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The early years
(1743 to 1892) |
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RELIGION, RAILWAYS AND A BOOMERANG |
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1743 |
The place of the oaks situated on the river Worth, to the
southwest of the Aire valley town of Keighley in West Yorkshire, did not
formally exist until 1844. It is clear that prior to this date education and
religion had begun to play major roles in developing the community in the
area known as Oakworth. It seems that early
educationalists and a few travelling preachers of the mid-eighteenth century
had begun to have a deep effect on the social scene in the then rural
Oakworth. |
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As
early as 1743 a lady by name Sarah Heaton
opened a free Methodist school at Harehill and in 1790 the Wesleyans erected
a larger free school at Sykes Head. This followed establishment 6 years
earlier of the first Sunday school in the whole of Yorkshire on the Sykes
Head site. Its doubtful if school curriculum included the game of cricket,
but it seems likely the village lads played their under-arm version or
stool ball on the village common. The Yorkshire
game of Knurr & Spell was also popular. |
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1844 |
Throughout the Napoleonic wars the village continued to develop and the
churches began to establish more permanent chapels from which to spread the
gospel. In 1844 the area of Oakworth including Laycock and Braithwaite was
finally recognized as an ecclesiastical parish independent of Keighley. A
year after the erection of Christ Church in 1845, the transport revolution
reached the Aire valley with the completion of the
Midland Railway line from Bradford to Skipton. Meanwhile the game of
cricket was also progressing with scores now being accounted in books rather
than by the traditional means of notching the bat! |
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In 1816 all bowlers had to ensure their hand remained below
the elbow on delivery, but by 1835 this requirement had become “below the
shoulder”. In 1849 a pitch could be rolled and swept and in 1850 wicket
keepers were allowed to wear gauntlets. The game was indeed developing
rapidly in the era prior to the County Championship,
which did not appear until 1864. |
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1848 |
1848 saw the founding of Keighley Cricket Club alongside
the railway bringing the semi professional game to the Aire valley,
providing entertainment for workers of the town. |
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1853 |
The North’s first newspaper, the Daily Northern Times, was
first published in 1853 and the local Telegraph and Argus followed in 1868.
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1862 |
One year after the death of the reverend
Patrick Bronte in Haworth even more rapid
growth for Oakworth came along with it’s own Co-op in 1862, another chapel
in 1863 and the commencement of the magnificent
Oakworth House for the Holden family in 1864. In 1867 the jigsaw was
almost complete with the opening of Oakworth Railway station providing a
much needed transport link with the outside world. So the scene was set for
the emergence of cricket in Oakworth. |
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1868 |
It
is a matter of conjecture how influential the rail link was in attracting
Oakworth villagers to the ground of the Keighley club: but I’ll wager that
one or two did make that journey on Saturday 27th July 1868.
The auspicious occasion was to see the Keighley Club take on the
Australian aboriginal tourists in the 20th
match of their tour of the UK. The aborigines had been inspired to tour by
the successes of the English tours to Australia in 1862/63 and 1863/64.
Their team consisted of 13 genuine aborigines delighting in the names:
Mullagh, Cuzens, Bullocky, Red Cap, Twopenny, Dick-a-dick, Peter, Charley,
Mosquito, Jim Crow and Sundown. They gave entertaining displays of
boomerang
and spear throwing in addition to some excellent cricket as they won 14 of
their 47-match programme. Their game with Keighley resulted in a draw after
Keighley had set them a target of 164 runs to win but the visitors reached
only 142 for 8. For Keighley T Waring scored 64
not out in their first innings score of 118 and J
Dennison had match bowling figures of 9 for 81 in restricting the
Aborigines to 101 in their first knock. The match featured over-arm bowling
which had been legalized four years earlier in 1864. |
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1878 |
The first official Australian tourists came to play Keighley in 1878 and on
29th July eighteen Keighley hopefuls took on the might of the D W
Gregory international stars including the famous Bannermans, the almost
unplayable demon bowler Spofforth and Murdoch. The 3 day match ended in a
convincing win for the tourists as first the Bannermans with their bats and
then Spofforth with amazing match figures of 20 for 117 subdued the gallant
locals by 7 wickets.
