FISHER HAT-TRICK BALL NETTED IN EXHIBITION

By DAVID ALLAN, YCCC Archives Committee Chairman

Chairman David Hall stepped down from the Archives Committee in July — an office he had held with distinction since 2005 — and I was elected unanimously to take his place.

Fortunately, David continues to be actively involved in the assembling and display of items in Yorkshire CCC’s museum at Headingley Carnegie, the contract for which had been placed in March 2009, and which was completed soon after the end of the 2010 season.

The main contractors, Wilmslow-based Mather and Co., were able to hand over to Yorkshire a finished article of the highest quality and one which has been hugely admired by all who have been fortunate enough to visit it.

Four representatives of the Archives Committee accompanied 45 members of Ilkley U3A Voyagers on a tour of Headingley Cricket Ground in November, taking in the museum, and received an enthusiastic response. We acknowledge receipt of a generous donation from Yorkshire County Cricket Supporters’ Association, which will pay for the opening plaque.

The official opening with invited guests was scheduled for Friday, March 18, 2011, the day before Yorkshire’s Annual General Meeting, and the hope is that many of the Club’s members and supporters will have the chance to view its wide range of contents during the coming months. The Archives Committee believes the cricket museum has few equals, and any opportunity to visit it should not be missed.

A highlight of 2010 was the exhibition of Horace Fisher memorabilia. The ball with which Fisher completed a then unique all-lbw hat-trick for Yorkshire in 1932 was most generously handed over to Yorkshire President Raymond Illingworth by the late left-arm bowler’s family on the first morning of the LV Championship match against Nottinghamshire on August 3 — a most appropriate day because it was exactly 107 years since Fisher was born in Featherstone.

The ball and other items were discovered in a drawer following the recent death of his widow, and they have been offered on long-term loan to Yorkshire.

David Hall was able to report in January that refurbishment of the Cricket School bar area had almost been completed, and featured pictures of those former Yorkshire players who in part form the YCCC Legends series of DVDs. Over 1,000 of these have now been sold.

We are grateful to Paul Dyson and Nigel Pullan, who continue to produce the match statistics and a write-up for each four-day match at  both Headingley Carnegie and Scarborough.

Items of Herbert Sutcliffe, including a portrait, have been received from his granddaughter, and have been added to the inventory. Two additional Honours Boards have been made and fixed alongside existing boards in the Long Room. The old honours boards have been renovated and are now located on the stairway to the Long Room.

In April it was reported that Richard Coates had resigned from the Archives Committee, and thanks were recorded for his past help, particularly in work undertaken in respect of grant-aid opportunities. David Warner was welcomed on to the Committee.

The Long Room display cabinets featuring Lord Hawke were completed in time for AGM.  The Yorkshire Regiment once again agreed to attend the first day of the Roses match — May 29 — and they provided a military band with a collection taken in aid of Help the Heroes.  Campaign medals were presented to members of the regiment by the Club President, Raymond Illingworth.

Naming of the suites in the new Carnegie Pavilion had been agreed, and each room has a photograph and history of the named players. The Hawke family crest, obtained by David Hall, is featured in the Hawke Room in addition to the painting of Lord Hawke. A Herbert Sutcliffe plaque was unveiled on May 11 by President Illingworth at Sutcliffe’s place of birth, 10 East View, Summerbridge, and the Sutcliffe family were in attendance as invited guests.

Paul Dyson rejoined the Archives Committee in August, when it was also reported that the refurbishment of the Cricket Centre Bar area had been completed and the Conference Room redecorated. Items from our archives were loaned to the Bradford Industrial Museum for their 107 Not Out exhibition on the history of the Bradford League.

Howard Clayton was welcomed on to the Committee in November,  when Peter Anderson stepped down. Peter was warmly thanked for his services as a founding member and, more recently, secretary. Once the museum was practically complete we were very pleased to record that David Hall had taken on the position of Museum Director and will be responsible for the public display of our archives.

We have also come into the possession of the memorabilia of Wilfred Rhodes, via his granddaughter, and Ron Deaton is kindly assembling and inventorying this collection of over 300 items. We are extremely grateful to Mrs M Garton for this gift, and hope that it will be possible to mount a display in 2011.

Members of the Archives Committee during the year were: J C David Allan, Peter J Anderson, Howard Clayton, Richard Coates, Paul E Dyson, James M Greenfield, David S Hall, Mick Pope, Brian Sanderson, David Warner and Roy D Wilkinson.
J C David Allan is Chairman of Yorkshire CCC Archives Committee.