As in most aspects of life considerable changes have taken place in the organisation of village cricket in the past 100 years.

The cricketers of the 1860's probably played less frequently and in a less organised manner because of the demands of work. Sunday was the true 'day of rest' and cricket would be out of the question.

It was very likely that fixtures were concentrated in or around the local feast weeks, during which is a travelling fair would visit the villages, sports would be held and the local farmers would enter their stock in shows which were the forerunners of the modern agricultural shows.

In a sense, less organization was necessary because the field did not require as much attention as it does today, since the playing areas would be meadows with no 'square' as the players of today know it.

This of course meant sporting wickets and matches in which both sides completed two innings each in an afternoon, often making very low scores.

Transport too must have been more of a problem than today and would affect the scope of the fixture secretary as did the time available free from work. Hatfield did however play a match at Crowle on Wednesday.

Transport to and from these matches would be by horse and trap until the advent of the 'motor', the earliest mention of which was that of a Mr. H. Elwiss, who offered his vehicle for the away match at Askern in 1921. In spite of the difficulties involved, Hatfield ventured to Hull for a match, half of the fare of 12/6 being paid by the club for each player, the scorer and umpire.

In the very early days the club's ground was the one on which we now play, being shared with the soccer team. A pavilion was bought just after 1900 from the site of the Royal Show which was held in Doncaster.

At the outbreak of the was in 1914 it was necessary to give the ground up for agriculturial use and the club moved to the field behind the vicarage, where it remained until the present ground was purchased from the late Mr. F. N. Elland in 1953.

The club embarked on the 1920's with a balance of £14.10.8d and subscriptions of 3/6 for seniors and 2/6 for juniors. The 1st XI played in the Doncaster League 2nd division, having been founder members.

Talent money was available for members of both teams: 2/6 for scoring 50 and 2/6 for taking 5 wickets in any one match. There are few instances recorded of talent money being won but it was later amended to 2/6 for 40 runs and 2/6 for 6 wickets which suggests that the pitches helped the bowlers more than batsmen.

In addition to this a Mr. G. H. Brenchley offered 10/6 for a fielding prize and 5/- for the most accurate thrower at stumps.

The secretary was paid an honorarium of £3.0.0d for his work and the groundsman received £2. The clubs finances however were not very healthy during this period and money raising efforts were frequently necessary to keep the club going.

Whilst drives and dances, raffles and draws were the most popular but a smoking concert in the Blue Bell and a confetti and streamer carnival were also held. The 1922 Boxing Day Dance and Whist Drive proved successful but during the period 1924-1929 the balance sheet showed a deficit each year and when in 1926 a debt of £26 was discovered a Whist Drive and Dance was immediately organised. Subscriptions were raised to 5/- in 1929 for the same reason.

A character from this era was president Mr D Hill, a farmer of Park Hill, whose size and strength have become legendary. It is said that he could raise cars out of holes and would frequently move his lorry on to the weighbridge at Bates' garage by lifting it bodily if it was not on straight. Among his other claims to local fame were lifting a sack of corn on a shovel and being agile enough, weighing over 20 stones, to get his leg behind his head.

In 1931 the club's second XI was entered in the 3rd division of The Doncaster and District League.

In 1933 the Bay Horse was adopted as the clubs headquarters in place of the Blue Bell which had been used since 1920 but the change was short lived and by 1936 the Blue Bell was back in favour again.

Subscriptions were reduced in 1936 to 2/6 to be paid before the first match of the season and a match fee of 3d per player was levied. The affairs of the club now seemed to be progressing fairly well but the outbreak of war affected the organization of cricket as it did most other things and by 1941 due to a lack of members and apparent lack of interest it was decided by 'the few' that since the club was in debt, its affairs should be wound up and the club reconstituted. Whist Drives again came to the rescue and the debt was paid off. The club was on its way again but only friendly matches were played in the war years.

This era produced many worthy of mention, some of whom we remember affectionately, others who still maintain an interest and, in some cases, an active part in the running of the club. These include Messrs D. Bates, H. Birkett, E.E. Crate, H. Crowe, J. Canham, G. England, J. Coddington, G. Husband, G. Hague, D. Hill, E. Rodwell, H. Rodwell, R. Rodwell, W. Rodwell, W. Holmes, C. Sylvester, J. Wells, T. Firth, R. Lowe, A. Hunsley, J. Scorethorne, G. Bradley and umpire A. Kitson.

The teams contained many farmers and farm labourers and availablity and batting order depend very much on local agricultural demands. Sometimes it would be advisable to field first so that the farmers could get away to milk the cows and get back in time to bat.

Cricket matches in the 40's and early 50's were played in the face of great difficulties. Apart from the obvious effect of the war the club had its troubles nearer home.

With the co-operation of Mr. Brabbs the club continued to play on the field near the vicarage. The field belonged to Mr P. Smith, who would occasionally decide that he did not want the club to use his field and would lock the gate or let cattle into the field during the match. Consiquently it was never known from one week to the next wether the field was available or not. In addition to this water was carried to the square in buckets and the players changed in a hut donated by Mr Parkin. There was no seating for teas and cups of tea and sandwiches were carried to the ground by the ladies or by Mr Cartwright, who supplied three dozen teas for 30/-. The captain had the added responsibility of returning the tea urn.

The next mention of organised cricket was of friendly matches being played in 1949, and in 1950 the club re-entered the Doncaster League, playing in the third division, while friendlies were played by the 2nd XI. By this time subscriptions had risen to 10/- for seniors and 5/- for juniors and supporters. Match fees of 1/3 for home matches and 2/6 for away matches were levied to cover the cost of transport, which at this time was by coal lorry. The Annual Dinner held at the Green Tree in 1950, with dancing to records cost 7/6 a head.

