EAST RIDING CRICKET SOCIETY

'A hell of a ride, and good fun' ( Jack Brooks , ERCS meeting, 25 November 2024). Well, Jack delivered a talk as fluently and directly as he always bowled – straight and to the point. He played for three counties: Northants, Yorkshire and Somerset. His best result was his first and only first-class 100 at Old Trafford. As a latecomer to professional cricket, he played the game as he would wish to watch it. He didn’t view it as a 'real' job (he’d had one of those) but as having fun with his mates. After a trial with Surrey came to nothing, he answered a call to open trials with Northants. In his first match he took 6 for 90, scored some runs and thought it would bring him a one-year contract. Instead he was offered four years, and his highlight was opening the bowling against Australia as part of their pre-Test warm-ups. He did a Lions tour and roomed with Jonnie Bairstow. While various counties tried to get him after that, Yorkshire's offer seemed quirky enough to ...

It was a bit odd having our first meeting in November rather than October but Jeremy Lonsdale was well worth the wait. He began by reminding us that we were celebrating the 60th birthday of East Riding Cricket Society, almost to the day. Our first meeting was held in Jackson's Ballroom, Hull on 4 November 1964, with the Hull Daily Mail reporting that over 100 attendees gathered to listen to Yorkshire great Bill Bowes. And who was Jeremy talking about in 2025? None other than that very same cricketer – now the subject of Jeremy's biography, An Unusual Celebrity: the Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowes , shortlisted for the Cricket Writers' Book Award 2024. Perhaps a coincidence – or perhaps a cunning plan. Bill made his first-class debut for MCC in 1928, for Yorkshire in 1929 and for England in 1932, taking 68 wickets over 15 Tests. Meanwhile his first-class total of 1639 wickets at 16.76 (bettering the career average of S F Barnes) and 1531 runs at 8.6...

Pat Murphy – broadcaster, journalist and author of 40+ books, most recently BBC Sports Report: A Celebration – first entertained us in our Cottingham days, back in 2019, and his return brought another cavalcade of enjoyable tales. Now he introduced us to his ' Murphy XI ' dream team , all players he wrote with or about during his 47- book writing and broadcasting career . He took us at pace through his openers, middle order and all - rounders, then on to the bowling attack . All speed , no twirl in this particular side ! As you'd expect, there are some notable names in there : Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, David Gower, Viv Richards, Bob Willis , Basil d'Oliveira, Ian Botham , Wasim Akram , Imran Khan , Mike Procter , Alan Donald. N ot to mention walk-on parts for Jeff Lynne, Eric Clapton and Elton John. I t 's clear that the worlds of cricket, sport , music and fame can collide in interesting ways ! A fter the break, ...

Jane Powell – President of Yorkshire CCC; ECB Performance Manager Disability Cricket; former captain, Yorkshire Women; and former captain and coach of England Women – talks as she lives – con brio . Fast, funny, gritty, warm and enthusiastic, Jane arrived in Beverley fresh from Ahmedabad and the first international t20 series between the England and India Men’s Physical Disability teams (England lost 3-2 to the hosts) and about to embark on a trip to Perth, Western Australia to stay with her identical twin sister, Jill. When Jane says 'turning up is important', she means it. As only our third female speaker, it was particularly interesting to hear how this self-described 'just a girl from Sheffield' went about achieving so much in the cricket world. And not just in the cricket world. A busy – indeed hectic – sporting life has seen her excel in cricket, hockey, badminton and lacrosse, as player and as coach, and has clearly required ...

Despite an icy night an excellent crowd of 56 members braved the chill on Thursday 18 January to listen Kevin Sharp – Yorkshire CCC (1976–90) and Head Coach of  Worcestershire CCC (2018–22) . A Leeds lad through and through – born in Meanwood – Kevin is now returning to Yorkshire after a 46-year playing and coaching career with Yorkshire CCC and Worcestershire CCC. And as a keen hill-walker, he'll be picking his spot with care.  He warned us early on that he wasn't 'as funny as John Barclay', but he did have one non-Barclayan trick up his sleeve – of which more later. The Yorkshire dressing-room of the 1970s was a rather formidable place to a nervous 16-year-old. Turning up on Day One in jeans and T-shirt did not impress a certain Mr Boycott, who immediately sent him home to change! However, Kevin soon learned how to become a Yorkshire player and enjoyed his playing days. He admits that he never achieved his full potential on the field but on retir...

What a cracker Maggie can pull! She’s welcome at my seasonal table, as is Mr John Barclay with his entertaining, witty and thoroughly good-natured cricket chat. Almost fifty of us turned up to hear John – former captain of Sussex CCC; MCC President (2009–10); president, English Schools Cricket Association (ESCA); and vice-president of the Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation – who also happened to be our last speaker prior to lockdown in March 2020. He seemed flattered to be back, saying he rarely gets a second invite – although I find that hard to believe. Not only did he talk cricket. He also illustrated it vividly, with walkabouts and grand arm and hand gestures to bring his words to life. There was something of the pantomime in the way he involved us in his performance – for this was far more than a traditional 'speech'. We heard about his appointment as MCC President, as the choice of his predecessor Derek 'Deadly' Unde...