Huddersfield Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Died today. An interesting character from the world of cricket, he was a hard as nails working class Yorkshireman playing in an era when cricket was still massively elitist. Once reprimanded for not calling a "Gentleman" player by his first name when congratulating him for scoring 50 he used to coach kids how to avoid LBW by making them play without pads. England recalled him in the 1970s against the West Indies when he was nearly 50 years old on the grounds he was one of the few batsman not intimidated by their notorious seamers. Sadly the sort of character increasingly lost to sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1ANDYP Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Never heard of him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernscum Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Died today. An interesting character from the world of cricket, he was a hard as nails working class Yorkshireman playing in an era when cricket was still massively elitist. Once reprimanded for not calling a "Gentleman" player by his first name when congratulating him for scoring 50 he used to coach kids how to avoid LBW by making them play without pads. England recalled him in the 1970s against the West Indies when he was nearly 50 years old on the grounds he was one of the few batsman not intimidated by their notorious seamers. Sadly the sort of character increasingly lost to sport. Don't really know anything about the lad other than hearing his name in passing. They showed a wee clip of him (I assume from the early 70's) facing some bouncers from Holding? with no protection whatsoever...............Jesus wept! He was one hardy loon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 (edited) Don't really know anything about the lad other than hearing his name in passing. They showed a wee clip of him (I assume from the early 70's) facing some bouncers from Holding? with no protection whatsoever...............Jesus wept! He was one hardy loon! Yeah, he faced Holding (and may I remind you Holding's nickname was Whispering Death) with no helmet, no chest guard, no arm guard and only a towel taped to his leg as a thigh guard. This is what he looked like afterwards. Edited September 15, 2015 by biffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Tough as old boots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddardStark Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Yeah, he faced Holding (and may I remind you Holding's nickname was Whispering Death) with no helmet, no chest guard, no arm guard and only a towel taped to his leg as a thigh guard. This is what he looked like afterwards. Holding spoke fondly of him the other day. He had a very long period where he had no form at all but Yorkshire resurrected his career as captain and he recovered his desire for the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandydunn Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 He sounds a bit mental if you ask me..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannannan Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 Tough tough guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) Mind watching him at the very end of his career, didn't realise he'd been playing since the 1940s! My old man told me a story where he'd taken a bouncer full on the chest and played on, telling the bowler "If that's your best you need to eat more beef". It was later discovered he had broken ribs from the incident. As mentioned already, bit of a nutjob... Edited September 18, 2015 by Toepoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pool Q Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Remember the West Indies series in 1976 vividly. He was some bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Of Paisley Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Helped shaped Ian Botham into the player he was as his captain at Somerset. Was he not one of the strongest advocates in days of yore that only Yorkshire people should play for Yorkshire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huddersfield Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Helped shaped Ian Botham into the player he was as his captain at Somerset. Was he not one of the strongest advocates in days of yore that only Yorkshire people should play for Yorkshire? He was certainly knocking around the committee at the time when it was a hugely contentious issue that split the club & supporters right down the middle. Ultimately ssettled by signing Sachin Tendulkar as a teenager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts