20 years since Ushaw Moor bowled out for seven by Crook

THERE is no doubt that the Ushaw Moor Under 15 cricket team were well and truly annihilated by the Crook Town Under 15 cricket team 20 years ago.

Ushaw batted first but tumbled to seven all out as Crook bowlers Lee Formosa and Nick Dalton ripped through their batting with identical bowling figures of Overs 4; Maidens 2; Runs 3; Wickets 5. 

It took Crook just 1.4 overs to rub the Ushaw score off with Formosa hitting four not out, I Musgrave making one before becoming a victim of J Hayton who only bowled four balls. 

Dalton came in and hit two runs and there was one extra which made the Crook total 8-1.

Formosa was 15 at the time, and captain of the side, and the scorecard from that famous day is above.

Twenty years later, 35-year-old Lee (above) is still with Crook Town Cricket Club, but not as a bowler, because of a long standing shoulder problem. Today, he opens the batting for the second team in the Third Division of the North East Premier League. 

Last year he scored 815 runs which put him in second position in the table for most runs scored and he was nominated for a league player of the year. 

Remembering that day in 2003, he said: "There was nothing wrong with the wicket. It was a typical Ushaw wicket, slow, with not a lot of bounce, it was amazing we put them all out for just seven."

August 3, 1953: Fourth win for Etherley stalwarts

THE year 1953 was not only a Coronation year but a milestone year for four Etherley cricketers, Algie Cummins, Leslie Hampson, Tommy Hodgson and William Gordon Franklin because they were members of the Etherley team that won The Northern Echo Cup.

It was the Mid Durham Senior League knock-out cup, which the four had previously helped Etherley to win in 1935, 1936 and 1937.  

A match report said that they won the 1953 cup “after a stirring struggle with Esh Winning on the Tudhoe ground”. 

It said: “With weather conditions ideal there were record attendances. Esh Winning were plucky fighters and fought all the way.

“The Etherley skipper made a bold move when, after winning the toss, he put Esh Winning in to bat. It produced results, three of Esh Winning’s chief batsmen back in the pavilion at a small cost. Included among the dismissed batsmen was Gordon Thompson, a native of Etherley, who started his cricket at that club. The early successes were due to the effective spin bowling of Fred Thompson.

“Esh Winning eventually mustered 75, the double figure batsmen being J Cook 17, W Brass 19, W Baron 11 and H Emery 10.

“Esh Winning were dismissed in 24 overs, but Etherley found runs most difficult to get, and for a while, they were completely pinned down. They eventually passed their opponents total with four wickets intact in 44 overs. Fred Thompson 17 and Raymond Vickers 25 not out were chief batsmen.

“The cup was presented to Cummins, the Etherley captain, by Mr Ralph Watson, Shildon, President of the Mid Durham Senior League, who congratulated both teams on providing such a good game.”

The report also noted how the four players had helped the club win the same cup in three consecutive seasons in the mid 1930s.

In the Esh Winning side that day was Gordon Thompson who, as a 16-year-old, had played his first cricket for Etherley in 1937. He joined Bishop Auckland the following year and, after the war, played for Darlington and represented the county. In 1948, he played at Ashbrooke, Sunderland, against Don Bradman's touring Australians.

• Thanks to Lee Formosa, Michael Burke and the book The History of Etherley Cricket Club
• The play Bishopunited, which tells the story of how Bishop Auckland FC helped Manchester United after the Munich Air Disaster in 1958, will be performed at the Crown pub in Crook on Saturday, August 12, at 7.30pm