• SENIOR CRICKET
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• ARCHIVE 2009
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• NOTICE BOARD
• PHOTO GALLERY

 Early days in the Bradford League

When you turn into Intake Road, right in the middle of Undercliffe, and into the unpretentious gate to the club, you enter an oasis of green space and tranquillity that has been a centrepiece of the area for a very long time. The club joined the Bradford League when it first started in 1903, and seems to have had a thriving membership, both cricket and social, ever since. In the 106 years since then, the cricket at Undercliffe has entertained thousands of people who have followed the club’s fluctuating successes and failures. In that time, the club has won the first team championship eight times and the Priestley Cup thirteen times, and the second team championship 27 times.

Even so, our start in the Bradford League was not particularly spectacular, finishing a modest ninth in the first season. Great Horton were the big team in this first decade, and were our bogey team. On one occasion in 1904, they skittled us for 27. The fans must have been very disappointed. However, we got revenge in 1905 when we skittled them for 28. Honours even! Obviously, wickets favoured bowlers in those days, and runs were often hard to come by. In one match, Undercliffe were all out for 48, but still beat Lidget Green by 15 runs. In another, we dismissed Shelf for just 16. This serves to highlight T. E. Wright’s achievement in becoming our first centurion, scoring 107 not out against Dudley Hill in 1905.

By 1907, Undercliffe was becoming a club to be reckoned with. We won our first league title in 1907, and followed that with the Priestley Cup in 1908, beating Shelf in the final, and again in 1910, beating Great Horton by 118 runs. But cricket has its ups and downs, and by 1915, during the First World War, the club had slipped down the league and new signings were indicated.

They arrived in 1916 in the form of two world class all rounders. One was Cecil Parkinson, who had played for both Yorkshire and Lancashire, and went on to play for England. The second, Charles Llewellyn had already played test cricket for South Africa, and county cricket for Hampshire. This must have pleased the fans as they saw the club rise to third place in an expanded league, and then go on to beat Tong Park in both the 1916 and 1917 cup finals, winning the second of these by ten wickets after bowling out Tong Park for a mere 48.

Sir Len Hutton said that Sandy Jacques had the finest fast bowling action he had ever seen. He played for Yorkshire, and generated high pace and accuracy for long periods, but unfortunately injury struck, and he turned to league cricket, playing his first game for Undercliffe in 1935. In spite of his presence, the club slumped and we found ourselves relegated to the newly formed second division in 1937.

A left-handed batsman and good close fielder, Vic Wilson was another influential player to join the club, helping Undercliffe back into Division 1 in 1944. Vic went on to captain Yorkshire for three seasons. He died in 2007, aged 87. After this there were a series of ups and downs – relegated in 1950, back up in 1953, down again, and back up again after winning the Division Two championship in 1960. The next few years saw several players from Derbyshire coming to the club, such as Jack Wainwright, who helped them to the title again in 1963, taking 57 wickets to hold off Bingley’s challenge. Batsmen David smith and Ashley Harvey-Walker also featured in the team during the 60s, as did Test fast bowlers Les Jackson and Alan Ward. One supporter well remembers looking at the wicket after Jackson had been bowling, to see a one-foot square patch on a good length where all Jackson’s balls had landed!

Jim Brailsford, a right hand batsman and medium pace bowler, was another Derbyshire man who led the team to championships in 1970 and 1971. Though primarily an opening batsman, one of his most famous achievements was taking the wicket of England Captain Ted Dexter with his first ball for Derbyshire. 

This was the start of a very successful decade for the club, when David Dobson, John White and David Bairstow all came to the fore. David Bairstow hit the headlines when he was chosen for his debut with Yorkshire on the day he was taking his A level examination, and he had to sit the exam early in the morning so that he could get to Headingley in time. He went on to be Yorkshire’s regular wicketkeeper for 20 years, county captain, and test player. John White gave sterling service to the club over a long period as fast bowler, and later as cricket chairman. He even turned out with the veteran ‘cavaliers’ team later on, and could still hit a perfect length.
The team went on to win the Priestley Cup in 1972, 1974 and 1975.

The Turbulent 80s and 90s

Although the 1980s started in fine style with another cup triumph – beating East Bierley by 32 runs – the club had to wait until 1986 for any more silverware, in the form of the league championship. Very much a team effort, the side included Simon Kellet, Jerry Mytton, Peter Booth, David Dobson and Howard Reeve, who were all regular runscorers, and former Leicester paceman Peter Booth, who took 38 wickets. There were plenty of ups and downs in the 1990s. The team was relegated in 1994 and 1999, but bounced back immediately on each occasion by winning the Division 2 championship in the following season.

The biggest highs were winning the First Division championship in 1997 under the captaincy of Russell Heritage, and taking the Yorkshire Champions Cup the following year.

Sadly the club was again relegated in 2003, following a season where, on paper, we should have done well, with a number of excellent players led by Yorkshire’s Chris Taylor, a very stylish right hand batsman. Since then, we have remained stubbornly in the Second Division and seen many team changes, but no sign of promotion. In 2008, Russell Heritage returned to the club as team manager, and hopes are high for the future.

Adrian Raynor
April 2009