The Twelfth Man 2015

12 Bob Appleyard (1924-2015) We have just celebrated the Diamond Anniversary of Sir Leonard Hutton’s side retaining the Ashes down under after the triumph of Coronation year. We think of Tyson and Statham sweeping all before them while an uncertain England batting line-up was held together by those rising pups, May and Cowdrey. But that is not quite good enough. Top of the England bowling averages on that tour was not one of the usual headline-makers... but was Yorkshire’s Bob Appleyard, who has died this week aged 90. That Bob was there at all was an epic story that would have defied all belief in a work of fiction. He had overcome family tragedy on a scale that would have broken men of lesser resilience and that remained unknown to those outside his inner circle until Stephen Chalke penned his stirring biography, No Coward Soul , during Bob’s presidency of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. During the winter of 1950/51 he developed his unique blend of new-ball swingers and off-spin that he could turn off the second finger of his right hand, not the first, so disguising his intentions from the batsman. And all off a long run. And with a leg-cutter thrown in – “but only occasionally, because if you had your fielders on the leg-side you could not risk it too often”, he once explained to me. In 1951 we celebrated the Festival of Britain and the launch of the Wombwell Cricket Lovers’ Society... and Bob celebrated his first full season with Yorkshire by taking 200 wickets. He was being heralded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time, but probably already suffering from the tuberculosis that he may have contracted during the War. He missed all but the start of the 1952 season, and the whole of 1953, undergoing the removal of part of a lung and convalescing in a sanatorium. He returned against expectation in 1954. He told me that he now lacked the energy to spin the ball off the second finger, but his start was so promising that he was in the England side for the Trent Bridge Test against Pakistan. He took four for 6 before lunch on the first day, and Australia was beckoning. He could not expect the swing or turn that he would get in England, so he embarked on a third spell of self retraining, concentrating on variations of pace and flight. At Adelaide Bob had three wickets at the start of the last day, and he was expected to win the Ashes for England that day... but Tyson and Statham gazumped him! A shoulder injury ended Bob’s career after the 1958 season, but in 133 matches he had captured 642 wickets at a miserly average of 15.42. For England in a career of nine matches he claimed 31 wickets at 17.87. Bill Bowes considered him one of three greatest bowlers he had seen – the others being Bill O’Reilly and S.F.Barnes. He championed the cause of Bradford Park Avenue, and was delighted during this last year to learn that it might once again figure in Yorkshire’s plans. He played a major part in the Yorkshire Cricket Academy being established before it moved to Headingley. He served as Cricket Chairman on the Old Yorkshire Committee, and he was a tireless fundraiser for Yorkshire Charitable Youth Trust. He visited the Wombwell twice during my time as Chairman, and he received the E.H.Umbers Award for Distinguished Service to Yorkshire Cricket. Will those of you who feel sound in the leg please rise for the customary one minute’s silence. This tribute to Bob Appleyard was composed and read by Society chairman, James M.Greenfield, at the Wombwell meeting on 19 March 2015. Obi tuaries