Scores Keighley xviii 102 and 133 Australia 206 and 32 for
3 |
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1880 |
Two years later with batsmen now wearing new fangled batting pads, the
Second Australians returned for another three-day game over the Whitsuntide
Holiday. This time the Lawkholmers gained an honourable draw.
Scores Keighley xviii 102 and 53 Australia 98 and 32 for
2
"Demon" Spofforth and
Palmer dominated the bowling as did Murdoch
with the bat. |
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1881 |
By now the population of Oakworth, measured as 2,648 in the
census of 1881, must have been pretty familiar with the well developed game
of cricket and no doubt some local enthusiasts were already dreaming of a
team for the village |
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1885 |
In
1885, worshippers at Christ Church Oakworth, taken with the game, kept faith
with the Victorian vision of England as God’s heaven on earth, and decided
to form a team of players with the name of Oakworth Albion, a name much
later also to be adopted by the village football club. The Albion or Church
team used a field at Near Highfield, which is now a play area for the
children of Sunhurst and Moor Drives. In that same year the
Wesleyan
Methodists also banded together to play on a ground in a farm field at
Racemoor Lane very near to the present ground. Could it be that this is
where the address of Cure Hill comes from since
Wide Lane is probably the correct address of our club? The Methodists called
their team Oakworth Brunswick, presumably after Prince Albert’s family
lineage. The Wesleyans it seems were true blue royalists as they had also
built their new school on Victoria Road in
1878.
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Both clubs played their first matches in 1885, Church Albion on 20th
April and Brunswick on 23rd May. A team called Keighley White
Rose were soundly beaten by the Church side (84 to 26) and Cross Roads
Albion then succumbed to Brunswick by 42 runs to 23. The next recorded
fixture involved the Albion who defeated Park Lane Juniors by 13 runs. A
victory for the Brunswick against Springfield White Lily by 86 runs to 45
included a batsman with the name of Elijah Attack.
Elijah and his relative Horace would both play their part in the early years
of League cricket in the village. Elijah’s score of 18 that day may not
sound much but it was probably worth 50 today when the relative state of
wickets is taken into account. It was commonplace that outfields were left
to be trimmed by local farmer’s sheep or cows requiring a pre-match ritual
for removing the droppings! No wonder Grounds men are worth their weight in
gold! The playing squares in 1885 whilst cut and rolled as best possible
were obviously of poor quality since bowlers generally won the battle with
the batsmen. |
|
1886 |
The team name of Oakworth Brunswick gave way in 1886 to a new club name of
Oakworth Clarence for whom John Berry recorded a score of 23 in the club’s
win over the Board School by 27 runs. In addition to the Board School team
the village boasted another under the title of Oakworth White Star although
little is known about their origins or affiliations. The names of brothers
Stephen and Joe Nicholls
first appear in 1886. Stephen’s bowling abilities were to become widely
recognized and he should be regarded as the village’s first real star
player. |
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1887 |
Results from the Keighley News show continuing action from the Clarence and
White Star teams but the Albion club seems to have mysteriously disappeared. |
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1888 |
During 1888 results were noted from the Clarence and there was emergence
of a club called Oakworth. However, examination of the Oakworth names, among
them Stephen Nicholls, definitely indicates this team was in fact
Albion without the Albion label.
