“Henry” in full flow

The CLL has had a long history of employing current and former Test cricketers as professionals. Sadly the progression of the international  program and mutated visa regulations has put an end to the best players in the world gravitating to the Leagues all across Britain not just in Lancs and Yorks. and more’s the pity (I recall Rishton of the Lancashire League employing Viv Richards in 1987 when he was at his peak of batting ability).

Of course Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Franklin Stephenson, Curtley Ambrose, Andy Flower and a host of others have been integral to the CLL being a competition that beckoned those from across the cricket playing globe.

Competing  in the Leagues was seen as an integral ingredient for any aspiring players education, on and off the field. When I was a 12 year old catching the bus from my relatives house in the Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra with my older brother to watch the 1969 Sydney Test match, the thought of ever playing against any of the West Indians was beyond fantasy.

My Dad had driven up from Wagga Wagga (about a 7 ½ hour trip in those days) to pick up our new Pontiac from the Holden factory – the old man loved his Yank tanks (and as the owner of a service station he could afford the petrol) and the opportunity to go to the SCG was irresistible.

Wagga is  actually closer to Melbourne than Sydney by a couple of hours but the SCG was always seen as the home of cricket for us New South Welshmen. As we rushed onto the forecourt of the old Sheridan Stand I took up a possie on the fine leg fence (I could only just see over it because the concourse was set below the level of the playing surface), Allan Connolly was bowling from the southern end (which as an SBC commentator I was to rename the “UNSW End“ almost 30 years later) and Rohan Kanhai was facing up. Allan Connolly gave me his autograph which I still have. A decade later the same man was facing up at The Crimble and it was GF Lawson running in – such moments are not lost on me.

I’m not sure how old Rohan was in 1979 but it would be fair to say that he was not at his peak, (he did top the averages and aggregates that year!) nevertheless his innings in the Wood Cup semi final was the difference between  a win and a loss in a very tight game (catches win matches lads …..I’m almost over that one as well). Some great players do not lose their class and he was one of those.

Colin Croft was at Royton that year and fortunately for most batsmen in the League it was a wet (wetter than usual I was told – hate to see a really damp season!) summer and the pitches were very slow and the footmarks often bog holes – Crofty had that significant splay of the front foot and needed a firm purchase as he delivered to generate his full pace. I faced him on some hard Australian tracks and he was nasty indeed with the angle in and the seam away.

‘Franco’ Stephenson was having his ‘gap‘ year at Littleborough before commencing a long and fruitful carer at Notts – his slower ball was the forerunner of much of what we see in contemporary T20 cricket. To that time Rohan Kanhai was the ‘greatest‘ player I had ever been on the same field with or against, I can honestly say that it was an honour then and remains so to this day.

Of course the ‘local‘ pros knew the conditions well and knew how to make the most of them with clever seam bowing D V Parker or craftily playing the ball late like Albert Ross and Stewart Wales

One lesson to be learned as a young aspiring professional is that here must be respect for the opposition and in particular the amateurs that turn up every week from their places of work to play a very competitive sport.

I loved playing club cricket at home and competed just as hard for UNSWCC as I did for NSW or Australia. When asked what I thought of the standard of Australian Club cricket my response was “they are amateurs playing with a professional attitude“. And that’s what I also saw in the northern Leagues. Skill has its place but attitude commands the performance.

Having a drink or three Friday night is the club cricketers way of preparation that was denied him (or her, Kate) due to work commitments during the week. It was never my place to ‘tut tut’ Fare or Lamb or Hall or McLellan or “insert Heywood players name here“ if they chose to take the tension out of their minds and bodies at weeks end.

Graddie of course saved his celebrations until given permission by the road manager at the conclusion of each fixture – a real amateur with a pro outlook! Fare of course needed little incentive to commence his relaxation theory after Tuesday nets. Colin Gradwell was a quality player, you could see by the footwork and ease of timing that he was a serious batsmen at his peak, his catching at slip, when Wally Devine let them go, was outstanding and went a long way towards our many victories. Pros do appreciate when the edges get taken.

