Tag Archive for: cricket

Fence To Protect Cricket Club

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Fence To Protect Cricket Club: A new fence is set to be constructed around a cricket ground in order to stop vandals driving across the field after a series of attacks.

Officials at Green Lane Cricket Club in Nunroyd Park, Yeadon, believe they are being targeted by someone with a grudge after persistent vandalism over the last few months.

 

CCTV images have captured a 4×4 being driven repeatedly over the ground in the latest incident, churning up the soil and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The club was already facing a bill of more than £1,000 from the recent attacks.

Now ward councillors Graham Latty, Pat Latty and Paul Wadsworth have announced they will pay for a fence to protect the ground.

Cllr Graham Latty said: “I and my colleagues have spent a lot of time and money recently in trying to make Nunroyd Park more accessible to more people. Now it is really depressing to find that there are people in Aireborough who just don’t give twopence for the pleasure of others and drive cars all over the grass, ruining the surface.

“So we have decided to use some of the Section106 money from housing developers to install a fence to stop cars from getting into the park. We can’t afford to completely ring the park with fencing so are putting it where it will have most effect, alongside the access road up to the pavilion.

“There have been protests on Facebook that we are wasting money and should just stick large rocks in place to block access and these might stop cars but would not stop bikes and quads. We value the visual appearance of the park and believe that a low fence will not only look better but will be more effective and will not inconvenience walkers.

“This will happen as soon as the parks team can fit it into their schedule.”

A camera at the club captured the latest vandalism, at about 2am on Sunday, showing a light coloured 4×4 with darker colouring down the side.

Groundsman Tommy Powell said: “You can see the number plate, but it is too far away to see the number. It is definitely the same person – and this time it is the worst of the lot.”

“I just feel like walking away now and saying I have had enough. We think it must be someone with a grudge against the club.

“I have to admit I had tears in my eyes when I saw it. I was just lost for words really. They are going to make it unplayable.”

In November Mr Powell appealed for help in catching the hooligans who had left eight-inch deep tracks in the field by driving a vehicle onto it for the fifth time in four weeks – leaving the club with an anticipated bill of well over £1,000. The ground will need to be repaired in the spring, but Mr Powell said they will struggle to meet the cost.

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green

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Tribute To Cricket Groundsman Peter Green: Peter Green was one of Huddersfield cricket’s most popular figures.

The 73-year-old gave a lifetime of dedication to Honley Cricket Club and only last month received the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League’s highest award, the Fred Stallard Cup.

Presented to an individual who has given long and outstanding service to his club and the game, guests at the league’s annual dinner gave a standing ovation when the award to ‘Mr Honley’ was announced.

The Drakes honour came just weeks after Peter received the Institute of Groundsmanship Special Recognition Award in front of 700 guests at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

He has been groundsman at Honley’s pristine Far End Lane ground for the past 40 years.

Peter, who was associated with Honley CC for over 60 years, will be sadly missed by the whole Huddersfield cricket community.

Born in Gilsland, Northumberland, in 1944 (because his father, Leslie, was stationed in the north east with the army at the time), Peter moved to Honley at the age of three – the Green family have been part of the village for centuries.

His father and uncles all played for the club and Peter, who went to Honley Junior School and Holmfirth Secondary (now High School), grew up loving cricket.

He couldn’t wait for his 12th birthday when he was officially allowed to join to play junior cricket and once through the gates he was never going to play anywhere else and his love for the club never waned.

After leaving school Peter worked as a painter and decorator before joining David Brown’s at Meltham, but he then joined The Post Office and worked as a postman until retiring eight years ago.

He married wife Isabel at St Mary’s Church in Honley in 1970. They had a guard of honour with cricket bats and hockey sticks because Isabel played hockey for Huddersfield Ladies and then Colne Valley Ladies.

They passed on their love of sport to sons Martin and James, both of whom have followed in their father’s footsteps and become stalwarts of the Honley club.

Peter had been encouraged by his father and uncles, who took a keen interest in his pathway through junior cricket in the 1950s to the Honley first team, and Peter did likewise for his sons.

In addition to his playing career, Peter served as groundsman, coach and committeeman and, having enjoyed a 50-year playing career, he was rewarded with the Lady Sykes Candlesticks in 1983 (son Martin received the same accolade in 2015).

Peter scored at least 6,711 senior runs and took 88 outfield catches. A talented wicketkeeper, he also had 154 dismissals behind the stumps and twice won the league wicketkeeping prize, the Cyril Thorpe Cup.

He became club groundsman in 1977 and continued in that role until his retirement, due to ill health, earlier this year.

Honley won the Greenwood Trophy (for most improved ground) on four occasions and Peter won the Tom Walker Trophy for best groundsman a record four times.

He forged a close working relationship with the Yorkshire County ground staff and his talents and dedication allowed Honley to regularly stage the Sykes Cup Final, league representative matches and Yorkshire junior games.