|
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A
hefty defeat for Ingrow White Star was the result of their meeting with
Oakworth Clarence on 12th May 1888, Oakworth’s 72 well ahead of
their 38. However, St Peters IIs dished out pain for Clarence with a 104-28
score-line. In the return match Elijah Attack’s 16 not out was insufficient
to avoid another defeat, this time by 69-34. |
|
1889 |
On 25th May Oakworth narrowly won the local derby
in 1889 with 49 runs to 41 by the Clarence. Other reports during 1889 show
only the Clarence team sporting the village name, albeit none too
successfully. The only exception was a friendly 104 run hiding for Blackhill
in June. Stephen Nicholls with 29 was top scorer. |
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1890 |
Only a 46-20 victory over Exley Head for un-suffixed Oakworth
made news in August. |
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|
1891 |
In May Clarence recorded friendly defeats at Spencer
Street (102-24) and at Worth Primitives (32-29) |
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1892 |
In
1892 the last of the name changes for the two teams took place and they
became Oakworth Church C.C. and Oakworth Wesleyans C.C.
That season saw
friendly games and a noteworthy couple of local derbies indicating perhaps
relative strengths of village rivals. On 30th July the Wesleyans
met Slack Lane Baptist C.C. and accomplished a crushing victory. The
Wesleyans notched up a respectable score of 51. The less experienced
Baptists were outclassed as Elijah Attack (4 for 3) and
Joe Moore (4 for 1) produced deadly bowling to
dismiss them for only 4 runs! Two weeks later the two senior clubs met and
this time the Church overcame the Wesleyans by 36 runs to 20. One week later
still they took the Baptists scalps by 44 to 14.
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All around the county at that time a debate raged about the merits of League
cricket. The diehards were prophesying doom and disaster if playing for
Championships were to replace the friendly games. They held that the spirit
of the game would be lost, conversely those in favour argued that increased
competition would generate better skilled players. Two factors had led to
this view; firstly that Yorkshire had not won
the County Championship; the powers in the land were Gloucestershire, the
county of the Graces, Notts and Surrey. Secondly the defeats of the English
national team at the hands of the Australians had been taken really badly
across the country. After all we had taught the colonials and indeed the
rest of the world the finer points of the art of cricket. Hadn’t we? They
saw League cricket as the breeding ground for
future County and Test players. The area around Bradford inevitably joined
the debate and in common with others, amateur and semi-professional Leagues
inevitably emerged. |
|
The first 25 years
(1893 to 1917) |
|
WILLIAM ADAMS LEMONADE |
|
1893 |
Playing for points
Debuts E Attack, H Attack, Bill Bryan, J Moore, J Hargreaves
Nine Keighley centred cricket clubs constituted the Keighley & District
League during the 1892 winter and the first League fixtures took place on
Saturday 15th April 1893. The League comprised the two Oakworth
clubs and teams from Keighley St Peters, Eastwood Wesleyans, Upper Green &
Utley Congregationalists, Keighley Friendly, Holy Trinity, Albert Street
Baptists and Haworth Wesleyans; all church based teams! 1893 saw formation
of the West Bradford Cricket League, including Ingrow Cricket Club.
The Wesleyans opened their League account at home against Eastwood
Wesleyans, a match easily won by our lads. The scores were Oakworth 75 and
Eastwood 41. Two further wins versus St Peters and Albert Street saw the
Wesleyans joint top of the league with their rivals the Church team. However
by mid-season the Wesleyan record had slipped and stood at 4 wins and 4
defeats. The Church team though remained unbeaten at the top looking every
inch the inaugural Champions. The Church success owed much to the bowling of
Stephen Nicholls and club captain Joe Brown.
Saturday 1st July 1893 brought together the two Oakworth clubs
for the first league derby. As their respective league positions indicated,
the unbeaten Church team started as favourites, but in local derbies the
formbook means nothing. The Wesleyans batted first and totalled a modest 41
runs with J W Bryan top-scoring with 10. An
obviously tense, close match resulted in the Church failing to meet their
target as they in turn were bowled out for 40 runs. It was the narrowest of
victories for the Wesleyans and the first league defeat for the Church. Or
was it? The defeat was not received with good grace by the Church team who
lodged an appeal with the league claiming that the scorebooks were wrong and
that the result should have been a tie. The League Committee met to examine
the appeal and later secretary Arthur Bartle confirmed that
the original result
would stand and therefore the Church
team’s deposit was forfeit. If local rivalry needed any fuelling such an
incident was bound to spice up future relations between the two Oakworth
clubs!
