Huddersfield Cricket League: Sixes among the alpacas at Denby

It is going to be impossible to write about a visit to Denby Cricket Club, one of many smashing grounds in the Huddersfield League, without mentioning Chris Holliday. 

So, I’ll do it straightaway (right off the bat, as it were).

In 2020, which will go down in cricket history as ‘The COVID Season’, Holliday, then playing for renowned big-spenders Hoylandswaine, catapulted himself – and Denby – into the national headlines with a record-breaking innings: 316 not out off 113 balls. 

Of those runs, 288 came from boundaries: 34 sixes and 21 fours. Holliday’s first hundred was struck off 45 balls, his second off 36 and his third off 29.

Holliday’s remarkable feat – a Huddersfield League record – was achieved in a makeshift league of regionalised groups, playing 30-over games. Competitive friendlies. In normal circumstances, Denby and Hoylandswaine wouldn’t have been in the same division. 

Owing to the pandemic, Holliday hadn’t played much cricket that summer. In an interview with The Cricketer, he described his innings as a “freak” occurrence.

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Holliday acknowledged the help he’d had from Denby. Not so much being dropped on 110 as the quality of the wicket. “Denby is a beautiful ground. The deck was unbelievable; one of the best decks in the Huddersfield League.”

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Hoylandswaine scored 456-3 then, in 19.1 overs, bowled out Denby for 78.

Naturally, when I visited Upper House Fold, last week, to watch a T20 Shield first round tie with Championship division rivals Mirfield Parish Cavaliers, I was interested to see how small the Denby ground is. Small, but not that small, is the answer!

By chance, the first person to whom I got chatting was Howard Moxon, a legendary figure at Denby. A former player, club secretary and club umpire, still active on the club’s committee, Howard was the recipient, last autumn, of the Huddersfield League’s most distinguished award, the F.R. Stallard Cup.

I asked Moxon if he’d witnessed Holliday’s knock. Unfortunately, because of pandemic-related spectator restrictions, he hadn’t. 

As you’d expect, a mine of information about the Denby club, Moxon told me of the similarly unstinting service put in by Stephen Roebuck and Gordon Pickford. 

A covered terrace, next to the Denby clubhouse, bears the name of former First XI captain Roebuck, ‘Bully’, who died in 2022.

Denby’s stone-built pavilion, opened in 2010 after a two-year fundraising effort, is named after Pickford, formerly an umpire in the Huddersfield Central League. Pickford died in 1994.

I do find these memorials a very pleasing aspect of cricket. In varying forms, every ground has them. Other sports, I feel, could do more in this regard.

Denby, established in 1888, played for many years in the Penistone & District League before, in 1961, switching to the Huddersfield Central League. They joined the Huddersfield League in 2013 – a momentous and productive decision.

Denby are domiciled in the well-heeled Kirklees village of Upper Denby, beyond a steep ascent – Miller Hill, a second gear grind – from Denby Dale, its better-known neighbour.

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There is a lot to like about Upper House Fold, a quirky enclosure of considerable charm. More than 800 feet up in the Pennine hills, it occupies a plateau.

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So constricted is the Denby ground, there isn’t any on-site parking. Street parking isn’t a problem. We opted for Gunthwaite Lane, a 100-yard walk. Pedestrian access is via Upper House Fold, a short cul-de-sac, and a narrow, gritstone walled path.

Most of the facilities are crammed, beneath trees, into the southwest corner. There is the pavilion, the groundkeeper’s store, the clubhouse (busy, with England-Denmark, from Euro 2024, on the big screen), the Stephen Roebuck Terrace and a tiny scorebox. 

Behind this corner is the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist, whose squat tower peeps manfully over abundant foliage.

The scorebox, dedicated to John Mosley, opened in 2020. Mosley was a former scorer for the Denby club.

Best vantage point are the seats laid out to the north of the scorers’ box. From here, with the pitch sloping down noticeably, one has a sideways view of the wicket. Beyond a field, housing sheep and alpacas, and a line of cottages, there is a view over towards Barnsley.

Denby’s ‘nursery’ ground, for the club’s junior teams, is behind the west side seats. This season, a new wicket – the square’s fourth – has been established.

