achievement of the club winning each of the three North Wales titles in the finals at Mochdre.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

North Wales u13 champions 2012: (back) M Warrenger, A Woodworth, G Spalding, R Harman, R Alderson, A Oates, H Brownbill, H Hayes, (front) J McLoughlin, B Beaver, J Andrady, T Sudder, H Dowd. © The Chronicle

North Wales u11 champions 2012: L Price, M Mullarkey, R Williams, (front), I Woodworth, T Sudder, J Andrady, B Beaver, H Dowd, N Pierce. © The Chronicle

Before that, in 2007, the u13s team captained by James Roberts and coached by Paul Roberts battled through against 1,770 other junior outfits from across Britain to reach the finals of the MCC’s Under 13 National Club Championship held at Oakham School. The boys were pitted against teams from much more highly populated areas but won one game, scored almost 700 runs and came home with the Spirit of Cricket Award.

It would be unfair to discuss our junior section without mentioning the major role played by a host of volunteer coaches, who have freely given their time and skill to provide generations of junior cricketers with their first taste of the game. From the curmudgeonly Chalky White to the Wenger-like Ushan Andrady, we thank all of you for your unselfish efforts.

Former Hampshire and Essex all-rounder John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket, said: “It is fair to say that Northop set the example for on-pitch conduct and it is only right that this is recognised.” In terms of individual achievements, Josh Griffiths capturing five wickets in five balls for Northop u9s against Denbigh in 2013 is up there with the very best. So this recent period has been rich in young talent and the junior teams have proved to be the lifeblood of the club. It’s hugely gratifying that all our senior teams now consist largely of players who have come through our system.

Why has our junior system become the envy of many clubs? Perhaps because our juniors have always been treated in the same way as any of the four senior teams. That is to say, the u9 player on a Sunday morning playing his very first game is given the same opportunity and experience as the gnarled old Irregular or first-teamer. Finally it’s worth pointing out that, as Northop Cricket Club celebrates its 150th anniversary, the class of 2014 is once again full of talented and enthusiastic players – both boys and girls. For proof just take a walk on the ground any sunny Friday evening during the summer.

The Third XI, launched in 2001, has provided a vital bridge to senior cricket. Under the wise guidance of Simon Lewis, our youthful Thirds began in Division Six before winning promotions to Divisions Five and Four – a remarkable achievement given that their matches are often literally a case of men versus boys. In 2014 they’ll play in a special Sunday XI Division. Success at junior level has brought our boys numerous county honours and Welsh international caps – along with the offer of scholarships at some of the leading private schools of the north. It’s pleasing to know that in some small way we’ve helped them in their personal development, not just as cricketers but as people.

The MCC Under 13 National Club Championship in 2007: (back) P Roberts (coach), S Harris, T Hughes, L Naylor, L Moses, M Raynor, J Pearson, L Moores, S Lewis (coach), (front) H Lewis, W Beswick, J Roberts, A Carrino, J Martin. 39

Our junior internationals Over the years countless Northop juniors have won regional recognition from North East Wales and Cheshire. Some have gone on to achieve full national honours for Wales, often playing for several different age groups after making their debut.

Ben Williams, u11-u17, 2001-07.

Jordan Evans, u11-u13 & u15-u17, 2003-05 & 2007-09.

Harry Lewis, u11-u15, 2006-10.

James Roberts, u11, 2005.

Joe Horton, u11-u13, 2007-09.

Tom Blackwell, u11-u12, 2008-09.

Alastair Andrady, u11-u12, 2009-10.

Ben Beaver, u11-u12, 2012-13.

Also capped but not pictured:â&#x20AC;&#x2C6; Joe Williams Joshua Andrady, u11-u12, 2012-13.

Rachel Warrenger, u15, 2012. 41

A casual affair

Irregulars 2013: (back) K Patterson, T Amin, N Bartlem, D Hobbs, R Patil, R Parrish, U Andrady, (front) A Swaro, K Thompson, M Pritchard, H Bartlem.

Normally cricket at Northop is bracingly competitive. But there’s still a place for the casual player who dreams of glory, as Neil Bartlem explains. Old cricketers never die. They simply join the Irregulars – the friendly XI and guilty secret of Northop cricket club. Irregulars started in 2005 as a (very) casual collection of Dads who were fed up with watching their offspring grab all the glory in junior cricket. Some of them hadn’t picked up a bat for 20 years. Others had never played at all. But how hard could it be? 42

A lot harder then it looked, as it turned out. But half a dozen matches in that first season, including several improbable victories, were enough to get the bandwagon rolling. It soon became clear, however, that the fledgling team was divided into two camps. For some the alleged cricket was merely a prelude to more serious matters in the bar. Others began, foolishly, to dream of competence.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Getting ready for action at Eaton Hall.