Before significantly losing their penultimate match against Eastwood, the
Church team took part in what must rank as one of the most unusual matches
ever recorded in this area. On September 2nd their home game
against St Peters resulted in a narrow win for the home side by 1 run, in
itself unusual but more notable for a match aggregate of only 13 runs. The
Church had been well skittled for only 7 runs in 9 overs. However, Captain
Joe Brown with 5 for 4 and Stephen Nicholls with 3 for 2 had the last laugh
as the Keighley side were in turn dismissed for only 6 runs in 4.3 overs! A
team of only 9 men obviously contributed to St Peters’ downfall. The whole
match lasted only 81 balls for that magnificent
aggregate score! |
|
The ironies of the fixture list then decreed that the
Church’s final fixture was to be the return match with the Wesleyans! In the
event the Church also needed to win to claim at least a share of the
Championship with Haworth Wesleyans. The match ended in a convincing revenge
win for the Church as their bowlers restricted the Wesleyans to a meagre 19
runs in reply to their own 52 score (S Nicholls 18),
Haworth also duly won their last game to set up a play-off with the Oakworth
Church C.C. for the title. The Championship trophy had been purchased by
public donation, the leading donor being Sir Isaac Holden with £2 and 2
shillings; ironically he was Oakworth’s leading Wesleyan!
History records
that on 23rd September 1893 the Oakworth Church C.C. became the
first Keighley & District League Champions as they soundly defeated the
Haworth Wesleyans by six wickets. The twin star bowlers Stephen Nicholls (4
for 21) and Joe Brown with 5 for 21 including a superb first ever hat-trick
proved far too good for the opposition. Indeed Brown actually outshone
Nicholls to take the League’s bowling prize, which he received along with
the League Championship trophy from the League secretary, Despite the
obvious disappointment of finishing their first ever league season in the
shadow of their League Champion rivals the Wesleyans could draw consolation
from holding their own.
The pioneering squad of Wesleyans who brought League cricket
to Oakworth in 1893 comprised: JW (Bill) Bryan, Joe
Moore, Joe Nicholls, J Hargreaves, Elijah Attack, Horace Attack, F Moore, W
Shaw, W Jones, John Berry, M Hartley, H Hartley, G Page, A Cockroft, A
Sharp, G Hudson & D Berry.
|
1st |
KDL |
J W Bryan |
16 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
6th of 9 |
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|
1894 |
Play off losers
The 1894 season was to be run in two sections (A & B) the winners of each
would meet for the overall Championship. Unfortunately, 7 of the Wesleyans
16 matches went unreported. The other nine were all won and this time the
Wesleyans finished top of their Section A. The bowling of J Moore was of
major importance and Bill Bryan set a new club record
individual high score of 39 not out in the match with Upper Green &
Utley. The ubiquitous Stephen Nicholls decided this year to turn out with
the Wesleyan XI. For the Wesleyan club the season also produced one
outstanding result on 5th May when Worth Wesleyans were reduced
to 5 all out in reply to Oakworth’s 46. Moore with 6 for 3 was the main
destroyer. He was ably backed-up by Nicholls with 3 for 2. The Worth side
contributed seven ducks to what is still, over a century later the lowest
total recorded against an Oakworth first team. |
|
Keighley Rovers Old, who qualified to meet Oakworth Wesleyans in the
final at Ingrow on 8th September 1894, won
section B of the league. In the final The Rovers made 65, with J Moore
taking 3 for 23 and Bill Bryan 2 for 10. The Wesleyans, bidding to retain
the Championship for the village, replied with only 43 runs. Rovers Old T
Leighton was Oaks destroyer with 15 runs and 5 for 19.
