Cricket correspondent/author
The knowledgeable and prolific cricket writer grew up within a mile of Bramall Lane so it was inevitable that the affairs of YCCC featured strongly in his address.
Despite ghosting columns by such cricket greats as Atherton, Hussain and Strauss, he selected two Yorkies for special mention, crediting Michael Vaughan as a ‘challenging’ interviewee because his conversations were ‘raining with ideas’.
But the author’s sympathies lay heavily with Sir Len Hutton who, in 1953, became England’s first professional captain: “He was given the job to do with one arm behind his back and as a result had to tread so carefully. Gubby Allen, a southerner and very pro establishment, hated northern pros in the team.”
It made Allen’s choice of who to buy drinks highly predictable …basically just the ones chosen for the squad. That wouldn’t have gone down well with one notable player who put down his address as ‘℅ Cricketers Arms’, on Bramall Lane!
Whilst commenting on YCCC’s dominance in the 1960’s, including against full Test teams, Scyld recalled asking a famous cricket figure about the wisdom of developing Bramall Lane as the new HQ of English cricket. We can only imagine the response ..
After conceding that Yorkshire could in the past have done more to integrate itself within the Asian community, Berry believes the Club has throughout its history shown itself as inclusive. Could a rebrand reflect that?