Over the next season or two, the opposition improved and professionalism began to creep in. Unthinkably, nets were arranged. And gradually the less deluded team members retreated to the bar and allowed the rest of the Irregulars squad to get on with it.

has included Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, Indians and, thanks to oil and gas giant BHP Billiton being based in the village, more Australians than you can shake a stump at. Sometimes even Welshmen, Englishmen and Irishmen get to have a go.

The team soon began to realise they were not alone in being past their prime but desperate to play cricket. There were like-minded souls everywhere – and the fixture list continued to grow.

It’s perhaps appropriate that Irregulars – still with some of the original Dads from the very first fixture against West Kirby Wasps – are now entering their 10th season as Northop CC celebrates its birth in 1864. In some ways they’re a throwback to that era of friendly challenge games.

Occasionally they still have to pinch themselves when they run out to play at some of the loveliest grounds in Britain – including Llanelidan, Iscoyd and Fenns Bank, Cholmondeley and Eaton. To be dressed in whites, just like a proper cricket team, in places like that is a very special kind of pleasure.

Their first decade has seen some notable highlights, including the 2007 Twenty20 charity festival organised by Irregulars in partnership with legendary astrologer and Strictly Come Dancing star, Russell Grant. The 2013 fixture against Sri Lankan side Blue Cey Lions also had everything – hot curries, music, nearly 400 runs, a last-over finish and a big six hit straight through the windscreen of the skipper’s car. As long as they can continue to mine a seemingly endless supply of middle-aged men with unrealistic expectations, Irregulars look forward to their next decade as a minor but unique part of Northop Cricket Club.

Tackling Nantclwyd CC at lovely Llanelidan.

Irregulars cricket has a flavour all of its own. The games are the friendliest of friendlies and the team has always been of mixed ability – young guns and gnarled old pros from the rest of the club rubbing shoulders with people who haven’t held a catch for three seasons or who do a lap of honour when they edge a single. Irregulars are proud that they only ever sledge each other, never the opposition. Proud, too, of an unusually cosmopolitan make-up that over the years

(Back) S Oates, I Devenport, A Mackin, T Martin, P Cartwright, D Longhurst, S Barnes, S Norbury, (front) U Andrady, H Bartlem, R Grant (team astrologer), N Bartlem. 43

Keeping the show on the road

Three Peaks Challenge 2012: our boys at the start of the climb to Snowdon.

Running a successful cricket club is about much more than what happens on the field of play. Northop couldn’t have lasted a season, never mind the last 150 years, without a willing and dedicated team of volunteers. Win or lose, these are the people who keep the show on the road season after season – maintaining the grounds, doing the admin, ferrying juniors to away games. Doing the hard yards so that the cricketers can play. That the men of Northop and surrounding villages love their cricket club goes without saying. But this would count for nothing without the tireless dedication of the women who make the teas, run the bar, raise the funds,

do the scoring and provide countless civilised touches around the pavilion – not to mention the girls who are increasingly making their presence felt in junior cricket. Surely no visiting team to Northop can fail to be impressed by the quality of the welcome or the standard of the facilities. But these things cost money as well as time. Even with 150 members, subscriptions only scratch the surface. And so, as it has always done, the club looks to raise cash from other sources. In the old days it was dinner dances and whist drives. These days, anything goes.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Auction nights, raffles, race nights, supermarket bag packing, casual cricket tournaments, poker nights, clay pigeon shoots, hog roasts, summer barbecues, fun days, hot dog stalls, discos and quizzes have raised thousands of pounds over the last few years. Grants and loans have come from Sports Council Wales, the England and Wales Cricket Trust, Cricket Wales, Sport Wales and the ECB Cricket Trust. Generous corporate sponsors include Queensferry Sports, Green Thumb, Rooms & Views, Ball Packaging Europe, Barbour ABI, Mococo, the Taste of Bengal Takeaway and Ghandi’s Restaurant. The results are there for all to see: a new kitchen, bar stools and patio tables, a flat screen TV, a glass washer and ice maker, training equipment, superb lightweight pitch covers, a wicket mower, new nets and a sightscreen. The club has even been able to install a biomass heating system, funded by a grant and interest-free loan from the ECB.