W J Slater was the only Oakworth batter to reach double figures, as
the club finished their superb second season as Runners Up. The after match
supper was held at Blakey’s Refreshment Rooms where Mr. N W Schofield
awarded the league prizes.
|
1st |
KDL |
J W Bryan |
16 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 missing, 2nd of 9 |
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1895 |
Missing results
Debut: William Adams
In
1895, a year which witnessed the birth of the Craven Leagues under the
auspices of the Craven Cricket Union, the Wesleyans lost in a KDL semi-final
play-off with Cross Roads St James to finish joint third in the
Championship. It is evident that the club again had a good season as
witnessed by two scores in excess of 100 for the first time. 112 runs were
scored against Lees Wesleyans and 139 against Oxenhope Parish Church. Both
matches however finished as draws as the Wesleyans left insufficient time to
bowl out the opposition. There was however a further five missing results
and the Sports Editor of the Keighley News was moved to pen this lament at
the time.
“To attempt to keep pace with the progress
of the multitudinous leagues which have lately sprung into existence were to
spend one’s strength for nought, since the process of extracting information
from honorary secretaries is almost as unsatisfactory as labouring to
purloin butter from a dog’s throat"
Perhaps the seven shillings & sixpence League Fees were dwelling on the mind
for 1895!
Happily for the village if not the Wesleyans, the Church team, with Stephen
Nicholls once again back in their ranks, returned to 1893 form to win their
section and ultimately they defeated Cross Roads by 8 runs to regain their
Championship. |
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1st |
KDL |
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16 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
5 missing, 3rd of 9 |
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1896 |
Craven League
The first three league seasons had proved to be enormously successful for
the village with 2 Championships and a Runners Up spot, an indication of the
sporting dominance of the village at that time. Oakworth Wesleyans opted to
join the new Craven League competition for the
1896 season, including former Church Captain Joe Brown for the first time.
This accession to the new League was seen as a step to "senior" higher
quality cricket and the club also decided to provide League cricket for its
up-and-comers by entering a Second XI in the
"junior" status Keighley & District League. Oxenhope YMCA's W Baxter amply
demonstrated that higher quality with 33 not out and 6 for 13, the most
devastating match double against Oaks to date and the first time Oakworth
had lost a match by over 100 runs, albeit to the Champions.
Debut: Joe Brown, Farewell: John Berry |
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1st |
CSL |
|
12 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
4th of 7 |
|
2nd |
CJL |
|
12 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
5th of 7 |
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1897 |
Back to Keighley
Debut: Edmund Feather
This new league was however not seemingly to Oakworth liking and they
reverted to junior status in the Keighley & District League to rejoin their
Church rivals for the 1897 campaign. The Second XI did not fulfil any League
matches. The local derby matches against the Slack Lane Baptists produced a
tense May draw with the Wesleyans needing only 2 to win with 4 wickets in
hand when stumps were drawn. In July the Wesleyans triumphed by 6 wickets.
Oxenhope's G Crabtree was the first of our
opponents to take 7 Oakworth wickets with 7 for 14 in our 25 all out. Bill
Bryan and Elijah Attack remained our leading batsmen.
The Champions were recorded as Oxenhope Church, who went on to beat The Rest
by 2 runs in the annual end of season match. Mr. J W
Hartley from Oakworth presented the medals. |
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|
1st |
KDL |
|
8 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 missing |
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1898 |
Boer War
There was only Sunday school league cricket (including the Slack
Lane Baptists) in 1898 due to the worsening situation in the war with the
Boers in South Africa. |
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1899 |
First fifty
Debuts: E Berry, B Sugden
The Wesleyan club tried again in 1899 with the Junior League, this time a
Craven variety. Wesley Place provided Oaks with an opportunity to defend a
score of only 27 on 6th May and this they managed, bowling them
out for 22 (W Adams 6 for 18). It remains the
lowest total ever defended by Oakworth. On 29th July that year
Oakworth batsman Elijah Attack made a little piece of history by scoring the
club’s first ever half-century with 54 not out versus Bingley & Gilstead
Primitives. The last season of the 19th Century also featured an
increasing number of excellent bowling performances notably from
G Hudson,
J Charlesworth and spinner William Adams.