Receiving the award from the Institute of Groundsmanship really was the ultimate accolade for all that work.

While working full-time, playing every weekend and looking after the ground, Peter also found time to become a qualified junior coach, spending many hours at junior practice evenings and school indoor nets, not only helping his own lads to love the game, but countless other young players as well.

Family holidays have, for the last 38 years, included an annual trip to St Ives in Cornwall with good friends Bruce and Christine Jakeman – the last earlier this summer while Peter was still well enough to travel – but the Greens followed cricket all around the world.

They supported England on five Ashes tours to Australia – their favourite place being Sydney – in addition to watching the national side in the West Indies and South Africa, but they went to many other places to watch the game.

Peter’s funeral will be at Huddersfield Crematorium on Wednesday, December 20 (10.30am) and Isabel, Martin and James would like everyone to wear colour in celebration of his life.

That celebration will continue at Honley Cricket Club.

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WACA Jack Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test

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‘WACA Jack’ Gets Cricket Ground Ready For Ashes Test: Next weeks’ Ashes test will be the last to be held at Perth’s traditional home of cricket.

John Lewis, who was given his more catchy nickname by WA fast bowling great Dennis Lillee, has been a WACA Ground staple for almost 40 years with his jobs varying from “general fixer-upper”, groundsman and assistant pitch curator to cultivating his beloved roses.

But as the WACA prepares for its final Ashes battle tomorrow week before a move to Perth Stadium, the 71-year-old admits his tenure is also nearing an end. Unlike most Victorians who revere the MCG, his adopted State’s ground is his only love.

“To me it’s home … well, my second home anyway,” Mr Lewis said. “It may as well be because the only time I’m not here is when I’m home sleepin’. To be here for so long, this ground means everything to me, mate, it really does. It’s going to be hard to walk away, mate, I can tell ya.”

Mr Lewis, a former roof carpenter and truck driver who survived a heart attack in 2015, started work at the WACA on June 19, 1978.

“At 8am,” he said proudly.

He laughed as he recalled once heading out to the wicket to remove a broken stump with a hammer and a screwdriver, only to find English Test batsman Derek Randall unsuccessfully trying to loosen it pouring cordial down the stump hole.

Mr Lewis still has his part of the stump at home. But not all of his tasks were a joy. “There were 1287 old garden chairs which were all multiple colours,” he said.

“Every year they had to be shaved back and repainted with all new boards put on. It would take nearly the whole of winter to fix them up.”

And there was only a brief pause when asked what he could buy if he had a dollar for every time he had mowed the WACA lawn. “Probably the Taj Mahal,” Mr Lewis said with his trademark cheeky grin.

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London Stadium Set For ‘Festival Of Cricket’ Weekend

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London Stadium set for ‘festival of cricket’ weekend at 2019 World Cup…

• England v Australia and India v Pakistan are games under consideration
• Proposals to be discussed by World Cup organising committee on 11 May

The London Stadium is moving closer to hosting two matches over a weekend in the 2019 World Cup, creating what the England and Wales Cricket Board hopes will be a record-breaking festival of cricket.

The organisers of the World Cup would like the London Stadium to host one day-night match on a Friday, and then a day game on a Sunday. Should the plans be ratified, England and India seem certain to play a game each. The probable fixtures would be England playing Australia, perhaps on the Friday under floodlights, and India playing Pakistan.

Given the capacity for cricket is believed to be 60,000, the crowd for the India-Pakistan match would be the highest for a game between the two countries outside the subcontinent.

laying two matches at the London Stadium over a weekend would reduce operating costs and increase the visibility of the games.

The World Cup organising committee will meet to discuss the use of the stadium on 11 May and hopes to confirm its decision in mid-July, once it has seen how quickly the venue adapts to athletics after its first season being used by West Ham. The window in which the venue could host cricket is believed to be only a week.

While it had been thought the London Stadium could host Essex T20 matches next summer, this now appears unlikely. The World Cup matches would be the ground’s first cricket games.

The organising committee has found the size of the boundary complies with the International Cricket Council’s minimum requirements. The games would use drop-in pitches for the first time in international cricket in England, though questions remain over whether the outfield would meet World Cup standards, and over the costs of adjusting the stadium to host cricket. The ICC has yet to inspect the ground but is understood to be keen on the concept.

he ECB is conscious the total attendance for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand topped one million and aspires to get as close to this figure as possible. Using the London Stadium for two matches would increase net capacity for games at the tournament to around 900,000.

All matches for the World Cup have already been allocated but the organising committee would compensate grounds that give up matches, guaranteeing the same financial benefits as if they had hosted an extra game. The Oval, which has been awarded five games, is likely to lose one match, though Surrey would be relaxed about the prospect.

Should the World Cup matches be successful it increases the likelihood of the London Stadium being involved in hosting games in the new city-based T20 tournament if it coincides with the venue being available to stage cricket.

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