Every member has contributed towards this effort in one way or another. But perhaps the award for dedication beyond the call of duty goes to an intrepid 10-man team who completed the Three Peaks Challenge in 2012 – climbing Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis in 23 hours and 21 minutes. Some of us didn’t think they’d do it. Perhaps that’s why we were so careless with our pledges. But they emerged victorious for a well-earned pint at the cricket club having raised an incredible £8,252.22 for organisations including Leukemia & Lymphoma Research, Clwyd Special Riding School and the Mountain Rescue Service. “It was,” said team member Kev Blackwell, “extremely tough but also very rewarding and gave us all a great sense of achievement.” It was rewarding for the cricket club too. The boys presented chairman Mike Hughes with a cheque for £3,000, which funded the installation of a magnificent new electronic scoreboard.

Paul Penryn-Jones, Mark Farrel, Chris Jones, Steve Williams, Trevor Tommy, Richie Cowley, Colin Nicholson, Stuart Askey, John Atkins and Kev Blackwell with the new electronic scoreboard. 45

Feel the force

Every spring since 2010, dozens of members arrive at Northop Cricket Club armed with special T-shirts, pots of paint and a can-do attitude. Over a couple of days of hard work, fences are painted, sightscreens are spruced up, curtains washed, benches varnished and the whole pavilion cleaned from top to toe. Every year about 400 hours of volunteer time are donated – and at least as many bacon butties and cups of tea consumed. This is the NatWest CricketForce weekend.

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

Many thanks to our sponsors and partners including Huws Gray Builders Merchants, MC Supplies, Jewsons Builders Merchants, Williams Butchers and the Community Services Programme. 47

Up to the mark

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

 develop and strengthen a structure and pathway for women and girls to actively participate in and follow cricket  develop and strengthen the whole club environment, promoting cricketing opportunities for disabled people  develop and promote cricket for black and ethnic minorities  ensure that our cricket club in an integral part of the local community  develop and strengthen senior playing teams, providing positive role models to all club members The game of cricket has become a byword for a certain standard of behavior in any walk of life. Players are expected not only to abide by the laws but also the “Spirit of the Game”. The ECB’s Clubmark scheme helps cricket clubs to adhere to these values and provide a safe, supportive environment in which new generations can learn to love and play the game. After 18 months of preparation, Northop was awarded Clubmark accreditation in September 2009. The club is constantly reviewing its performance to ensure it remains on track. Clubmark provides a structured approach to four key themes – Duty of Care and Safeguarding Children, The Cricket Programme, Knowing your Club and its Community – One Game, and Club Management.

This is the blueprint for Northop Cricket Club as it builds on its first 150 years and looks with confidence towards its bicentenary.

Our mission statement Strive to provide a challenging and rewarding approach to cricket in a structured and friendly way for all members of the club, their families and visitors. To treat everyone equally in accordance with the ECB Inclusivity and Diversity Policy.

Clubmark status is a condition for participation in the North Wales Premier League and crucially enables Northop to apply for funding for cricketrelated projects. These are the club’s aims and objectives, reviewed and approved by the ECB:  harness and develop all young cricketers so they have the opportunity to contribute to the game of cricket at all levels and a play a central role in club cricket life 49

Northop Cricket Club 2014 President Geoff Pierce Chairman Mike Hughes

Player Representatives Mark Allman Tom Hughes

Social Representatives Vice Chair Malcolm Houston Club Secretary Jan Blackwell

Ann Roberts Henry Hodgkinson Life Members Phil Lloyd Jones

Cricket Secretary Simon Lewis

Hefin Aubrey Phil Evans

Treasurer Richard Turton Assistant Treasurer Chris Jones

Malcolm Houston Richard Turton Neil Avery Vice Presidents

Membership Secretary Stuart Askey

Roy Pierce

ECB Clubmark Coordinator Kev Blackwell

Allan Jones

Child Welfare Officer Colin Nicholson

Malcolm Baynes

Paul Jones Nick Pemberton Brian Houston Frank Friend

Bar Manager Mary Beaver Coach Paul Roberts First XI Captain: Mark Poynton Vice Captain: Andy Poynton Second XI Captain: Mark Allman Vice Captain: Paul Cartwright

Bert Bonnatti Richard Cowley Mr and Mrs Keith Jones Mr and Mrs Peter Johansen

Northop Cricket Club Flint Road Northop Flintshire CH7 6BR Tel: 01352 840780

Third XI Captain: Simon Lewis 50

www.northopcricketclub.org.uk

Len and Ernie Bateman

NORTHOP CRICKET CLUB 150 YEARS

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1864-2014

Celebrating 150 years of village cricket