Honouring cricket's Local Heroes

Eryholme, by the width of the river, is in North Yorkshire. Some of Co Durham's cricket finest gathered at the Riverside on Sunday for the annual OSCAs - the Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards.

They included Stockton groundsman Colin Gray, Toft Hill farmer's son and old school friend, who retires in October. "In all respects he has served the club magnificently," said the citation.

Some found Colin a little unfamiliar, however. "In all these years it's the first time I've seen him out of his boiler suit," said Tom Moffat of the Durham Cricket Board.

Bob Edmundson, a man so close to Sedgefield CC that he lives over the road from the ground, won a "Lifetime achievement" award for 40 years "unbelievably loyal" service to the club and for helping them from the Darlington and District League to the NYSD.

South Hetton's Billy Bennett, another 40-year man, also collected a lifetime achievement award.

Aaron Proud of Willington took the "Young volunteer" award - "A fantastic role model, a breath of fresh air at our coaching academy," said the citation - while Lynn Newton and Linda Dewey's tireless fund raising efforts towards refurbishment at Tudhoe helped them and the club to the Cricket Force award.

Other winners were Durham Coast League umpires' secretary Ian Wilburn, Jules Shaw of Norton for his work in youth cricket, Norma Leadley who's been South Shields scorer for 30 years and Rob Grinter of Shotley Bridge, about whom we may well have more on Saturday.

Back for another beating, Australia's cricketers will again be at great Ayton - and Stokesley - tomorrow. These are the Over 60s' club, and we're number one at that, too.

The Aussies were over here in 2009, the 75th anniversary of Captain Cook's cottage being shipped to Melbourne. Last year the Yorkshire and Durham Over 60s side went down there.

"We beat them in 2009 and won seven of the nine matches last year," says tour organiser Norman Thurlow. "We'd have won the other two, but it rained.

"They include several players with first class experience, but they haven't won one yet."

Tomorrow's 45-over games - the "test match" squad at great Ayton, the "social" side at Stokesley - will be preceded by formalities in front of Captain Cook's statue in Ayton. Lord Crathorne, North Yorkshire's Lord Lieutenant, will fly the flag for England.

The Yorkshire/Durham "test" squad will be captained by our old Arsenal-supporting friend Tom Stafford, he of the WD40 knees - "We felt sorry for him," says Norman - and includes familiar names like Des Wyrill, Phil Andrews and Norton's Neil Fox.

Bishop Auckland's Keith Oldfield, former Shildon footballer John Gregory of Bedale and our old friend Bobby Orton, now with Wolviston, are in the social side. Games begin at 12.30.

Still deeper into the North Yorkshire interior, the dear old Feversham League has played the Countess of Feversham Cup semi-final, Gillamoor v guest side Nawton Grange.

Gillamoor were all out for 61, Nawton Grange 59-9 with one ball remaining - which the young tail-ender sliced for two. So what happened next?

League secretary Charles Allenby, faithfully in attendance, hadn't a rule book with him. After some "animated" discussion, the two sides agreed on a bowling competition, each having eight goes at the stumps.

Nawton hit the target once in eight attempts. No more (or less) successful, so did Gillamoor. One small difference: when Gillamoor did it, the bails didn't fall off. "You couldn't make it up," says Charles.

As if the annual visit weren't simply an case of being paid for having a good time, the Feversham League made a wonderfully appropriate presentation the other day to mark my impending retirement from daily labour.

The incomparable Jack Chapman continued the valedictions with a full-page, wonderfully flattering piece in Blaydon Cricket Club's programme. "A giant of a man in every sense," wrote Jack.

It should also be recorded that club chairman Ken Forster's column also expressed regretful sentiments, though for a wholly different reason.

"I have learned that, once dismissed, one of our former players is being allowed to leave today's match early to attend a relative civil partnership ceremony.

"My God, what is the world coming to."

Norman Ferguson rings from Ushaw Moor Cricket Club, west of Durham. They're having a clubhouse reunion on the evening of September 3, 50 years after Norman joined the club.

The speaker, says Norman, is Bulldog Billy Teesdale. So far as reasonably may ascertained, he's serious. "Billy's brilliant," says Norman.

All former players and supporters are welcome. Particularly, however, they're keen to contact Alan Reeve, Billy Mercer, Jimmy Dodds, Dave Bell and former Durham County man Graham Johnson. "It's going to be a great night," says Norman.

Football occasionally creeps in, last week's Cleator Cup final at Spennymoor was Ken Shaw's 28th match of the pre-season. Each one, as has been every game for many years, was preceded by a meal in an Italian restaurant. He's eaten at every one in Sunderland, his home city, is ticking them off - "more than 45 so far" - in Newcastle. "My mission's to eat at every Italian restaurant in the North-East," he insists. Spennymoor won on penalties.

With one quite significant amendment, the film about Arthur Wharton - Britain's first black professional footballer - was shot in Darlington yesterday and on Sunday.

Darlington was the amendment. They'd planned the first day filming on the pitch next to Croft Workmen's Club, on the grassroots grounds that the backdrop was free of the 21st century's egregious electronic infrastructure.

Then they discovered that Croft was hosting a cowboy convention the same weekend. "The Wild West didn't really seem appropriate, either," said Mike Tweddle, who wrote and directed the film.

It was meant to be 1890s. Sunday's action was instead shot on the field at Carmel School, yesterday's - as planned - at the North Road Railway Museum.

It's a little unclear where they filmed "Darkie" Wharton winning the AAA 100 yards at the White City, but that was probably the school field, an' all.

Yesterday was mostly crowd scenes, the script at one point demanding that the crowd "erupt". The dozen or so who turned up erupted valiantly, as best they could.

Extras time also bore a marked resemblance to a committee meeting of the Durham Amateur Football Trust, including new member Peter Clark who'd kept goal for Timothy Hackworth junior school in Shildon in the 1950s.

We compared notes. Peter recalled being roundly caned by Miss Jones for refusing to eat his pudding. "I could never stand custard with skin on," he said, though clearly it was nothing off the head's nose.

There, too, was Trust press officer John Phelan, wearing the mac he's been sporting since they played with a rope for a crossbar. "We always knew it was 100 years old," someone said.

"New cap, though," said John.

The short film concentrates on Wharton's time in Darlington, the town where he'd arrived to train as a Methodist minister. Phil Haymer, normally a council leisure officer, plays the main role with aplomb.

"He's a bit different from you lot, and I don't just mean because he's polite and charming," the Quakers' chairman tells the Vesuvius crowd.

Though the railway museum had been brilliant, the only disappointment was that they couldn't effect steam, not even smoke canisters. "Health and safety," said Mike.

In truth it was also a bit disappointing that I missed my big chance. The role of a Northern Echo reporter was played by Andy Myers, without so much as an audition for the definite article. "Us Willington lads get everywhere," said Andy, for the record.

Mike's film will soon be complete, the growing hope that it will premiere at Wembley Stadium on the day that Arthur Wharton's statue is unveiled. "There's not many," he said, "who make their debut at Wembley."

AND FINALLY . . .

The unique thing about the game between Hampshire and Northants in August 1938 (Backtrack, August 13) was that it was the first County Championship game to be staged away from the English mainland - it took place at Newport, Isle of Wight. George Cram was alone in offering the right answer.

In an earlier game that season, Martin Birtle recalls, Hants needed three fielding subs. "One of them was a local police constable called John Arlott. "He talked about if for the rest of his life, apparently."

John Briggs in Darlington today invites readers to name the football trophy of which Bristol City, Tranmere Rovers, Crewe Alexandra and Shrewsbury Town were successive winners.

More winners on Saturday.