From pitch to pinnacle: Upper Hopton progress in Parish Cup

“It’s a long walk for a duck!” The words of Luddendenfoot opener Harry Denham after his first over dismissal at Upper Hopton Cricket Club’s Sutcliffe Memorial Ground.

Playing in a Halifax League Parish Cup second-round tie, Denham had almost scaled the summit of a taxing, 45-step climb from pitch to clubhouse at what must be one of Yorkshire’s most remarkable cricket enclosures.

The Sutcliffe Memorial Ground, named after a Captain Charles Earnest Sutcliffe, who in 1923 donated the land to advance the locale’s sporting endeavours, is a stunning amphitheatre, seemingly excavated from the south flank of the Calder Valley.

The clubhouse, reminiscent of the arrangements at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, another breath-taking West Yorkshire bowl, is positioned, at circa 600 feet, in the site’s southwest corner, high above the pitch. 

From the clubhouse’s picture windows, and from tables laid out, in front, on a terrace, a stunning, 180-degree panorama, beyond the ground, encompasses Mirfield, Staincliffe, Ravensthorpe and Dewsbury.

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With the afternoon of our visit sunny and crystal clear, even the landmark Ossett/Gawthorpe water tower, on the northeast skyline, was visible.

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A tree-shaded plaque, a few paces from the clubhouse and from an equipment-stuffed wooden hut serving as the umpires’ accommodation, pays tribute to the generosity of Captain Sutcliffe.

It reads: ‘In remembrance of Capt C E Sutcliffe and 2nd Lieut Oswald Sutcliffe this field was given by Charles E Sutcliffe Esq JP of Hopton Grove for a sports ground and open space for the benefit of the inhabitants of Upper Hopton.’

Clearly, Captain Sutcliffe was a community-minded fellow. Later, in his will of 1948, he bequeathed, to the villagers of Upper Hopton, Croft House, built circa 1700, and an adjacent cottage.

Croft House, run since 1980 by Upper Hopton Community Association, acts as a base for local Cubs, Brownies and Guides, a youth club and a pre-school playgroup. Available to hire, Croft House hosts events such as birthday and christening parties, lunches and charity evenings. What an asset it must be.

Hugely tempting though it is to watch the cricket from the Sutcliffe Memorial Ground’s elevated clubhouse corner (some, including the young scorers, preferred it up there; maybe their eyesight is better than mine!), we were happy, having absorbed the view, to descend the bank and take up a position, pitch-side, looking straight down the wicket.

We arrived in time to watch the teams go through their pre-match warm-up and practice routines. I must say the Upper Hopton lads, kitted out in Velvet Lounge-sponsored maroon tops, looked very professional.

The previous afternoon, in the league, Upper Hopton had thrashed, by nine wickets, Division One rivals and hosts Blackley (skittled for 55!), while Premier Division Luddendenfoot were beaten, by 97 runs, at Shelf Northowram Hedge Top.

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Upper Hopton are a cricket club on the rise. In 2023, their First XI topped the Halifax League’s Second Division (i.e. tier three). This year, having won five games already, they are unbeaten and lie second, to Great Horton Park Chapel, in the Division One table. 

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In common with all cricket clubs, after month upon month of unprecedented rain, Upper Hopton have had their struggles preparing pitches for and during the 2024 season. 

Everybody – groundkeepers, players, umpires, scorers and spectators – relishes an even contest between bat and ball. Try as groundkeepers might (and I’ve heard stories of endless hours of dedication, battling the effects of atrocious weather), it’s proving extraordinarily difficult to provide pitches and wickets to the satisfaction of all. 

For this cup-tie, Upper Hopton – ‘Hoppy’, to their players – used an off-centre wicket, closer to a steep drop from the east side boundary rope and farther from the clubhouse. That batsman’s walk just got longer! 

Batsmen found the accumulation of runs tricky. On occasion, the ball kept astonishingly low. Add to the mix a few injudicious strokes, one or two rushes to judgment, penetrating bowling and several demonstrably superb catches, and it wasn’t surprising the teams took some time to post modest totals.

No matter. The sun was out (well, mostly) and the spectacle compelling.

My wife found the breeze a bit chilly. Just as well she hadn’t accompanied me, the previous day, to a decidedly windy (onshore, naturally) Durham coast, where I watched Seaham Harbour defeat North East Premier League Division One opponents Gateshead Fell.

But the sun did beat down, as forecast, throughout. Canny. Fleece and long pants for me; shorts, T-shirts and floaty dresses for element-hardened, craggy north-easterners.

