On this day: Consistent short bowling sees match heading the wrong way
In the 1965 Central Lancashire League, the Radcliffe team toured Oldham to take on Crompton at the Glebe Street. The tournament was played in 1-day single innings format when the List A format wasn’t much popular yet and well before the inception of the ODIs. The Crompton team were fresh off a narrow victory against Royton team at the Paddock.
Crompton were bundled out for only 121 runs in 34 overs as none of their batsmen managed to reach the 30-run mark. Opening batsman T Grimshaw’s 29 was the highest score for Crompton in that game. But they bounced back with the ball to sneak in a 3-run victory. Roy Gilchrist of West Indies, making his debut for Crompton, scored 24 runs and followed it with a 5-wicket haul.
His analyses of 14-1-45-5 played a pivotal role in helping Crompton sneak a close win. Roy Gilchrist was known to bowl at high speeds but didn’t get a longer run in Test cricket. In fact, the speedster’s first-class career lasted only 42 matches between 1956-57 and 1962-63. He began to feature in Lancashire League cricket from 1959 season.
Gilchrist’s bumpers
The onus was on Gilchrist for the 2nd time in seven days to help Crompton who were bowled for an even lower total. Grimshaw was once again Crompton’s top-scorer with 26 runs. But only two other batters reached double digits as the home team were bowled out for 106 in 32.3 overs. M Hilton of Radcliffe took 6/34 in his 10.1 overs to limit the hosts to a low total.
Gilchrist opened the bowling with P Sutcliffe as Radcliffe reached 4/0 after two overs. The keeper-captain of Radcliffe, Derek Bickley was up against Gilchrist at the start of the 3rd over of the chase. The first ball of Gilchrist’s second over flew over Bickley’s head while the next ball was close to the visiting captain’s body which was evaded by the batsman. The first over wasn’t any different as Gilchrist kept sending down beamers and bumpers.
On 3rd delivery of the over, Gilchrist threw the ball towards the end of Bickley, six yards after crossing the popped crease. But Bickley, sensing danger, moved towards the square-leg umpire. Later, Bickley along with his opening partner Bill McDonald, walked back to the pavilion and refused to take the field. The match didn’t go any further and as per the league rules, Crompton was awarded with full points considering the match as Radcliffe’s concession.
