Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2017

25 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk Derek spoke first about Yorkshire’s county championship double in 2014 and 2015, recognizing the great backroom set-up and the quality of the squad, given the many Test call- ups made in recent years. He also acknowledged among recent champions the efforts of Nottinghamshire, who won the title in 2010 with only the tenth highest salary bill among the counties. He then highlighted the need to protect groundsmen from increasing public pressure in their Test pitch preparations – from the teams, the press, the fans and the host clubs, to name but four stakeholders – when their job was to prepare the pitch and not be diverted by these often conflicting interests. Speaking from first- hand experience, he gave a revealing insight into the stresses of the Test bidding process on counties, which have had to invest massively to stand any chance of success. Derek closed his talk by discussing the latest developments at Lord’s – the new £25 million Warner Stand and improved TV facilities. This was a fascinating meeting involving one of the sport’s heavyweight executives. Thursday 10th March 2016 Our next speaker, John Helm, is one of this country’s leading sports commentators and presenters, and he entertained us royally with a series of amusing stories from his long career. John was born to commentate. As a boy he used to give a running commentary on games of football in his primary school playground, so it is no surprise that he ended up working for BBC Radio and ITV, after he had cut his journalistic teeth on local and regional newspapers. Commentating has taken John all over the world, covering upwards of 30 different sports, and at the age of 74 he shows no signs of slowing down. Many well-known media figures have John to thank for setting them on their way, among them Harry Gration and Jimmy Armfield. Although he has made his living mainly out of football, John was at pains to point out that cricket is his first love and Bradford Park Avenue his spiritual home. As a boy he grew up worshipping John Arlott and Brian Johnston, so when the opportunity came to work on Test Match Special at Old Trafford and Headingley in 1980 he grabbed it with both hands, ensuring that the red wine was kept at exactly the right temperature for John Arlott. During the Question and Answer session John found an excuse to rattle off the names of all 92 teams in the old English Football League. It took him 30 seconds, four seconds longer than the time he achieved in 1981 that won him a place in the Guinness Book of Records . Wednesday 16th March 2016 Our ever-popular Quiz Evening attracted eight teams intent on winning the coveted SCLS Quizmasters Cup. Asking the questions were retired Dore Primary schoolteachers Richard Scholey and Ian Wileman. At the end of the quiz, which included a musical cricketing round led by Ian on his trombone, ‘ Eye Didn’t’ emerged as worthy winners. Our thanks, as ever, go to quizmasters Richard and Ian for making the evening such an enjoyable one. Monday 4th April 2016 Norman Yardley, the subject of guest speaker Martin Howe’s latest book, has a special affinity with Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society – he was our first President and our first speaker. One of the central tenets in Norman Yardley: Yorkshire’s Gentleman Cricketer is whether Norman’s affable character was an impediment to him as captain of both Yorkshire (1948-1955) and England (1947-1950). Martin believes that he could have been firmer in handling some of the big egos in his teams and more successful in motivating his players. Continued on page 30