Player Profiles               

Past Greats

If anyone merits the description of ‘club legend’ it has to be Bob.  The statistics are mind-boggling, but they only start to tell the story.  Bob has been a member since the club’s foundation in 1946, joining the new village club as a fourteen year old.  He played all through the time when the home ground was the Watts field, being made captain in 1957.  He held this position for an incredible 28 years, until the end of the 1985 season.  During that time the club was successfully involved in three leagues, winning the North Bucks league in the early 60s, the Northants County league Division 3 in 1965 and runners up, and promotion, in the Milton Keynes League Division 2 in 1984.  This is not all, by any means.  The Wolverton Express cup was won three times in succession from 1962 to 1964, reaching the final again in 65, and also the highly prestigious Newport Pagnell British legion cup was won in 1969.  Quite a record!               As a player Bob was a top class change bowler, who year after year produced figures that showed how deadly he was.  Not the fastest by any means, but unerringly accurate.  In 1965, in the County league, he took 29 wickets for 134 runs at an average of 4.62 runs per wicket.  When this is added to an outstanding ability as a middle order batsman, the story is beginning to unfold more.  Even in the 1980s, at an age when most cricketers have slipped down the order, he topped the club’s bowling averages in the MK league.  By now reduced to left arm slow(ish), the accuracy was still there, and the runs were still as difficult to come by.           Bob is still an active life member of the club, and has some great tales of the club in the 50s and 60s.  Ask him about the unfortunate teenagers who tried to ambush HCC on the way home from a match and ended up walking home along St Peter’s Way in Northampton, in their underpants.  I’m sure there are plenty more where that one came from too. By Don Cook

Waiting for pitcure

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