Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2020

23 www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk “After advertising through posters, word of mouth and in the press around 75 people turned up for the first meeting at the Victoria Hall in 1960.” “A committee was immediately elected and the first Chairman was a music teacher called Booth Unwin. Annual fees were set at 7/6d.” “We once suggested combining with Wombwell CLS but they weren’t keen on that at all!” “Women were welcomed right from the start. I said if you don’t allow women it’s not worth doing.” “Our very first speaker on opening night was YCCC captain, Norman Yardley, so we started big! I always tried to ensure that speakers had a cricket background. It was easier to get speakers then because people were far more willing to be involved with us - perhaps because there was less to do in the winter compared to now.” “If you saw pictures of my father you would wonder how he managed to play at all, following an accident at school which left him a total cripple with an iron on his leg.” “Although never much more than an ordinary player I just loved the game. I was born on Sharrow Lane and very much a Yorkshire man but very few schools played cricket. In 1952 when I attended Carfield/Rowlinson Schools I captained Sheffield Schools; batting and bowling a bit, but nothing spectacular - perhaps there weren’t many to choose from!” “Getting speakers was a bit of a challenge despite meeting so many people through cricket. The worst offence to me was a speaker not turning up, although I always had a contingency plan, often a cassette or CD of interviews etc, some of which I had done myself.” “Memorable visits to the Society? There were many, including ‘Boycs’, Trueman, and Hutton but it was extra special to have Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Learie Constantine. The latter was such an inspirational man because if he wanted anything doing - I’m talking off the field - he made sure it got done. On one occasion we had agreed a date for a visit but the night before I received a call from the Queen Mother’s Office or somewhere saying he couldn’t come and would have to cancel. Someone must have double-booked him, and I said, ’Well, do you realise we’ve sold a full house of tickets to our members so can you suggest what we might do?’ They asked if we could reschedule but that was impossible at that stage. Needless to say, Learie took charge of the situation in London and made sure that he duly travelled up to fulfil his obligation.” “Bradman was my hero and a wonderful man. I was cheeky enough to walk up to him and ask if I could write to him. ‘Of course’, he said, even though he then confessed to being fed up with people writing and asking for things to sign. It was onerous and he would spend half the week doing those, but I have got a cupboard full of letters from him from over the years. I only saw him play once, at Bramall Lane, but he was a hero because he was so smart. Everything about him was right - nothing shoddy at all.” Not a bad idea, David… Yearbook editor, ANDY PACK, spent time talking with David Drabble earlier this year about the history of the Society he founded with his father. It was quite possibly his final ‘interview’ and some of his revelations might still be new to quite a few of us.