Rawdon salutes its 'Great Left-handers'

The great and the good of Yorkshire county cricket gathered along with officials of the Yorkshire Cricket Board, the Airedale and Wharfedale League and Rawdon Cricket Club for the unveiling of a picture montage of three Yorkshire cricketing legends who all started out at Rawdon Cricket Club.

The late Yorkshire and England spin bowler Hedley Verity, the pugnacious and hugely talented former Yorkshire and England skipper Brian Close and the stylish former Yorkshire batsman Bryan Stott are all depicted in a framed montage which will hang above the bar in the Rawdon clubhouse.

Yorkshire CCC Vice President Sid Fielden introduced the guests who included Hedley Verity's son Douglas along with the two players he and his brother Wilfred grew up with in Rawdon - Brian Close and Bryan Stott.

Rawdon CC Chairman Lawrence Walker welcomed the trio saying: "Welcome home lads, it is a pleasure to have you on home soil once again. We thank the county club for this presentation depicting our three most famous sons. We are very aware of our traditions and we will treasure this. We are proud to have been involved with three such outstanding cricketers and I would love Rawdon CC to produce another county player but I have no preference wether he be a right or left hander!"

He added: "We have a family club here following on from the traditions when Hedley Verity, his father Hedley and his sons Douglas and Wilfred were all members here as were Bryan Stott and his father Harry. They actually paid three shillings to be members of the club in those days.

"I offer my sincere thanks to Sid Fielden for all he has done in helping to set up this presentation."

The montage was unveiled by Yorkshire President Bob Appleyard, MBE, in front of an audience which included former Yorkshire and England spinner Geoff Cope, Yorkshire CCC Chief Executive Stewart Regan; former Yorkshire CCC Chairman and President Robin Smith and Yorkshire CCC Archives Committee Chairman David Hall.

Douglas Verity recalled his early days at the club playing cricket on any flat piece of ground he could find' with Close and Stott.

"I used to sit on top of the roller to watch and one day I was invited down to make up the team. I was sliding about in my leather shoes but managed to take a catch. My last game for Rawdon ended my career with a knee injury."

"My father played his first game here and his last game here when he was on embarkation leave. He took all ten wickets and that was the last time I saw him play as he never came back from the war. I am proud to say my two sons got a game here playing for North Wales against the Airedale and Wharfedale League so that continued a family tradition."

Brian Close recalled that his first visit to Rawdon CC was at the age of ten when as a pupil of Littlemoor School he was sent up by the school for coaching from the Yorkshire legend George Hirst. He then joined the club at the age of 11 and played in the Junior U-18 side taking 5-19 in only his second game thus gaining promotion to the second team "I was subsequently promoted to the first team where I recall playing a talented Menston team which included the likes of Yorkshire's Norman Grimshaw and Stanley Raper and a certain Jimmy Rigg who was the best hitter of a full toss in the county. Here I was, an 11 year-old kid playing against the likes of these players.

"I played for another three years with Rawdon before my family moved to Guiseley and I remember fondly the likes of Albert Houghton, Arthur Carlisle, Claude Barrett, Colin Stretton and Jackie Lees.

"I also remember playing in a game at Addingham and we were practising on the outfield while the Addingham lads rolled the wicket with the heavy roller. It had been raining and the ground was very soft. I hit a ball which went right under the roller and left a big hole in the wicket!"

"I never saw Hedley Verity play as I was only eight when war broke out but I spent a lot of time as a youngster with his sons Dougie and Wilfred along with Bryan, and Hedley's sister Grace taught me at Littlemoor School.

"We were always together as youngsters and Dougie had to take me home on a sledge once after I got too adventurous, I always liked to try something different. Going downhill in the Canada Estate area I tried to steer the sledge through the doorway of an air raid shelter. I somehow forgot about stopping and smashed into the back wall."

Bryan Stott said: "I feel very proud and very humble to be here and to be attached to these two colossuses of cricket. We have history between us in that Rawdon CC set us on the path to our cricketing careers. It is a wonderful coincidence and Brian and I and Douglas have kept friends right from our childhood.

"I started in the senior team at Rawdon at the age of ten and I too recall a game at Menston where we had a left arm googly bowler KB (Kenneth) Smith and Jimmy Rigg hammered his bowling peppering the doctor's house over the road with great regularity.

When I first started I did not have any cricket gear. My dad hammered some hose shoe nails into my shoes for me to play in and in my first match I was run out backing up. I know the name of the lad who did it, it is imprinted on my mind!"

Bryan declined the calls of the audience to reveal who it was.

He continued: "As a youngster here I was assistant scorer and I went to Menston where the great Bill Bowes had just come back from the war. My father was skippering Rawdon and facing Bill he suffered the same fate as Closey did against the West Indies except my father was trying to get out of the way, not taking it on like Brian did but the end result was the same, he was covered in bruises."