I Don’t Like Cricket
But Stewart Coates does, and he’s going to tell us all about this year’s centenary celebrations at Stockport Trinity Cricket Club
Monday 13 February 2023
It goes without saying, but if any The Scarf My Father Wore readers ever want me to share anything about their charity, or club, or organisation, or any other extremely worthy cause, like a petition to knock down all the new stuff on Grand Central and bring back Squares and Heaven & Hell, you only have to ask. (If Benji’s reading this, don’t worry, Bask will definitely be safe from my bulldozers. Actually, I do rather enjoy the buffet breakfast at the Holiday Inn as well…)
Be warned, however. If it’s a Monday morning and I’m trying to think of content ideas for the website, I might send a few questions over to get a full article out of you. That’s exactly what I’ve done today with Stewart Coates, president of Stockport Trinity Cricket Club, who celebrate their 100th anniversary this year. His request for a plug came with a caveat, but I’m glad I asked him a few extra questions, as it’s produced a lovely article from a lifelong County fan, looking at the two sporting loves of his life. (Apologies to Stewart for the title of this article, but any mention of cricket and 10cc always pop into my head.)
I’m going to chuck in a plug of my own as well. If you’re free on Thursday 23 February, please come and join us for ‘The County Comedy Quiz’ at Bask (next to Stockport train station). We’ve got a cracking quiz. We’ve got great prizes. We’ve got Paul Jones joining us for the evening. We’ve even got a little bit of stand-up comedy as well. All that for a fiver. Click here to join us.
Today’s edition is sponsored by Brik Vintage. A big thank you to John and all the team. If you’ve not yet been in, pop in and have a look. They’ve got some cracking items.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Right then, I said I’d happily give your centenary celebrations a plug. Fire away…
Our centenary dinner is at Edgeley Park on Friday 14 April at 7pm. Tickets are £50. The event has been organised by our chairman Richard Higginbotham and our 1st XI captain James Shaw. We have a compere for the evening as well as a comedian, with Matthew Hoggard attending as our main speaker. There will also be an auction featuring items from County, Lancashire CCC and Man City (sorry, but James supports them!).
I can’t wait for the event, when I will have my cricket club and my football club together under the same roof. That will take some beating.
If anyone would like to join us for the evening, please give me a call on 07790 627360.
What’s your background when it comes to County and Trinity?
I’ve been following County for over 60 years, although at the moment, I can’t get to the ground as I’ve had two hip replacements and have a dodgy right knee - too much bowling!
I’ve been with Trinity all my life. We were formed in 1923 and that coincided with my grandfather moving to Stockport. I know that he was a member from, at the latest, 1933, and my father and uncle have also played, as has my son. My eldest granddaughters played for our juniors and my youngest granddaughter now plays for the women’s team. I was chairman for 18 years, secretary for many more, and have been president since 2018.
Best memories with both clubs?
My best County memory isn’t a match or even a championship but my very first visit to Edgeley Park. I was taken by my grandfather around 1960. It made a huge impression on me and my memory of that day remains very clear. A few weeks later we travelled to Rochdale by coach for the local derby. I’ve followed County ever since then.
I do remember well the players of that era: Trevor Porteous, Micky Davock, Bob (Ruby) Murray, Ken Hodder, Graham Beighton, Trevor Birch, Genie Wilson. Genie played cricket in the High Peak League outside the football season. He played for Woodlands (in Woodbank Park) and I played against him on a couple of occasions.
My favourite recent memory has to be the home game against Curzon Ashton in 2019, when Chorley were playing at Spennymoor. The atmosphere in the ground that day was just electric and there were a few false alarms when fans thought Spennymoor had scored. I always have an earplug in one ear so I can listen to Jon Keighren. I remember his commentary so well when Glen Taylor scored for Spennymoor: “And we are hearing something now... Spennymoor have scored!" The crowd reaction was brilliant as the news went round the ground and the cheering built and built. I'll never forget that.
Once again, my best Trinity memory isn’t a single match or performance (although if you have a few hours free, I’ll happily talk you through the 1,420 wickets I took for our 1st XI… No? Thought not!). It was the league dinner in 2011 when our 1st and 2nd Xl won a total of four trophies, all presented to us on the night. Our 1st Xl were runners-up in their division and cup finalists while our 2nd XI won their division and the Aggregate trophy. In the same year our women’s team also won their T20 final. What a year!
In professional cricket, my favourite action was the duel between Mike Atherton and Allan Donald in the test match at Trent Bridge. Absolutely riveting.
If I could offer you a guarantee that England will win the next World Cup, would you choose football or cricket?
It has to be a World Cup win for the England football team, but only because it’s been so long since they managed it while the cricket team has had more success, especially of late. Got to keep a balance!
