Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2020

at the crease SPEAKERS 2018-19 BY ROGER ALLUM 15 www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk Our speaker lost no time in reminding us that Yorkshire folk have a strong sense of identity with the game of cricket, an identity that is unrivalled by any other county. And that coming from a Lancastrian! With a wealth of experience in the museum sector behind him, Paul is responsible for running the Yorkshire Cricket Museum (and also the Mobile Museum). Opened in 2011 and located in the East Stand at Headingley, the Museum is able to draw on the 20,000 documents, artefacts and memorabilia contained in the Yorkshire Cricket Archive. Paul listed some of the Archive’s recent acquisitions: the extensive Brian Close archive; Adam Lyth’s bat, with which he achieved the highest domestic T20 score of 161 against Northants; the pink ball employed in Yorkshire’s first day-night County Championship match; and the bat West Indian Shay Hope used in compiling a century in each innings of the 2017 Test at Headingley – the first time this feat had been achieved in 534 first-class matches at the ground, going back to 1891. However, it had been a real hit and miss situation as to whether the bat would arrive at Headingley as Hope had sent it by post from Barbados! Damn that efficient postal service…. Aware that the Archive’s holdings are biased towards men’s cricket and red-ball cricket, Paul is actively targeting material relating to women’s cricket and white-ball cricket, as well as South Asian and Caribbean cricket, and disability cricket. He is also working with the Yorkshire leagues and their 780 cricket clubs, helping them safeguard their valuable collections. In addition to its traditional role as a visitor attraction and archival resource, the Museum is underpinning an ambitious programme of community outreach, which feeds on the positive impact Yorkshire’s cricketing heritage can have on people’s everyday lives. By way of an example, Paul cited the reminiscence sessions Yorkshire Cricket is running to help combat loneliness and treat degenerative brain conditions, such as dementia. It is the human stories that people are interested in, he said; the ups and downs of players’ careers and what they went through to achieve success. Funding is tight across all sectors these days and working with an annual acquisitions budget of just £5,000, Paul relies heavily on relationship building to secure items for the Museum, either at little or no cost, or on loan. His infectious enthusiasm for his job, and his sheer professionalism, demonstrated that the marketing of Yorkshire’s cricketing heritage is in a safe pair of hands. 26 November 2018 Paul Goodman YCCC Heritage Manager Paul Goodman First class batting - by post