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LEE BURNS THE BOOTS
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The history of Oakworth cricket club will
show that
Lee Hollingsworth
captained its First XI to a first League Championship for 79 years (picture above).
The 1994 Craven & District League
Championship heralded a highly successful era for the Cure Hill club.
The following year 1995 Lee
captained the club to a first ever Wynn Cup success with victory over Pendle
Forest at sunny Victory Park, Barnoldswick. Lee became renowned as a wily Captain to be reckoned with and when he switched to Second XI cricket he led the 2003 2nd XI to the Division Three Championship (pictured right). He is thus the only Oakworth Captain to hold aloft both First & Second Team Championship trophies. Lee learned his cricket at Ingrow CC before joining the Oaks in 1990, taking on the Captaincy in 1994 after two unsuccessful years under Joe Gordon. His impact was immediate, building a successful side bringing in Michael Scarborough (brought back from Keighley), Kevin Hird and Steve Lilley. As an aggressive opening batsmen, he led most of the sides he played in from the front and has tallied over 6,500 runs in his 20 seasons at Oakworth. His piece-de-resistance was his mammoth 179 score on 14th June 1997 against Long Lee lls, sharing a superb stand with 15 year-old Adam Fradley (79). It remains the highest league score on the Cure Hill ground, only the 210 by Scott Cunningham (Pudsey Congs) in the 2007 White Rose Trophy semi-final exceeds it. His career batting averages has settled on an impressive 21.13 from 346 innings. With his occasional left-arm bowling he also picked up 46 wickets at a tidy 15.71 After a number of years also as a club committee member looking after bar management, now in 2010 at the age of 52 he has decided to burn the boots and settle for watching son Robert in the 2nd XI and nephew Harry in the under-9s. Thanks for the leadership and the memories! |
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