I was told, four or five years ago, the Upper Hopton club invested in improved drainage. Given the site’s topography, a fierce then a gentle, downhill slope from west to east, rain has a habit of ending up on the pitch. A home player remarked: “I’ve played here since I was 12 or 13 and, to be fair, it’s a million times better than it used to be.”

Fence-mounted signs at the north end warn of the perils of a precipitous drop disguised by some of the mature trees that ring much of the ground. Best practice, when retrieving boundary-battered balls, is to follow arrows pointing in the direction of the scorebox.

When a ball hurtled into foliage, above a similar drop, along the east, valley side, a Luddendenfoot fielder declined to explore too closely. Eyeing the precipice, and the possibility of a giddying plunge, he remarked: “I could end up in Brighouse!” 

After the early loss of Denham, Luddendenfoot, asked to bat by Upper Hopton, made a decent job of laying solid foundations. Captain and wicketkeeper Jacob Whitehouse (18 off 47 balls) and No 3 Harry Clarke (22 off 43) piloted the visitors into the early forties. 

Then, things went seriously awry. Soon, it was 53-5. Then, four wickets were lost with the score on 61 – all while my wife was away, answering a pressing demand to climb those steps to the clubhouse. “Usually, when I go to the loo,” she observed, on returning, “there’s one wicket. Four is a bit extreme, even by my standards!”

With play-cricket.com, aah, playing up, we were reliant on the scoreboard to follow what was happening. At tea, I asked one of the scorers about the problem. “It’s telling me there’s three not outs,” she shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on.” Who’d be a scorer? It’s a pressure job, no mistake.

Matt ‘Broady’ Broadbent, alternately bowling at pace and bellowing encouragement, from the covers, to colleagues, did his best to ensure things went swimmingly.

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Turning to the clubhouse, he yelled, in the direction of the scorers: “Should say 42 [on the scoreboard]. First ball of that over was a no ball.” Evidently, scoring at such a distance from the umpires was not without its pitfalls!

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A direct hit, from 20-plus yards, by Tom Wightman, son of club legend Ian Wightman, to run out Elliot Craven, prompted an admiring purr from a fellow fielder. “Beautiful.” 

One pea-roll delivery, that kept even lower than some, prompted a fielder to comment: “I believe that is a Denby Dale ball.” Answers on a postcard, please.

Tom ‘Willo’ Wilson took 4-22 from 8.4 overs, off-spinner Harry Scott 2-0 from two and the setting-an-example Broadbent 2-11 (including four maidens) from nine, as Luddendenfoot were bowled out for 71, in a shade under two hours, in the 28th over.

Broadbent, incidentally, has spearheaded the Upper Hopton attack for many years. In 2023, he took 56 wickets at 8.73 to win the Halifax League bowling award. His best performance was 8-1, including two hat-tricks, against Bradley & Colnebridge.

How long, we speculated, over picnic eggs and Hula Hoops, would it take Upper Hopton to knock off the runs? About the same amount of time, was the answer!

You had to admire Luddendenfoot’s optimism. As the first Upper Hopton wicket went down, with the score at 25, a cry went up: “30 for five, here. Come on!”

Soon, however, the tide began to turn more noticeably the way of the visitors. At 51-5, an away win was possible. “Now, we’ve got a game on!” chirped a fielder, keen to ratchet up the tension. Then: “Three more [balls] at this lad, here. Don’t mind it.”

In the event, Lewis Edmond (26 not out off 56), recruited for 2024 from Bradford Premier League club Gomersal, and Wilson (6 not out off 37) showed great patience, and no little skill, in steering Upper Hopton to 74-5 in the 32nd over. 

With the bat crowded, the decisive blow was a four, well-struck, through a gap in the fielding cordon. Felt like the right way to crown an enjoyable afternoon. Clarke, unlucky to be on the losing side, finished with 3-19 (including three maidens) off nine overs.

Lovely to see a congratulatory, post-match tweet from Luddendenfoot: “Good luck for the rest of the season. A club with a great attitude, clearly on their way up.”

This was Upper Hopton’s second Premier Division scalp of the 2024 Parish Cup. In the first round, they beat, by two wickets, Sutcliffe Memorial Ground visitors Oxenhope. Upper Hopton’s reward is a consecutive home tie, in the quarter-finals, later this month, against top-flight Shelf Northowram Hedge Top.

Other quarter-final pairings (all to be played Sunday, June 30, 1pm): Low Moor Holy Trinity v Thornton; Mytholmroyd v Cullingworth; Queensbury v Illingworth St Mary’s.

Want to read more?

Many thanks to Andrew and you can read his club cricket series, Miles per Gallon, on the website throughout the summer.

Here are more interviews and club visits from the Halifax Cricket League.