Yarm Cricket Club was formed close on 200 years ago in 1814. One of Yarm’s earliest fixtures is briefly documented in the book ‘The Annals of Stockton-on-Tees’ by Henry Heavisides. It mentions a Grand Match for £100 being played in 1817 between Yarm and Stockton. The books text states “This match, which excited immense interest, came off in a large field, opposite the Lord Nelson inn, between Stockton and Yarm. About 2,000 persons were present. After some excellent playing the Yarm Eleven proved victorious. On the return of the victors to Yarm the greatest rejoicings took place. Shouldering their bats, the eleven with their friends, marched in procession along the main street, headed by a band of music, and afterwards they all sat down to a sumptuous supper, provided at one of the principal inns.” Other notable games followed of which little is known, but games against Sunderland in 1828 for 40 sovereigns and a game between ‘two old established clubs’ Yarm and Bedale in 1865 were both documented in local press.
In 1886, Yarm joined 13 other clubs: Browns Wanderers, Clarence,
Grosmont, Ironopolis, Loftus, Marton, Middlesbrough, (New) Marske, Normanby
Hall, North Skelton, Norton, South Stockton and Whitby, to take place in the inaugural
Cleveland Cup organised by the Cleveland & Teesside Cricket Association.
The club were admitted again to the Association in 1922, which in 1946 became
the Cleveland & Teesside League. Apart from the years 1940-1944, Yarm
continued to field a team in the league right up until the year 1999.
Harry Jobling, who was for 25 years the town's correspondent for local newspapers, recalls that his father Tom who was employed in the local skin-yard for 54 years, played for Yarm on a pitch in the grounds of Kirklevington Hall, off Thirsk Road. Later the Club moved to Willey Flatts, then to the present Leven Road Ground. ''I can remember travelling to away matches in an open horse-drawn brake belonging to 'Cabby' Raper'' said Harry. From the re-forming of the Club in the 1920's until 1975 there was always a Jobling on the committee. ''My father was the first life member,'' Harry said. ''I followed him as a life member in 1975 after being on the committee almost 30 years.
In 1926 the Yarm Sports Ground Trust was set up by John Clapham, when he and
his brother Harvey bought and set out the Leven Road Ground as a cricket field.
Funds were raised by the residents of Yarm to establish the ground by holding
whist drives and dances, the cricket pavilion was erected that very same year.
North Yorkshire & South Durham League B
Division Champions (1933)
Yarm joined the North Yorkshire & South Durham League in 1932, playing in the B division until 1998, except during the war when from 1940-42 it played in the A division. The Club were awarded the B Division title in 1933 and 1973, and the C Division in 1973 and 1974. The first Club player to score a century for Yarm in the League, was Ossy Atkinson with 107 versus Synthonia in 1934. On the 1st June 1935, there was a record breaking match in whom two Yarm batsmen scored centuries against Preston: GW Hird (116), T Wycherley (107).
The front row from the left is (kneeling) Tony
Bradley, Gordon Allum, Ray Quincey, and Ken Hutchinson; Back row second in Eric
Gibson, 4th Horace Hale, 6th Reg Tiplady.
Further B Division centurions included: Norman Nevison, who was also a
prolific wicket taker and later went on to play for Thornaby in the A Division
and represent the League; Horace Hale, who scored three centuries for Yarm
between 1946 and 1951; Bill Jobling, Harry’s brother made 101 against Blackhall
in 1946; others included K Hird in 1939, Reg Tiplady and John Austick in 1962.
This photo shows Tony Bradley giving a bowling award to Peter Musk
and the Mrs Gott Batting Award (Mrs Gott lived in Bridge Street opposite the
old Fire Station, and bought the Club a cricket bat every year to present to
the leading batsman) to John Austick. Also present are Jimmy Bradley, Bert
Carter, Eric Gibson, Tommy Jobling, Bill Stirling, Tommy Mallaby, Arnie Wilson,
Geoff Danby and Jimmy Miller.
Slow leg break and googly bowler Norman Nevison took 8 wickets in a game
for Yarm on four occasions between 1936 and 1938. A number of past players whom
also achieved 8 wickets in a game were; W May (1932), B Weedy (1939,40), GH
Hird (1939), Eric Gibson (1948), WN Job (1949), Ken Hutchinson (1951, 1956) and
F Coppack (1956), whom in the same season also took 9-37 against Great Ayton.
In cup competitions, Yarm won the Haith Cup in 1971 against Barnard
Castle, with Yarm making 154-9 in which Dave Doughty made a half century.
Barnard Castle fell a few runs short, due to some fine bowling by Brian Penny
(5-65), Neil Tait (2-59) and Bert Boston (2-12). Yarm savoured a fine win in
the Ken Welsh Cup in 1978, which went a long way to quell the disappointment
felt when beaten two years earlier by Seaton Carew. Overton, Danby and
Stevenson bowled well to restrict Great Ayton to a total of 97-8 and winning
the game by 18 runs. In more recent times the club has won the Brunton, Ray
Bell and Hornby Cups.
1st XI from the left, BACK
ROW, Alan Hilton, Bert Boston, Neil Tate, Brian Penney, John Schofield, Tony
Bradley; FRONT ROW John Austick, Dick Pullman, Dave Doughty (captain), Tommy
Stafford, Ray Quincey (1966)
The Club has grown from these humble beginnings to now field 3 senior
teams still in the NYSD league. After the league restructuring in 1999, Yarm
now have teams in Divisions 1 & 3 and Sunday Division 2. Also running 3
junior teams at under 11’s, 13’s, 15’s and there’s hope to resurrect the under
17’s within the next couple of years.
The Club now plays a significant part in the local community, has a thriving junior section offering coaching to players from the age of seven upwards, seven ECB qualified coaches and have a number of development projects in the process of being realised.
The Club now plays a significant part in the local community, has a thriving junior section offering coaching to players from the age of seven upwards, seven ECB qualified coaches and have a number of development projects in the process of being realised.
Yarm 1st XI Brunton Cup Winners (2007) from the left, BACK ROW, Raman Sidhu, Andy Wilson, Paul Swales, Gaz Jones, Phil Andrews, Phil Bliss, Richard Drake; FRONT ROW, Richie Wyatt, Mark Green, Tom Wyatt, James Wilson
Scorecard can be viewed HERE
Yarm Cricket Club will be celebrating its 200th anniversary
in 2014 and they are in the process of researching the clubs history in greater
detail. Over the years much of the clubs history in the form of photos,
scorecards, minute books and fixture books has been lost and the club are keen
to recoup as much of this information as possible. The aim is produce a
publication for the clubs bicentennial and any information would be greatly
received. The club would be particularly interested in any details or photos
regarding notable players, performances and the early years of the Club.