Give us a brief history of Stockport Trinity Cricket Club over the last 100 years.
Trinity Methodist Church Cricket and Tennis Club was founded in 1923 when a piece of land, appropriately named the ‘Priest Field’, was purchased by the trustees of the church. Two shale tennis courts were built and tennis continued until around 1960, after which the courts fell into disuse and were eventually grassed over as part of the outfield at the south-east end of the ground. The name of the club was changed in 1974 when ‘Methodist Church’ was dropped from the title and again around 2005 when ‘Stockport’ was added.
The club played in the High Peak Cricket League from its inception and remained when the league split in 1952, when some teams joined the new Derbyshire and Cheshire League. When the High Peak League disbanded, at the close of the 1975 season, Trinity moved to the Cheshire Cricket Club Conference. From there, we joined the South Lancashire League in 1978 and the Glossop and District League in 1986. When the Glossop League disbanded we moved back to the Cheshire League in 2000 and our three men’s teams have remained there ever since. The High Peak League remained as a junior league and our Under-9s, Under-11s, Under-13s and Under-15s continue to play there. Our women’s team, formed in 2011, play in the Cheshire Women’s Cricket League.
Our old wooden pavilion, built in 1923, was finally demolished in 1990 and replaced by a much more modern structure which we continue to improve.
We’ve achieved a lot throughout our history, but from 2010 onwards we’ve been hugely successful right across the club. The three men’s teams and the women’s team have won a total of 13 competitions, with another 13 runners-up trophies.
Which current County players do you think would make top batsman and bowler at Trinity?
It has to be Ben Hinchliffe as batsman. If he can hit the ball as far as he kicks it there will be sixes galore, we'll need to warn the neighbours. What's more, he'd be great in the slips with those huge hands. Mind you, he'd have to take his gloves off!
As a bowler, it has to be Fraser Horsfall. I can imagine him running in from the Grange Road end and with his height and muscle the keeper would have to stand 30 yards back. The batsmen wouldn’t see the ball!
I’ll finish with a confession. I’ve never been able to get into cricket, it just doesn’t do it for me. What am I missing?
You've never been into cricket Des? You don't know what you’re missing! The sight of the stumps flying out of the pitch or the ball going over the boundary for six; the thought process as you try to work out the batsman's weaknesses or using gamesmanship to upset the bowler when you’re batting; the camaraderie and the banter with your clubmates in the changing room; the dissection of the game afterwards with a pint in the pub. What more could you want?
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Here’s something you should definitely do in February
Buy tickets for The County Comedy Quiz at Bask!
The Scarf My Father Wore editor, Des Junior, absolutely loves a County quiz. He’s alright at compiling County quizzes as well. Rightly or wrongly, he also fancies himself as a bit of a comedian. On that note, The Scarf My Father Wore are delighted to team up with Bask to bring you The Comedy County Quiz. It’s a proper County quiz, with some fantastic prizes on offer, but our aim is to crack you up with some of the questions along the way.
We’ve also got special guest Paul Jones joining us. The former County defender, and Bolton Wanderers legend, will be speaking on the night, as well as handing out the prizes to the winners!
Click here for our full list of things you should definitely do in February!
Photo of the day
Edgeley Park
He doesn’t look a day over 21 (you’ve got to keep one of your website sponsors sweet haven’t you…) but County’s life president Steve Cree celebrated his 50th birthday recently, with the festivities including a big party at Edgeley Park on Saturday night. Many happy returns mate!
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didn’t it? Just a quick one… I’d hazard a guess that at some point in February, all of our readers will use Google or Yell.com at some point looking for a particular product or service. But before you do, please have a quick look at our own directory to see if we have what you’re looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so let’s send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.
On this day in 2021
How do you fancy completely wasting 7 minutes and 23 seconds of your life today? Highlights of a 0-0 draw at home to Aldershot in front of a crowd of zero will do just that. Today’s flashback is slightly topical, however, as this was the game that saw the debut of Mr Will Collar, who wrapped up County’s three points at Harrogate on Saturday.
Bits and bobs
📹 Channel 4 News were at the Crewe game recently, doing a piece on the rise in football violence since lockdown. Apart from a load of Crewe Yoof running around the mean streets of Cheshire before the game, high on Rolos and Red Bull, sod all happened, but you’ll see lots of familiar County faces in the clip. Click here to watch.
✍️ A little County-related snippet from the latest edition of Man United fanzine United We Stand, from a writer talking about his mum, who’d sadly recently passed away: “As for players she hated? Mum hated Carlton Palmer. With a passion. This definitely came from his Leeds years. Why? I have some idea. Even as late as the weeks before she passed, she was telling me how much of a “dirty git” he was and that he always seemed to cheat his way through games against United.”