Ushaw Moor Cricket Club part two
Let me start with some details of a 1936 local derby. Ushaw Moor travelled the short journey to Esh Winning on 09/05/1936 to play the hosts. The scorecard for the game is as follows:
Esh Winning:
J Rowlands run out 5
T Kirk run out 10
G Turnbull bowled C Sargeant 1
C Grey caught C Sargeant bowled J Sargeant 22
T Dove bowled R Wilson 31
S Willis bowled R Wilson 0
F Hallam bowled R Wilson 1
S Crosby caught Hope bowled Spikings 2
H Grey caught Gibson bowled R Wilson 11
R Pinkney lbw bowled Spikings 4
T Rowan not out 0
Extras 10
Total 97
Ushaw Moor:
R Hope bowled C Grey 23
J Ross bowled Hallam 1
J Sargeant lbw bowled Hallam 11
J J Gibson caught H Grey bowled C Grey 21
J Rodgers caught Willis bowled Dove 6
C Sargeant caught Turnbull bowled C Grey 10
J F Spikings not out 5
W Seed not out 1
Extras 20
Total 98 for 6 wickets
Ushaw Moor won by four wickets
Batting can be dangerous and in about 1940, during a Friday night cup game against Annfield Plain, Harry Gillespie lost sight of a delivery in the sun and he was quite badly injured, or as Norman Hope reported some years later, ‘ Harry was very ill’.
Dickie Hope invited Donald Albone to umpire a friendly away match at Bearpark during the Second World War. Don gave three or four Bearpark players out lbw. After the game Dickie was keen to ask Don whether he was available the following week – his keenness to do so was understandable!
There were times during the second half of the 40s [and the early 50s] when the club nearly folded, probably due to difficult finances and / or a lack of sufficient players. However, having said that, during the period soon after their 1947 title win [detailed elsewhere on site] Dickie Hope had ambitions for the club. He tried to get it into the Durham Senior League, which was the best in the county. An inspector from the Durham Senior League came to inspect the facilities but found that the toilets and drainage were not up to the required standard for the senior league, so the application was rejected. Money was tight at the club and Dickie often spent periods of an hour, cap in hand, looking for lost cricket balls.
Amos Thompson was a batsman for the club and liked a drink or two [fair enough]. The problem was that he often left it to the last moment to leave the working men’s club in time to report for the game. In fact Dickie Hope sometimes had to delegate someone to go and get him!
Dickie Hope had the idea of getting a concrete practise pitch and this was implemented. He also successfully devised a match day routine of seven players practising and the remainder rolling the wicket. He also possessed the MCC [governing body] book of cricket rules and was a stickler for abiding by them.
Thomas Burnham [a coal face worker] watched Dickie in about 1951/2 and likened him to ‘Stonewall Jackson’. Thomas only later understood the value to a team of an opener who ‘sees off’ the opening bowlers. At one time the club’s annual presentations took place in the Catholic school hall.
According to my notes the gate receipts for the1960 season amounted to twenty five pounds. The following year they increased by three pounds. I suppose I must have got that information from the club records in 1998.
W Bell
I have much going on in my life at present but I can promise about three more articles before Christmas for Paul to consider putting on the site.
Regards
W Bell (Comment this)
In the search box type - Ushaw Moor Athlete
click [mouse]
The first article up is entitled 'Moor memories recalled as Ushaw's men are reunited.
It's an article from 2005.
(Comment this)