Hudson's 7 for 4 vs Haworth PC eclipsed J W Bryan's record, which had stood
since 1893. Charlesworth's 7 for 7 against Bingley & Gilstead Prims ensured
their score of 13 entered Oakworth's records as the lowest recorded in the
Craven League. C Wildman of Haworth Methodists claimed 8 for 21, at the time
the first eight-timer for our opponents, to help his club secure a League
double over our lads and the Championship.
Oakworth tried their hand at Cup cricket. A 1st round loss by 8 wickets at
the hands of Keighley Congs in the Craven Cricket Union Cup ensured the tilt
was short lived. |
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1st |
CJL |
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14 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
4th of 8 |
|
2nd |
KDL |
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16 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3rd of 9 |
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1900 |
First ties
Debuts: J W Whiting, Dan McParland
The twentieth century saw the Wesleyans hop back yet again to the Keighley &
District League and this season brought their first tied match, with Wesley
Place and 92 runs each (E Berry scored 40 for
Oakworth). J Bartle of Haworth PC, one of the
League's leading batsmen scored a mammoth 74 not out in a 132-7 total on 11th
August; the first individual half-century conceded by Oaks. E Berry topped
the club batting averages whilst Charlesworth added to his growing
reputation with some sterling efforts with the bat as well as with the ball.
He went on to represent the Rest in the annual match against the Champions,
Keighley West Lane. |
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|
1st |
KDL |
|
14 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
4th of 8 |
|
2nd |
KDL |
|
14 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
2 missing |
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1901 |
United we stand
The winter of 1900-1901 was momentous if uncelebrated
because most of the players of the Wesleyans C.C. and others grouped
together to purchase the playing equipment and players tent from the
Wesleyan Church and transformed themselves into
Oakworth Cricket Club, independent of the Methodist Church. The new
name, intended to represent the whole of the village, did not create
conflict because the Church team had mysteriously regressed to junior status
and incredibly it soon disappeared from the scene. Just why this was so is
not totally clear, but I suspect that the continuous attempts to poach
players and in particular Stephen Nicholls to join his older brother Joe at
the Wesleyan Club had more than a little to do with it.
The 1901 season began with a declaration from the Keighley News that the new
club at Oakworth had the makings of “a good village team”.
The KN did take an interest in pre-season prospects of all the area’s
clubs. The next few years would reveal if that prediction were to be
accurate. The League hopping continued when the new club opted to re-join
the Craven League this time with the big boys in the Senior Division
(southern section).
Oakworth Cricket Club took to the field for the first time in their new
guise in an away friendly warm-up match with Sunday School League side Lund
Park. On 20th April 1901 Captain J W
Whiting and his lads soundly sent the opposition packing by 66 runs
to 23. J Charlesworth (pictured above far left) and E
Anderton (ex Church) did the damage each with 5 wickets for 11 runs
and Vice-captain Dan McParland claimed 26 runs when Oakworth batted. The
first league match one week later brought the club somewhat down to earth as
they went down to an 11 run defeat by Silsden IIs by 47 runs to 36.
Top-scorer this time was B Sugden with a more
modest 14. McParland in fact also excelled with the ball returning what is
still the most dominant bowing return of 5 for 1 in a 93 run victory over
the Wesleyans from Haworth.