It was obvious to those who had the clubs future at heart that there was no future to look forward to so long as the club was without it's own ground. In 1952 negotiations began for a ground in Hatfield. A Ladies committee was formed to organise teas and bank the profits. These ventures were very important developments, which affected, perhaps more than anything else the club undertook, the growth of the club and laid foundations of the club as it is today. Much credit must go to Mr F. Holmes, who was secretary at this important time, for seeing these things through.

When eventually a site was found, back where the club had started, members and friends made loans ranging from £10 to £50 to raise the £300 required to purchase the field. The ground was sold to the club on condition that it was used only as a sports field and life trustees were appointed to ensure a permanent site for cricket in Hatfield.

Work began on the preparation of the field after the harvest in 1953 and league matches were played on the new ground in 1954 as a result of some extremely hard work by the committee, which at that time comprised Messrs J. W. Bowes, F Clarkson, G England, O Julian, C Lord, R Lowe, G Scorthorne, C Scutt, W Snowden, R Turner and by other members. The pavillion, whichh had been bought for £80 in 1951 and erected on the old ground was dismantled and re-erected on the site on which it now stands near the enterance to the field. A scorebox was purchased with the money donated by the surviving trustees of the Show and Sports Committee which had been wound up.

To celebrate the opening of the new ground the 1st XI won the Whitworth Cup and completed its league programme without a defeat, only to lose in the final play off against Baker and Bessemer. It was in 1954 that Sunday cricket began in Hatfield after much opposition in the villageand with threats from some members that they would withdraw their support.

In 1956 the 1st XI played for the first time in the Doncaster League Division One, with the 2nd XI in Division Two. Mr J W Bowes continued as 2nd XI umpire, a post which he had held for some years, as had Mr F Holmes who later became an official umpire for The Doncaster League. At this time umpires for league matches were only arranged for 1st Division matches.

The secretary, in his report at the Annual General Meeting in 1956 congratulated both teams on very good performances and thanked the Ladies for repaying the loans for the purchase of the ground by the end of 1955, which was sooner than even they had hoped. The club's financial position was exceptionally good, showing a balance of £196, in spite of the expense in successive years of a motor cutter costing £155 and a motor roller costing £130. As a rider to all this it was emphasised that a new pavillion would be required in the near future. We are still using the same shed today.
1957 saw the retirement from the game of Mr E B Park, remembered by those who know him, as a gentleman both on and off the field, sporting all his own cricket gear and having fixed ideas on fair play on the cricket field. In one match he refused to allow an opponent to be given out because the Hatfield bowler had not warned him about leaving his crease when backing up, before running him out.

It was in 1957 also that the club its most successful season to that date, when the 1st XI won section 'A' of the first division, being undefeated, but again losing the final play-off. The clubs affairs were once again in a flourishing state, but over the next five years or so the loss of Mr G Husband and Mr G England, the resignation of the chairman Mr E Crate, the retirement after 17 years as treasurer of Mr A Hunsley and the subsequent changes in the committee and officials upset the stability of the club.

Nevertheless, financial support was again forthcoming when required; this time for the purchase of a set of gang mowers. Loans from members, this time provided, free of interest, the £126 required but the repayment of these loans was the preoccupation of the committee until 1965, much longer than anticipated, with the consequent prohibitive effect on progress towards a new pavillion.

A further drain on the clubs finances was the purchase in 1962 of toilets and sight screens for £280, the money being the balance in the Ladies' Tea Account. After this it was decided to put the profits from teas into the clubs general account.
During this period the difficulties off the field were amply compensated for by the fact that the 1st XI, particularly in 1961 and 1962, was the strongest in the clubs history. Several players, notably Norman Curtis, Tony Leighton, Trevor Lawless and Malcolm Walker, who were obviously above the standard of local cricket, were persuaded to play for Hatfield Town. In 1961 the 1st XI finished second in its section and in 1962 won the First Division Championship, being undefeated throughout the season. In those days the winners of the four sections of the first division played off for a place in the final.

In 1961 the Yorkshire County Cricket Team played a Hatfield XI in a benefit match for Brian Close, which had been arranged by Mr R. Loader. The following year the Yorkshire team again visited Hatfield, this time for Fred Trueman's Benefit. Since then Test and County players have appeared in the six-a-side competitions and on occasions played for Hatfield as did John Hampshire in 1965 v Askern Spa.

In addition to this several of our players have enjoyed the experience of making up the Yorkshire Team in benefit matches up and down the country, as well as in Yorkshire, for Close, Trueman, Illingworth, Binks and Taylor.

Since the championship year, after which the same team was no longer available, the 1st XI has had varying fortune in Division one, being relegated to section East B for one year in 1966, but achieving 2nd place in section C in 1963 before the reorganization of the 1st division, and 2nd place in East B and East A in 1966 & 1967 respectively. It was perhaps slightly disappointing that the 1st XI just failed to qualify for the new Premier Section when the 1st Division was again reorganized in 1969, since this was an idea for which Mr F Holmes had campaigned for some time. However during 1970 the 2nd XI had its most successful season for some time, finishing 2nd in the recently reorganized 2nd Division and therefore being promoted for the present season.

In 2009 both 1st and 2nd XI teams moved to the Pontefract Cricket League for a higher standard, ending Hatfield Town's association with a league they helped to found in 1912. The first XI were placed in division 3 and the second XI in division 7, during the season which was fairly eventful both teams were promoted, the second XI as champions.

Hatfield Town Cricket Club

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