We moved to Drighlington in the spring of 1985 and as someone who played cricket at school in Rhodesia, (now Zimbabwe) the house on Walton Drive was great as it overlooked the cricket field with a gate allowing access. Within a week of moving in I noticed that the gate was closed shut with barbed wire and there was a box in the garage with around 20 cricket balls inside!! I came to the quick conclusion that the previous homeowners did not have a positive relationship with the ACC.

That week I saw that the cricketers were having a net session on the field, so I took the opportunity to go over with my box of cricket balls and introduce myself. At the end of nets we all proceeded to make our way to clubhouse where over a pint or two the teams for Saturday were selected and I was about to play my first cricket match in 11 years in the second team at a club near Hipperholme…somewhere I had never heard of. I turned up and although it was late May I was quick to realise that the one jumper I had with me would not be enough and it was the first time I had ever left a cricket field because of mist!!!!! Still, no complaints as I made exactly 50, although I was nearly runout by the late Les Jackson, who turned down my call for a single making me scamper back and just make my ground. He walked down the pitch and asked me “What’s NO in Swahili?”

That was my introduction to ACC and for the next 25 years the club became quite an important part of our family’s sport and social lives. It became a permanent fixture of our Sunday night routine for the 4 of us as well as attending a variety of functions, Discos, Halloween and Christmas parties, Bonfire nights and New Years Eve parties including the place where we saw in the new Millennium which was memorable for the disco sounds by DJ Simon Bagnall and the Pyrotechnics from Jonathan Carney and David Sadler.

It was probably on the cricket field playing for Adwalton CC where I got my most enjoyment, being lucky enough to score a couple of centuries and returned good bowling figures in some memorable wins. I was also lucky to play with some great characters and also excellent cricketers like Gerry Mytton (Made batting look so easy) and Stuart Jackson (Never played with or against anyone who could hit a ball so far!) and in my later years, Simon Bagnall. With the good came the bad and being the first player in the club’s history to be banned by the league would have been bad enough if it wasn’t succeeded by being the first person at the club to be banned twice!!!

Still, all things considered, Adwalton Cricket Club made us feel part of the community and integrate with families and friends in a sincere and positive way………..whilst the club is no longer a focus of our social network, something we regret, it still keeps us involved with the community and is very important to the village, especially the youth. It is important that it continues to play this vital role.