Peter Devine in action for Heywood

Wally was a youthful, bounding, effective presence with the gauntlets and not afraid to appeal whenever the occasion marginally presented. Bowling pros also appreciate ‘keepers who shout loudly and often. Fare could catch too. Championship success is so often built on the quality amateurs and we had our share.

Perhaps with the nation polling to leave the EU (seriously you people??!!) the cricket leagues of the UK may find a way to get promising young players returning from the dominions to learn their trade and add value and entertainment. I will always advise young Australian cricketers to do so, and if the play at Crimble then all the better.

Another article that was done a few years ago but forms a perfect part of this series as club legend Jimmy Porter spoke to Scott McHugh in 2012 to look back on his own Crimble Memories:

Jimmy in familiar pose in 2012

“You could really hear the ball fizzle when Duncan Carter bowled.”

It was just the sort of thing I wanted to hear when I spoke to one of Heywood’s best amateur batsmen Jimmy Porter.

A left-handed opening bat and one-time wicket-keeper Jimmy played in some of Heywood’s greatest teams from 1959 through to his retirement in 1983, winning the CLL title with legendary West Indian pro Clairmonte Depeiza in 1960 and the title with Colin Lever in 1974 and 1976.

He held the record score for a Heywood amateur – 129 v Walsden in 1980 – before Bobby Cross broke it in 2007 with 162 not out against Middleton. In one of those great coincidences, Bobby told me it was the same day he was introduced to Jimmy for the first time!

During his 23 years – separated by a gap of 11 years away due to work commitments and a spell with Middleton – Jimmy amassed 4,463 runs at an average of just under 20, scoring 500 runs in a season twice. To modern eyes, these figures may not seem astounding, but in the days of uncovered wickets, rapid West Indian professionals and no helmets, these are excellent statistics.

Naturally, of course, the first thing I wanted to ask Jimmy was just what it was like to face some of the world’s most lethal bowlers, and who were the best players he’d played with and against.

“Duncan Carter was the fastest I faced, without a doubt. He was a West Indian and pro at Littleborough in the mid 1970s and when I saw him coming out of the dressing room I knew he would be lively. He really made the ball fizzle, and remember, there were no helmets in those days.

“Joel Garner was probably the best bowler I ever faced as he was always there at you, consistently making you play at awkward deliveries.

“But I played against lots of the great pros of the era. Franklyn Stephenson, Andy Roberts, Cec Pepper. With Pepper, I wondered what I’d come into because he effed and blinded like nothing I’d heard before.

“However, the best player I ever played against was Sir Garfield Sobers. As a batsman, fielder and bowler he was simply the world’s best. I remember him pro-ing for Radcliffe when he got some big runs against us at Crimble. He was in his early days then, but he knocked us all over the place and wherever I fielded he kept knocking the ball past me. It was something to behold, and I’m proud to say I faced him, especially as I was only 15 or 16 at the time.

“Nowadays the players wear all sorts of protective gear, but we never had any. But you know what? I was never worried about injury. It never entered my head.” 

Apart from his ability to play some of the game’s greatest fast bowlers, Jimmy deserves his place in Heywood CC history for two other reasons.

A groundsman and gardener by trade – about which more later – Jimmy returned to Heywood after a decade away in 1972 to bolster the batting and return an ailing Heywood square to pristine condition, which he undertook as a labour of love.

It was also Jimmy who was the key to bringing to Heywood one of the finest servants of the club.

“It was January 1976 and I had worked my way up from an apprentice gardener to parks manager at Rossendale Borough Council. The office secretary told me there was a David Fare to see me, who was working at the time for Durafencing.

“Anyway, it wasn’t long before we got talking about cricket. I told him I played for Heywood and David told me he was playing for Worsley but was looking for a new club.

“I wasted no time in asking him to come down to Crimble on a Sunday morning to come and see what we were all about. He took one look at the ground and decided to join that season.

“What a great signing he was! Along with Bob Cross, he became one of the most wonderful and loyal members of the club, being captain on many occasions and chairman for a long period of time. Well done to these gentlemen.”

