100th Anniversary of First County Game at Worksop

 

100th Anniversary of First County Game at Worksop

Many readers will have their own memories of county cricket at Central Avenue, Worksop, fondly remembered as the home patch for the former Notts President and Second Eleven captain Jack Baddiley. The massive crowds against Yorkshire, the games normally played during holiday “Pit Week”, when it always felt like an away game for the Notts team and supporters. Both ends of the ground had water: the Ryton End (nearest the town) and the raised Canal End, which was backed onto by the Chesterfield and Worksop canal, with many a ball lost as it cleared the wooden fence. Up to 1988 the ground was shared with the local football club, Worksop Town, but a supermarket was built on the football side of the ground and so “The Tigers” had to move to Sandy Lane.

The inaugural first-class game at Worksop was played on 20, 21 and 22 July 1921 as Notts opposed local rivals Derbyshire. There had been much excitement leading up the fixture which had been first announced the previous December. Notts had been looking to take their cricket outside Trent Bridge for a while although initial attempts to play at Welbeck Abbey in 1901 and 1904 did not achieve financial success. The Central Avenue Ground was first used by Worksop CC in 1900 and had been inspected by officials of Notts CCC in 1914 with a view of playing a county match in 1915. The Nottingham Journal of 5 January 1921 bemoaned the fact that Mansfield did not have “a good playing piece, with suitable appointments for taking a gate” and Notts therefore had to give Worksop a chance, despite the surrounding population being much less than that of Greater Mansfield.

The 1921 contest drew a good crowd, but the start of play was considerably delayed as the Derbyshire team bus broke down near Mansfield, a telephone message to that effect being received at the ground at 10:30. Derbyshire eventually arrived at the ground at 1:00 with play commencing 15 minutes later, Notts winning the toss and electing to bat. Play was extended to 7 pm on day one with an earlier start on Thursday (Day 2). Notts eventually won a close fought game by 48 runs. Derbyshire, chasing 321 for victory, were at one point 227-5 needing a further 94 runs to win. However after Derbyshire skipper Gilbert Curgenven fell for 60 to a fine slip catch by George Gunn diving to his right off Sam Staples, Derbyshire collapsed and the game was over by five o’clock. Leg spinner Len Richmond picked up five wickets and off-spinner Staples four wickets. The money taken at the gates during the three days was £300, which, all things considered was very good. Yorkshire were playing the Australians at nearby Bramall Lane, Sheffield at the same time. Wisden commented "The wicket at Worksop was obviously a good one, and the consistent scoring up to the end of the game proved that it lasted well." A brief summary of the game is given below:

Notts 322 (G Gunn 93, WRD Payton 73, W Bestwick 4-133) & 317 (AW Carr 75, F Barratt 62, WW Whysall 61, W Bestwick 4-148, A Morton 4-32);

Derbyshire 319 (H Storer 59, L Oliver 53, SWA Cadman 51, TL Richmond 4-62, F Barratt 4-90) & 272 (J Bowden 75, G Curgenven 60, GW Goodwin 53, TL Richmond 5-89, SJ Staples 4-91)

Worksop in the 1960s

Derbyshire returned the following May, but were trounced by an innings and 130 runs as Sam Staples and Richmond added 140 for the 10th wicket. In 1923, Worcester paid a visit and were beaten by 124 runs with Fred Barratt achieving the best match figures (12-130) recorded on the ground. No first-class matches were played on the ground between 1925 and 1931 inclusive. It was Notts’ policy before the War to allocate less attractive counties to Worksop, so many of the great players of the 1920s and 1930s never appeared. In the 1934 fixture against Worcestershire, which ended as a draw, Notts achieved their highest total at the venue, scoring 540 all out with Walter Keeton also achieving the highest score by a Notts batsman on the ground with 223. The following year Notts had a narrow three-wicket win over Glamorgan, Harold Butler achieving the best innings figures for Notts bowler at Worksop with 7-66. In 1937 Notts legend Harold Larwood made his only appearance at the ground in a two-day seven-wicket victory over Leicestershire, finishing with figures of 3-36 and 5-65. The match is best remembered for a hat-trick for Harold Butler. There was a tense finish the following season as Notts, chasing 160 to beat Essex, collapsed from 130-5 to 148 to lose by 11 runs, Essex leg-spinner Peter Smith doing most damage with 5-60. In 1939, Leicestershire were the opponents in a drawn game and it was 20 years before first-class cricket returned to the Town Ground.

Kent made their only appearance on the ground in 1959 winning by 10 wickets, after making Notts follow on. There was a bizarre game in 1961 as Notts after scoring 431-4d (Geoff Millman 129, Maurice Hill 137 not out) bowled Lancashire out for 154 (Andy Corran 5-81). Notts then declared on 94-0 and set Lancashire an unlikely 372 to win, but they got home by six wickets in 97 overs with captain Bob Barber leading the way with 104 not out. The following year Yorkshire made their second of their 13 visits, winning by 180 runs. Freddie Trueman took 10 wickets in the contest including a ground record 8-84 in the Notts first innings.

