By PETER STAFFORD ON the eve of the current season Jack Rogerson, the great Bolton League left-arm spinner, died.
Fifty-four years previously, almost to the day, he had enjoyed his finest performance when on the opening day of the 1942 season he took all 10 Farnworth wickets for 49 runs.
All of which set me wondering what other memorable moments had occurred on first days of the season over the years.
Thinking back to my own playing days, I remember still the air of unreality that seemed to exist as the bowler ran in to bowl the first ball of a new season. In those days pre-season friendlies were things that were frequently arranged - but rarely played, and so usually we went into our first league game cold, metaphorically and, more often than not, literally!
First day centuries, even fifties, were something of a rarity, and it was quite an event when, in 1954, Les Sigsworth, Bradshaw's professional, marked his club debut with a century against Horwich.
The weather, too, always seemed even worse than it has been so far this year. Indeed from 1968 until 1972, not a game was completed in the five opening programmes of those seasons. All were either washed out, abandoned or postponed.
Worse was to follow in 1981, when each of the grounds north of the town was covered in snow, the first that Astley Bridge's new professional Clyde Beckles, had seen in his life. I well remember our second team being 'snowed off' at Eagley while we, huddling together for warmth, were unlucky enough to get on the field at Little Lever!
By the mid 80's however, things meteorologically must have improved, for on the first day of 1984 Farnworth's Bower and Tucker hit 108 and 88 respectively, to provide this paper with its most memorable (and arguably most predictable) cricket headline. Hot Rods!! Their opponents were current title holders Horwich, and that early and resounding victory served early notice to Derek Derbyshire's side that the new champions had arrived.
The opening days of '85 and '87 were memorable, too, if only for Farnworth Social Circle's three results, all of which were more in keeping with the normal early-season predicament of batsmen in need of match-practice. In 1985 Circle were bowled out by Kearsley for 83, and yet still contrived to win by four runs. The following year they bowled Farnworth out for 49 and just managed to limp home at 51-6, thanks to 29 from Paul Craig at No. 8, and in 1987, after having seen Tonge off for 56, they struggled through to 59-9 with Paul Eckersley and Ian Nuttall hanging on for dear life.
In that game incidentally, Rod Estwick hit 42 of Circle's 59, having taken 16 wickets for 69 runs during the three matches in question. On the other side of the West Indian coin, Heaton's new 1987 professional, Hartley Alleyne, suffered unspeakable nightmares on his debut, first with a nought, and then 0 for 81 as Collis King, Graham Hill and Nigel Heaton helped themselves to half-centuries for Westhoughton.
In 1988 Farnworth lost their professional, Robin Bracewell, injured before a ball was bowled. Lancashire's Ian Austin came to the rescue with 6 for 47, and 69 at Eagley. 1989 was Walkden's 'double' season, but you wouldn't have put much money on it watching their first outing at Dunscar, where Ronnie Irani and Steve Clarkson each passed 80 as the home side raced to 231 for 6.
The day on which Egerton celebrated the opening of their new dressing rooms with a score of 281 for 4 against Astley Bridge, Kevan Hayes was giving notice of his 1990 record-breaking intentions with 88 against Eagley, and a year later Grant Long began as he meant to continue, taking one of his several centuries off the club which is surely his favourite adversary, Westhoughton.
In 1993 Mel Whittle continued the trend of beginning a record season on the right footing when he took the first six of his 102 wickets as Horwich were shot out for 59. Mike Watkinson returned to the League that day, when his 75 helped Astley Bridge to overcome Little Lever, and he was back again for the opening day of 1994. This time, however, his fine all-round performance for Tonge couldn't stave off a one-wicket defeat at the hands of Heaton.
On that day, too Richard Chee Quee hit a debut 137 as Bradshaw were crushed by 10 wickets. And so opening day centuries, so rare pre-1980, now seem to have become the in-thing. Last season produced three, one each for debutantes Brendan Nash and David Fitzgerald, and another for you-know-who at Kearsley! It's all a far cry from the days when the Rogersons, Rushtons, Pollards and Hartleys would grip the ball with a gleam in their eye on the first day of a new season, as, anticipating yet another 100 wicket haul, they looked down the wicket at their out-of-practice, apprehensive opponent. Against today's batsmen, they might just have more of a problem.!
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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