Debut: George Lee, Farewell : J Charlesworth |
|
The final match of the season decided the section when Oakworth failed to
beat Haworth Parish Church who won by 5 wickets to top the section by 2
points from our lads. The Haworth team went on to beat Kildwick, the
northern section winners, by 9 runs to gain the overall Championship. The
remainder of the summer was made up with 5 friendly matches perhaps to
please the die-hards who objected to league cricket. E Berry topped the club
batting averages with 112 runs from 6 innings and Charlesworth led the
bowlers with 18 league wickets. The outstanding performance came from
Anderton who took a then club record of 8
Haworth Wesleyan wickets for only 34 runs in an early season win. There were
3 half-centuries, one each for Charlesworth, Berry and Sugden, whose 56 was
a new club record.
|
1st |
CSL |
J W Whiting |
8 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3rd of 5 |
|
2nd |
CJL |
B Sugden |
12 |
7 |
|
|
5 |
3rd of 7 |
|
|
1902 |
The great Cup Match
For the 1902 season the ground sported a new fence and seats and the
committee decided that admission charges would have to be made. I wonder how
long this remained club policy? An enlarged section of 9 teams commenced
duty on 12th April and included some sterling efforts in a
limited number of appearances by Keighley player
Arthur Lancaster. The one really bright note was the club’s progress
to the Craven Union Cup semi-final thanks to a magnificent 79 not out by
Lancaster in the previous round against Bradley. Oakworth had rattled up an
astonishing unprecedented 195 to crush Bradley by 155 runs. Bradley in fact
formally lodged a complaint about Oakworth’s inclusion of Lancaster. The
League rejected this complaint, as Oakworth resident Lancaster was still an
amateur. Oakworth lost the semi-final by the narrow margin of one wicket in
the evening gloom to Keighley Congs. Little did they know that it would be
well over half a century before the next step was made!
The Oakworth bowling was once again bolstered by none other than
Stephen Nicholls, who continued to grab some of
the headlines for his new club as he gathered 4 five-wicket hauls on his way
to taking a club record 65 wickets at an average under six. His best
performances were 7 for 10 versus Harden and a hat trick in that Cup match
with Bradley. Dan McParland also contributed a
great then record league score for Oakworth of 69 in a comfortable win over
Haworth Wesleyans. He went on to take the club's batting prize with 138 runs
from 10 knocks.
The Oakworth committee sensed that progress might be accelerated if they
joined the stronger West Bradford League and their application was heard on
27 the September 1902. It was rejected along with that from Haworth
Wesleyans.
Debuts: Stephen Nicholls, J Hey, Albert Wright; Farewell: Arthur Lancaster |
|
|
1st |
CSL |
J W Whiting |
16 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
7th of 9 |
|
2nd |
CJL |
J Craven |
10 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
5th of 6 |
|
|
1903 |
St Anne's Year
Debut: H Lancaster
In
1903 Keighley club, St Annes emerged as
Champions. St Annes humiliated Oakworth in the first match of the season
when our boys were dismissed for only 12 total; however they did themselves
lose 6 wickets in getting 13 needed for victory. |
|
|
1st |
CSL |
E Attack |
12 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
4th of 7 |
|
2nd |
CJL |
H Scargill |
10 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
|
|
1904 |
Hey's records
Debut: Hiram Hey
1904 was to prove a most successful season for Oakworth with over 1,000 runs
scored for the first time. Pride of place in team performance was a 115 run
tanning (1st over 100 runs) for Keighley West Lane on 21st
May by our resurgent XI. The challenge for honours was really thwarted by
Oxenhope Meths who sent us packing by a first recorded 10 wicket hammering
(Oaks 55 all out).
The season was notable for the dominance of J Hey
with bat and ball as he topped Oakworth batting and bowling averages. He set
a club bowling record of 69 victims at an amazing average of 3.40.
Seven times he took 5 or more wickets, twice
taking 8, for only 4 runs against Eastburn (club record) and for 13 runs v
Champions St Annes. At last the club had another star bowler to team up with
the ageing Stephen Nicholls who was now in his 16th season of
local cricket. With the bat Hey totalled 165 runs at an average of 11 and
had a season high personal score of 32. Both the Attacks and H Lancaster
gave admirable support with run getting. |
|
|
1st |
CSL |
J W Whiting |
18 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
2nd of 10 |
|
2nd |
CJL |
F Gurnett |
14 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2nd of 8 |
|
|
1905 |
Wright stuff
|