But back to the beginning. Jimmy was born in Middleton and grew up near Middleton junction. A keen footballer – he played for Blackburn and Oldham A teams – as well as a talented cricketer, he grew up playing on the local croft, where in summer the one lamppost was used as a wicket and in winter was used as one side of the net. As you can imagine, a jumper was used as another goalpost!

In his second year at Moorclose Senior School, Jimmy became a regular in the school’s first team. In his third year he played for Middleton Boys and by his fourth year played for North Lancashire Boys at Old Trafford before being selected for the full Lancashire Boys team and playing at places like the County Ground at Northampton and Chester-Le-Street.

His great early influences at school were PE teacher Dai Bevan – the former Halifax, Wigan and Great Britain rugby league winger – and George Howarth, his maths teacher, who played in the second team at Heywood. These two were responsible for polishing his obvious talent and for him attending the trials that saw him play for representative sides.

Jimmy continues the story.

“In 1958 and just 14 years old I was encouraged to join Heywood CC by these two teachers, and I played my first season in the second team under captain John Oddie.

“I left school in 1959 and was playing cricket for Lancashire Boys and football for Blackburn Rovers, and it was this year I made my first-team debut as wicket-keeper batsman, with Keith Slater as professional and Ray Purser as captain.

“In 1960 we had Clairmonte Depeiza as pro, who was an excellent player. He bowled medium-quick off a few paces and was a good batsman and under Ray and Clairmonte we won the CLL title that year.

“I played in 1961 and had great memories of those early years. The crowds were in their thousands and Manchester Buses used to stop outside the Municipal Buildings to take players and supporters to away matches. Brilliant days.”

At that time, Jimmy was working for Middleton Council as an apprentice gardener and was told that if he was to further his career he had to work weekends in the greenhouses at Jubilee Park, near Middleton Parish Church, which made it impossible for him to play for Heywood and which – for a decade at least – caused him to leave the club he had come to love.

As luck would have it, however, part of his training was in groundsmanship so he was always in touch with the game he loved. In 1966 he was approached by a member at Towncroft to become part-time groundsman at Middleton CC, and although this meant he couldn’t play for the senior sides, Jimmy talked the club into allowing him to net with the first team to keep his skills honed.

Then, in 1969, his father retired and he took over the ground allowing Jimmy to play again. In 1970, ten years after his first league title, Jimmy and Middleton won the CLL title again before in 1972 he returned to Crimble to help restore a square that had seen better days – this time on a voluntary basis enabling him to play again for his first love.

He continues: “1972 was my first season back, under Bob Cross, at Heywood and I played until 1983. It was the right decision as it allowed me to develop my cricket skills at a higher level. I never regretted coming back.

“Bob Dearden became captain of the first team in 1974 and I was then asked to open the innings with Colin Lever. Colin was the perfect pro, you could rely on him to get 80-100 wickets a season and 800-1000 runs. He was probably the best professional we ever had and he was a proper gentlemen too, and in his last season – 1976 – we won the league title again.”

Not known as the most free-scoring batsman, Jimmy was, however, a proper competitor who sold his wicket dearly. He scored more than 500 runs in each of the 1979 and 1980 seasons when professionals were usually of international class and quick. Very quick.

It was in 1980 that Jimmy achieved the highpoint of his career.

Bob Cooke was professional and Heywood batted first against Walsden.

“It was May 24, a warm summer’s day and David Fare won the toss and elected to bat. I opened the batting with Vinny Kay and when the score reached 86 Vinny was out.

“That brought in Bob Cooke and we slaughtered the home attack to all corners of the ground. Now, I wasn’t renowned for hitting sixes but this was my day and I hit two sixes into the river and 16 fours in total out of an unbeaten 129, then a club record. Bob ended on 109 not out and we finished on 279-1 off 48 overs, including a then record second-wicket partnership of 193.

“In 1980, club records show I was only one of 14 amateurs to have scored more than 500 runs in a season since 1904 for Heywood CC.

“These are all achievements I am really proud of and I can only say thank you to Heywood CC and its members for these wonderful years.”