EAST RIDING CRICKET SOCIETY

After paying our respects to the memory of Aussie Test cricketer Phillip Hughes, so tragically killed last month, England star Dennis Amiss kept a packed house enthralled in the atmospheric Brewery Bar, King Billy, Cottingham, last Wednesday. And Dennis had a good time, too! 'I really did enjoy my evening with you,' he wrote after the meeting. 'Your warm welcome was much appreciated and the audience was very attentive, with some excellent questions.' Test opener, one-time World Series Cricket rebel, England selector, Warwickshire Chief Executive, Deputy Chairman of the ECB and now President of the Council of Cricket Societies - Dennis has done it all in his fifty-some years in first-class cricket. As the man who introduced the batting helmet (an adapted motor-cycle helmet) to the game - Dennis gave the audience some insight into the skill and courage required to face bowlers like Lillee, Thomson, Holding and Roberts in their prime, while claiming the best tactics aga...

Few men have served the English game longer and with greater distinction than Warwickshire and England opener Dennis Amiss . Making his debut as a teenager in 1960 against a Surrey side starring the likes of Alec Bedser and Tony Lock, Dennis went on to score over 43,000 runs in a 27-year first-class career. Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1975, the highlights of his 50 Tests for England were undoubtedly his two great innings against West Indies: 262* to save the 1973-74 Kingston Test, and 203 at The Oval in 1976 against the might of Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Wayne Daniel and Van Holder. Strongly built, tireless and four-square at the crease, his 11 Test hundreds include eight over 150, a higher proportion than that of Don Bradman. As England's first ODI centurion, Dennis also excelled in the early days of limited-overs internationals, scoring 859 runs at an average of 47.72, second only to Jonathan Trott. Later Chief Executive of Warwickshire and, until 2013, Deputy C...

To mark the Centenary of the First World War , author and ex- Birmingham Post cricket correspondent Brian Halford will tell the story of The Real Jeeves , the young Goole cricketer Percy Jeeves . Plucked from country-house cricket in the Dales, the modest young Yorkshireman went on to outshine the greats of the Golden Age in just two seasons with Warwickshire - clean bowling Jack Hobbs, hitting Wilfred Rhodes for six and outclassing England captain Plum Warner. In September 1914 he bowled his adopted county to victory over champions Surrey. It was his 50th first-class match - and his last. Among the first to volunteer for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Percy was killed, vanished without trace, at High Wood during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. But  his name lives on forever in the works of ardent cricket-lover PG Wodehouse . So impressed was Wodehouse by Percy's immaculate conduct and appearance during a match at Cheltenham in 1913 that he noted the...

In a change to our advertised programme , our October meeting features a Cricket Yorkshire Q&A with John Fuller (pictured right with ex-YCCC keeper Gerard Brophy), a cricket journalist with a difference. Fed up with 'mainstream cricket froth', John took matters into his own hands. He set up Cricket Yorkshire as a 'freelance cricket entrepreneur' four years ago and his site has since gone from strength to strength. 'Come armed with any and all questions,' says John with not a little trepidation. 'If it's to do with cricket, absolutely nothing's off limits. The point is to kick around topics you want answers to and have an intelligent debate.' John won't be ignoring topical news stories - Yorkshire’s Championship run, the Andrew Gale saga, England's troubled summer and the inevitable KP will all get an airing, but there's also chance to quiz him about his favourite interviews, grassroots sport, favourite grounds, photograph...

Autumn will soon be upon us, but East Riding Cricket Society has an outstanding line-up of speakers to entertain local cricket fans throughout the winter in our convivial new home - the Brewery Bar, King William IV , Hallgate, Cottingham HU16 4BD. 7.30 for 7.45pm. Membership costs just £15 a year - join at any meeting. Guests £5 . For more information email ercsoc@gmail.com or telephone Maggie Sumner 01482 861848 Monthly prize raffle - £2/ticket - offers the chance to win vouchers for free tickets to watch Yorkshire CCC at Headingley in 2015 plus a host of other prizes. Please note our 2014 AGM will be held prior to our meeting on 8 October 2014 at 7.15pm . PROGRAMME 2014-15 2014 8 October - AGM / CricketYorkshire Q&A with cricket journalist and entrepreneur, John Fuller 12 November - Brian Halford , Birmingham Mail and author of The Real Jeeves , the award-nominated biography of Goole's Percy Jeeves, the Warwickshire all-rounder killed ...

Matthew Wood , the former Yorkshire opener, will be the guest of East Riding Cricket Society on Wednesday 12  March .  Huddersfield-born Matthew first achieved prominence with England Under-19s, touring Zimbabwe in 1995-6 when he opened the batting with a certain Andrew Flintoff. Matthew made his  Yorkshire debut in 1997 and starred in the club's 2001 Championship-winning team, making four centuries during that memorable season, including a first-innings 124 against Glamorgan at Scarborough in the match which secured the trophy. Matthew followed this up with a winning 2002 C&G Final appearance (pictured above) and two Academy tours of Australia – alongside past and present Test men Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, Graham Swann, Ian Bell, Steve Harmison, Rob Key and Monty Panesar – while 1,400 runs and five centuries in a superb 2003 brought him the much-coveted title of Yorkshire's Player of the Year. After a short spell with Glamorgan, Matthew retired in 2009 and...

Jason Gillespie ,Yorkshire CCC's 1st Team Coach and Australian Test great, and Dave Callaghan , the voice of YCCC on BBC radio, will be presenting their Dizzy 'n' Dave roadshow at East Riding Cricket Society on Wednesday 26 February 2014 , 7.30pm for 7.45pm. Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath formed Australia's most statistically successful new ball pairing, and Jason is now one of the world's most highly regarded coaches, much talked about in recent days as a possible successor to Andy Flower. Happily for Yorkshire fans, he has restated his 100% commitment to the club. 'I'm going nowhere,' he said on Monday. 'I love being coach of Yorkshire and can't wait for the new season.' Find out more about his aspirations for Yorkshire in 2014, his take on England's Ashes debacle, his views on friend and team-mate Darren Lehmann, his best-ever 7-37 at Headingley or his celebrated 201* against Bangladesh in his final Test, the highest-ever ...

Stephen Mann , Chairman of the Yorkshire CCC Members' Committee , will be speaking at East Riding Cricket Society on Wednesday 8 January 2014 . Stephen was born, raised and educated in the West Riding. He watched his first county cricket at Bradford Park Avenue in the early 60's and made his first visit to Headingley with a school party for the 1962 Test against Pakistan, watching Trueman and Statham - and 2012 speaker Micky Stewart - take on the likes of Mushtaq and Hanif Mohammed. His playing days were spent in the Heavy Woollen leagues and in village cricket during a spell living in Scotland. Stephen joined the YCCC Members' Committee in 2005 and became Chairman that same year at only his second meeting. The Members' Committee represents members' interests to Yorkshire CCC and conducts a number of surgeries and open forums during the year. What's your experience of watching county cricket? What can Yorkshire and the ECB do to improve it? How can Yorks...