Scholes Cricket Club chairman Mel Booth pays tribute to Clifford Oldroyd, our oldest member and former player, who has passed away aged 104 (1913-2017).
Clifford Oldroyd and Scholes Cricket Club - it’s very difficult to talk about one without the other.
And can I say right from the outset that I’m very humbled to be asked to say a few words on behalf of the cricket club about our No1 supporter, and that I’m very grateful to Steve Booth, Paul Ibbotson and Stanley Ellis for their help in doing so.
When people talk of a lifelong connection and devotion it’s rarely true, but it is certainly the case with Clifford and the cricket club.
Being born in the village and brought up right next to the club at 21 Chapelgate, it was only natural that Clifford should spend most of his earliest years playing on the cricket field.
That was during World War One – he had a vague recollection of being held by his father, who was in uniform – and when Clifford became a little older, he watched the Scholes team of the day and his love for the game, and the club, blossomed.
There were no junior teams at Scholes in those days, but Clifford quickly graduated to the second team and, by the time he was in his late teens, he was in the first team.
By then, he was already a much-valued member of the club.
First of all, money was tight for everyone and raising funds for the cricket club was always a problem, as they needed to buy bats, pads and other kit to be used by all the team.
As a 16-year-old, Clifford and a friend walked around the village knocking on every door they could find, asking for contributions to keep the club going - threepence, a tanner or a bob or two – every penny was gratefully received.
Back then, half a crown would buy you a vice-presidency for the season - that was a third of the first weekly wage Clifford earned as a 14 year old.
Clifford also helped out with the ground, working alongside Gordon Ellis, and while the council would mow the outfield about once a month, the square was looked after by the club, with the help of the Ellis family horse, Dobbin.
The club kept a set of big leather shoes for the horse, so that minimal damage was done to the square when mowing and rolling was taking place, but the wickets in those days were, in Clifford’s words, “shocking, it were flying at your face!”
The Ellis family, too, had a horse drawn charabanc and this is how Scholes CC - with Clifford and his brother Douglas among the team - were transported to away matches, while the skipper, Herbert Armitage - a well to do man and one of the few people in Scholes to have a car at the time - took the team kitbag in his boot.
On the field, Clifford was a good left-handed batter and averaged on some pretty spiteful wickets figures which many of us would be proud to average on the flat tracks of today.
There is a famous story of Scholes playing in the Holden Cup final against a very good Clayton West side at Skelmanthorpe.
Clayton West had two very good cricketing brothers too, by the names of Harold and George Schofield.
Harold was 6ft 5in and flayed Scholes all over the field for a hundred. George also batted well and was 90 odd, with Herbert Armitage not having a clue what to do next with his bowlers.
It was then he turned to Clifford, who was not a bowler at all, but within the space of two overs he’d dismissed the pair of them and given Scholes a chance.
When he finished his playing career, Clifford took to watching the club and scoring and became a great friend to generations of players who followed.
The great names he played alongside and watched are too many to mention, but he was great friends with our overseas signings like Glenn Howard, Rashid Patel, Chetan Sharma and, in more recent times, Wasim Jaffer, who Clifford described as “out of this world.”
Mentioning Chetan brings back memories of a time at Kirkheaton when our Indian Test player, trying to field near the boundary, was unable to stop on the gravel path next to the field and careered straight into Clifford, smashing him to the ground with a sickening thud.
An ambulance was called and whisked him off to the hospital, and everyone at the club was worried sick until around 10pm that night, when Clifford strolled into the clubhouse with stitches inserted and a big bandage on his head.
Clifford promptly ordered his pint of Tetley’s and told everyone he was fine, “apart from a bit of heeadwark” (headache).
Clifford was proud to see his club win the Sykes Cup for the first time and also the Huddersfield League title, and it was only right that when we opened the new changing rooms and later the new clubhouse, Clifford should be the one cutting the ribbons.
It was also only fitting, too, that Clifford should become our first Life Vice President - although half way through a similar speech to this about his lifetime of devotion to the club, he turned to Steve Booth and asked: “Who are they talking about!”
He didn’t like all the fuss at all, being such a modest chap, but Clifford was great company for those who had the pleasure and privilege to know him and spend time with him.
At one time he would regularly visit the Foxhouse with Stanley Ellis and Colin Day and, on one occasion, the subject turned to Clifford’s moustache and why he had always had one.
Clifford, cute as a cucumber, grabbed the edges of it and smiled.
“Well, you see, when they call time I can always wring another gill out of it!”
Clifford would always stop off in the cricket field on his regular walks around the valley and it’s a great sense of comfort that he was able – with the help of close friends Frankie and June Trott - to live in the village, in his own house, right until the very last, because he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
He genuinely was Mr Scholes, a friend to all who knew him, loved and respected and, most importantly, a true gentleman.