The gritstone walls enclosing the ground, on all but the west side, are painted white. This being the Huddersfield area, the landmark Emley Moor telecoms tower is visible.

Its tapering, upper two-thirds rise above and beyond what appears to be a farm, of age-blackened stone, hunkered down against the weather, at the ground’s north end.

Obligingly, the sun came out shortly before the start. It improved our mood. Owing to congestion, between Aberford and Rothwell, along a speed-restricted, five-mile stretch of the M1, then queueing for what turned out to be a minor shunt, south of the M1’s Lofthouse interchange, the drive from York had taken two hours.

Breathe, and relax. As an eventful, exciting game unfolded, our motorway travel traumas were soon forgotten.

Mirfield Parish Cavaliers, put in, were dismissed for 95, three balls short of their 20-over allocation.

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From a precarious 44-7, Cavaliers did well to post so many runs. No 7 Ben Tillotson contributed 22 off 30 and No 10 Ben Egginton 14 not out off 11.

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The innings was memorable for a catch taken, at long on, by a Denby overseas, South African all-rounder Callum Brown, who last season played for Essex League Wickford.

Only a fielder as tall as Brown would have secured the catch. Sam Scott’s elevated drive had six written all over it. Brown, a couple of feet inside the rope, seemed to change his mind at the last moment. Opting for a one-handed effort, he plucked the ball out of the air as if it were smothered with superglue. Ten yards away, we had the perfect view.

After a momentary pause, a collective intake of breath, from astonished onlookers, spontaneous applause broke out. Spectators passing the pavilion were still congratulating Brown, during the second innings, as he perched, waiting to bat, at the top of the home dressing room steps. 

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Fast bowler Brown took 2-22 from his four overs. From the near end, he charged up to the wicket to a backdrop of horses, clopping solemnly along Denby Lane. A proper country village soundtrack!

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Denby captain Jonny Hunter finished with 2-20, also from four. Medium pacer Hunter’s evening was affected seriously by the sole of one of his spiked cricket boots coming away, forcing him to complete the game in trainers. 

Team-mates Poorna Prangige (4-14-2) and Hizar Hayat (1.3-11-2) bettered the figures of both Hunter and Brown.

Denby struggled, similarly, to make runs, and at one stage Cavaliers had them 42-4. Aggressive hitters Brown (25 not out off 29) and overseas Surender Singh (28 off 21), previously with the Bradford Premier League’s Heckmondwike & Carlinghow, then added 42 for the fifth wicket.

The game’s key partnership. Spinner Daniel Hope (3-18 from four) added to the drama by despatching two batsmen at the death.

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Left-hander Brown, in at No 6, struck the winning runs.

With the scores tied, and nine balls remaining, he launched a huge six – the pink ball, high in the evening sky, looked like a distress flare – that came to earth amid the sheep and alpacas. No animals were injured in the production. Denby finished on 101-8.

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At 95-6, Hunter, sweeping, was caught, close to the wicket, after scooping up a ‘dolly’. “I’ve never played a sweep shot,” he muttered, as he bimbled back to the pavilion. A team-mate responded: “It’s alright. Callum’s on strike.”

Earlier, in the spirit of ‘anything you can do’, Cavaliers came up with a wonder catch of their own. Away on the far boundary, about as from our spectating position as he could be, Tillotson pouched a one-handed beauty, off Hope’s bowling, to remove No 4 Prangige (17 off 13). Timely, it left Denby 40-3.

A curiosity: on three occasions, during the game, a catch was dropped. Twice, a wicket fell the next delivery; the other time, the ball was regathered hastily, and a direct hit of the stumps resulted in a spectacular run out.

All in all, then, something of a midsummer night’s dream.

Denby went on to win, by six wickets, their 27/6 T20 Shield second round tie at Holmfirth. In the quarter-finals, Denby are joined by Armitage Bridge, Cumberworth United, Denby Dale, Lascelles Hall, Linthwaite, Rastrick and Thongsbridge.

Enjoyed the read?

You can check out other club visits by Andrew in his column, Miles Per Gallon.

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