Three successive draws followed between 1963 and 1965 as Middlesex, Hampshire and Somerset visited. Yorkshire triumphed in 1966 by 10 wickets as Brian Close scored 115 not out in the Tykes’ first innings. In 1971, Notts achieved their first victory at Worksop for 34 years as Middlesex were beaten by 192 runs. Garry Sobers followed up scores of 78 and 27 not out with 4-21 as Middlesex were bowled out for 108 in their second innings. Two rain-affected draws followed in 1972 (Yorkshire) and 1973 (Surrey). Yorkshire trounced Notts by an innings and 69 runs in 1974. John Hampshire scored 157 not out as Yorkshire made 250-7d, Notts could only muster in 94 and 87 in their two innings. In 1975 the first day of the Northants fixture at Worksop coincided with the inaugural World Cup Final between Australia and winners West Indies. Twenty-two wickets fell on the Saturday. Notts bowled out the visitors for 184 but after being 8-5 at one stage were shot out for 67 as Pakistani right-arm fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz ran amok with 6-23. On the Monday, Phil Wilkinson had figures 5-20 as Northants made 117 all out. Notts slipped to 146-5 on the Monday evening chasing a distant 235 for victory. But next morning Clive Rice (109 not out – his maiden ton for Notts) and Harry Latchman (32 not out) added an unbroken 89 for the sixth wicket as Notts completed an unexpected victory. Suddenly the Town Ground was becoming a lucky charm for the struggling Notts team of the 1970s as despite conceding a first innings lead of 106 against Yorkshire in 1976 they successfully chased 260 for victory with three wickets in hand, Rice once again to the fore with 95 not out and Basher Hassan lending a helping hand with 65 not out. Earlier 18 year-old Kevin Cooper had taken 5-24 in the Yorkshire second innings of 153. He had also had three first-innings wickets to his name. Yorkshire were to briefly become the whipping boys, losing by eight wickets in 1978 as Richard Hadlee had figures of 6-39 and 5-102. Yorkshire were bowled out for a paltry 93 all out in their first innings, recovering well to make 398 (Hampshire 124) second time around. In between times, Notts made 426-8d (Mike Harris 143, Rice 87). The following season the Tykes followed on as Notts won by eight wickets, Notts 371-6d and 149-2; Yorkshire 159 and 360. Geoff Boycott followed up a rare Worksop failure (2) with 175 not out, carrying his bat but to no avail. In 1980 the wicket turned square as Notts recalled veteran 44-year-old off-spinner Bob White who returned match figures of 10-57. Derbyshire took a first-innings lead of 118 but Notts fought back with a second-innings total of 261 (Rice 80). Derbyshire, needing 144 to win, made the lowest total in the ground’s history, being surprisingly dismissed for 54. Fellow off-spinner Eddie Hemmings was also to the fore with match figures of 7-108. Despite a career best 127 not out from Hemmings, Notts lost by two wickets to Yorkshire in 1982. Notts declared their second innings on 181-2 but Yorkshire successfully chased 305 in 85 overs, Boycott scoring 91 and 82 in the match. Yorkshire were regular visitors, drawing games in 1983 (Boycott 214 not out) and 1985, but Notts beat them by an innings and eight runs in 1986. Notts had three centurions in their 404-3d (Chris Broad 122, Tim Robinson 105, and Paul Johnson 105 not out) and Andy Pick had match figures of 9-109. Boycott made his last appearance on the ground in this contest having scored 931 runs at an average of 93.10 on his visits.

Notts won the championship in 1987, including beating Warwickshire at Worksop by an innings and 34 runs, Duncan Martindale scored 103 and Hemmings had match figures of 10-79. The 1989 Lancashire match was lost by six wickets as Lancashire scored 309-4 (Graham Lloyd 117, Mike Atherton 90) in their second innings. Glamorgan trounced Notts by 238 runs in 1990 with Hugh Morris, Matthew Maynard and the legendary Viv Richards all making tons. In 1992, Gloucestershire squeaked home by 10 runs. After centuries for Gloucester’s Bill Athey (133) and Notts’ Chris Cairns (107 not out), Notts needed 146 to win but collapsed from 98-4 to 135 all out as Courtney Walsh took 5-33. Two years later, Notts beat Glamorgan by an innings and 37 runs, Graeme Archer making a career best 168 and 20-year-old slow left-armer Jim Hindson having second innings figures of 5-53. In 1996, Glamorgan gained revenge with an eight-wicket win, Glamorgan opener Steve James scoring a ground record 235. Notts probably saved their worst performance on the ground to the very last first-class game played there on 26-28 August 1998. They made their lowest-ever score on the ground, 61, and then allowed opponents and that season’s champions Leicester to amass the highest visitors score of 505-6d with Ben Smith (159) and Phil Simmons (194) sharing a ground-record partnership of 322 for the fifth wicket as Leicestershire won by an innings and 223 runs, Alan Mullally finishing with match figures of 11-89.

In total, Notts played in 47 first-class games on the ground (won 18, lost 12, drew 17) with 15 of the 17 counties visiting at least once with Durham and Sussex the two counties to miss out. Sussex did however visit for a 40-over John Player fixture in 1971, one of three List A fixtures played on the ground. Notts lost all three of them, with Derbyshire and Northants being the other opponents.