The Twelfth Man 2020

I n previous editions of this Twelfth Man feature I’ve tended to focus on Society stalwarts/officials from Wombwell’s early years. This time I’m pay- ing tribute to two ladies I had the pleasure to meet/serve with during my own period as a WCLS officer and I’m also remember- ing a vice-chairman that the Society lost far too soon. Mollie Taylor Edna Mary Taylor, better known as Mollie, was married to the Society’s founder Pres- ident Dr. Leslie Taylor, and was a sister of the Yorkshire cricketers Roy and Norman Kilner. In the Society’s early days Mrs Tay- lor and her husband hosted many of the famous guests and WCLS visitors at their Wombwell home. She recalled fondly the company of AA Thomson, Douglas Jar- dine, Brian Johnston, Denzil Batchelor, EW Swanton, Frank Woolley, Patsy Hendren and Arthur Gilligan among many others. On 17 October 1990, Mollie and her sur- viving sister, Jessie Washington, laid a wreath on their brothers’ grave in Womb- well cemetery as part of the Society’s spe- cial commemoration of the centenary of Roy Kilner’s birth. Mollie died in January 1994, aged 92, and in that year’s edition of the Society maga- zine I found myself moved to note: I knew Mrs Taylor only in the twilight years of her life, when failing eyesight and hear- ing hindered and frustrated her, but she was always graceful and ever welcoming to this particular writer, eager to know all about her famous cricketing brother Roy Kilner. Without her memories and help The Laugh- ing Cricketer of Wombwell would have been incomplete. Rightly proud of her family and her own life, she held a strong affection for the Society, and together with her husband, played a considerable role in ensuring its present prosperity. Colleen Morley Throughout the long history of the Soci- ety lady members have played vital roles in the running and organisation of Wom- bwell functions and events. Colleen was a true ‘all-rounder’ in every sense. In the first half of the 1990s she succeeded Jack Bethel as the Society’s coaching coordina- tor and spent a great deal of time organis- ing/running the classes and arranging the awards and prizes for the presentation evening. Coaching though was only one small part of Colleen’s busy workload. She took on the membership secretary role at Womb- well, when the position of Treasurer was split around 1995, and she was very ca- pable of chairing speaker meetings from time to time. Outside of the Society Colleen had a pas- sion for umpiring – she became the first lady umpire to officiate in the Yorkshire Cricket League and she was highly regard- ed. Administratively she was secretary of the Barnsley & District Umpires Associ- ation and secretary for five years of the Barnsley & District Junior Cricket Associ- ation. She had a great love for the game and this came through in her energy, drive and enterprise. It was a great shock and sadness when she passed away in early 1998*. The Society paid their respects at a memorial service for Colleen in May that year and she is rightly remembered annu- ally through a Society coaching net award that bears her name. *A full tribute to Colleen Morley can be found in the 1998 edition of The Twelfth Man (page 5) Philip Wrightson Philip and his wife Betty were involved with WCLS from its inception. Philip be- came a Wombwell committee man and later a dedicated Society vice-chairman and vice-president. Professionally he was a mining surveyor working at Corton- wood, Barnburgh and latterly at the NCB Area HQ, Manvers until his retirement in 1985. He had a love of sport and was in- volved as a player, coach, and official, and at committee level. Elsecar enjoyed the benefit of his skills as a fast bowler and big hitting batsman before Cortonwood Colliery became his home. He finally hung up his bowling boots at the age of 46 in 1973. His wealth of experience though was passed on to youngsters who attend- ed the Society’s winter coaching and he helped along the way such talents as Yorkshire’s Martyn Moxon and Tim Boon at Leicestershire. Philip was a man of strong values – strength of character, fairness, sports- manship and above all else friendliness and friendship in sport and life. He was only 70 when he died in late October 1998. As the 1999 Twelfth Man rightly noted: ‘All who knew Philip Wrightson will remember him as someone who put much back into the sports he loved and the life he lived’. THEY SERVED THE SOCIETY Mick Pope remembers three Wombwell stalwarts of yesteryear Photo Left: Mollie Taylor (centre) with her sis- ter Jessie and then Society Patron (now President) Dickie Bird at the Memorial Service to Roy Kilner on 17 October 1990. (image: Peter Hague/ South Yorkshire Times ) Photo Right: Philip Wrightson – this photo appeared in the 1969 edition of ‘ The Twelfth Man ’. A man of sport and a loyal and supportive servant of the Society across five decades. 28 29