| North Yorkshire Cricket Tales |
Blimey, you have a lot of people called Cass in your cricket team!
By R.E. Aconley
In the early 1990’s a, one off, unique event took place at Great Edstone, North Yorkshire. Cropton Cricket Club were playing Great Edstone in a Pickering Evening League cricket match.
The Pickering Evening League was a small local league. The main purpose of the league was to give the youngsters a chance and give the over 40’s a game. Cropton had plenty of both, at the time, so it was a good league for us. Due to various circumstances the match between Cropton and Great Edstone produced a unique event in Cropton’s history.
Nine players in the team had the surname Aconley. The other two players were called Cass, Steve and Tony. Another Aconley, Sharon, was the scorer and the President of the club, Mr.L.W.Aconley, was watching the game. I, Robert (R.E.) Aconley, played in the game and I also had the role of Chairman and Hon. Secretary for the club.
Cropton batted first in this game and the two Cass brothers, Steve and Tony, opened the batting. I was chatting to the two scorers and I will never forget what the Great Edstone scorer said. She asked who was opening the batting for Cropton. “The Cass brothers, Steve and Tony” was the reply. “Blimey, you have a lot of people called Cass in your cricket team” she announced. She had no idea that all the rest had the surname Aconley. I had to smile when she said that!
Cropton were led by the Captain, John Aconley and the rest of the Aconleys were Keith Robert, Craig Robert, Robert William, Richard Colin, Mark, Phillip, Keith and myself, Robert (R.E.) Aconley. I guess Robert is a popular name with the Aconleys!
It was the only time that nine Aconleys played for Cropton. I am not sure if other teams have had more players with the same surname, but it must be an unusual occurrence in the cricket world, maybe even a record. Unless you know different?
DON BRADMAN WOULD HAVE STRUGGLED TO PLAY CRICKET AT CROPTON CRICKET FIELD!
The cricket field at Cropton presented some unusual conditions for a cricketer. Would the mighty Don Bradman have coped with them?
DON BRADMAN
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL - ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A SPECTATOR!
It is a good rule of thumb to keep your eye on the ball when playing cricket. Sometimes you need to keep your eye on the ball when watching too!
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL
'GEORDIE' & 'SQUEAK' ARE NICKED! IT'S JUST NOT CRICKET!
'Geordie' & 'Squeak' were a couple of local pranksters. Find out how they got their comeuppance! It just wasn't cricket!
GEORDIE & SQUEAK
A CRICKET UMPIRE SHOULD NEVER COUNT HIS VICTIMS!
This is a short funny tale about a great character in local cricket. With some umpiring advice thrown in for free!
CRICKET UMPIRE
WE WON THE CUP! A CRICKET TALE THAT A CAPTAIN CAN NEVER LIVE DOWN!
Ooops, our Captain did not mean for this to happen.
CAPTAIN