I saw Mike Cowan open the bowling for Yorkshire at Bradford with FST. I also saw him at Harrogate. His disappearance from the Yorkshire line-up was a disappointment as replacements were needed for openers like "Alec" Coxon. I think you will find, Bill, that the Aussies toured in 1953 and lost the Ashes at the Oval to an England team captained by Len Hutton. Incidentally the best six I ever saw for sheer power was one straight drive hit by DB Close at Park Avenue from the football end to the pavilion. It passed the umpire at the bowler's end at head height and kept at that until it crashed into the white-painted pavilion wall. A foot or two higher and there would have been at least one vacancy for membership.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 52-60

Thanks for that Terry-I suppose I could have looked it up--after 54 years the memory is not bad but slightly imperfect. Cheers.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 47-51

Current location (optional) Auckland NZ

Terry, regarding powerful hitting. The story goes and it is a story I repeat, for I was not there, that during Learie Constantine's first tour of this country with the West Indies' team he hit a six that reached the boundary fence one foot up. It was still rising!! when it hit and shattered the fence paling.
Probably apocryphal but personally I believe it.
Arthur

Mmmm, I take it that physics was not one of your better subjects at KBGS Arthur.

Sir Leary Constantine played at Lawkholme in a benefit match for Eddie Paynter,probably very early '50's.I think he was a High Commissioner in those days. It was a Keighley invitation X1 v West Indies and Lionel Skirrow,the Keighley capt.won the toss and sent them in.The W.I. were something like 4 -20 something with two of the three W's gone and the third,I can't remember which one,put up a dolly to Skirrow at mid off,which he promptly put down.Cheers all round.A most enjoyable day for us youngsters. Cheers.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 47-51

Current location (optional) Auckland NZ

Trevor I an not sure what law of physics is transgressed by the story but nevertheless it is a story I read and which I repeat. He was a remarkable cricketer and man and as I say I believe it.Arthur

I'm just being a bit pedantic.
When the ball leaves the bat, particularly in yours and Terry's examples where the ball appears to be initially travelling parallel to the ground, there is only one force acting on it - gravity (and maybe some wind resistance), and the ball will immediately begin falling to the earth in a curve - it can not possibly begin to rise. It will only rise if it is hit upwards in the first place but the same rule applies, gravity will slow it down before it begins its inexorable path down to earth.

I'm just being a tad pedantic.
Once the ball leaves the bat parallel to the ground, as it appears to do in both examples, there is only one force acting on it - gravity - and the ball will immediately start to fall in a curve to the ground - it can not possibly begin to rise.
The ball will only rise if it is hit upwards in the first place but the same laws apply and gravity will slow it down until it begins its inexorable fall to earth.

Ooops - kept rewriting the message as I thought it wasn't being posted - not trying to force the message down your colective throats!!

Not wishing to be pedantic, Trevor, just a smidgen contentious, shouldn't that read "collective throat"?
I have always maintained that the teaching of the sciences in grammar schools deflected pupils from the study of grammar.
May I respectfully suggest that any subsequent hate mail or disputatious tracts arising out of that belief be posted under another subject and maintain this author's posture of "tongue in cheek".

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 52-60

Trevor, you would be right but only if when the ball was hit its path was parallel to the ground, however, from your explanation of the effects of gravity the ball can never be hit to travel parallel to the ground. Gravity is ever-present and its effect upon the flight of the hit ball, that had no upward component and only a forward component, would be immediate in which case the track of the ball would be instantly downwards, however imperceptible that downward track may appear to the naked eye.
However, if both upward and forward components were present in the initial force then gravity would act upon that upward component until that became zero, its upward path being slowed during the process, and then the ball would be accelerated by gravity in a downward direction and this together with the remaining forward force, diminished only by air resistance, would bring the ball to earth eventually.
In either case, upon hitting the ground gravity would continue to act, through friction, diminishing the forward component of the force and the ball will slowly roll to rest, this assumes that there is no wall, tavern, car, fielder, spectator or fence to halt the path of the ball as was the case with the hit in question.
When the ball in case, the Constantine six-hit, hit the fence it was attested to be 'still rising' and since
as demonstrated above it can never have been travelling parallel to the ground we must assume that the ball had been hit upwards and forwards.
We would like to assume the ground be absolutely level, which it is not at Lord's, and if the ground was falling away where the ball impacted with the fence then the ball would appear to be ‘still rising’ when it was, in fact, not. This apparent ‘still rising’ effect may have been thought to be factual when it was, in reality, illusion. If the ground was rising, however or indeed if it were absolutely level then we enter a different frame of reference.
If a body hurled into trajectory, by whatever means, and under the influence of only the initial force and gravity, where the initial force is applied in an upward and forward direction, as it seems was the case with this shot, then, allowing for some air resistance, that body will trace an asymmetric parabolic path.
In the case of the said Constantine ‘six-hit’ the initial force would have been predominantly forward and only slightly upwards, combined with the downward pull of gravity the resultant vector path would be an asymmetric parabola. A study of this particular parabola would have shown that the early path of the ball would be perceptibly upward until such time as gravity nullified the upward component of the initial force and, if we are to trust the eyesight and veracity of the original storyteller, we must assume that this turning point, and the assumption of the body of a downward and forward vector path, would have occurred later in the ball’s flight if its flight had not been interrupted by the said fence.
None of this is intended to be pedantic, of course, and neither will I swear to the truth of the story since I was not there, but it does show that it is physically possible, unlike the fence no physical laws appear to have been broken in the achievement of the hit and hence it remains believable by the gullible.
I must go now for I am expecting a huge pink rabbit at the door with a chocolate egg-just for me.

So - the ball was hit upwards, if ever so slightly, and it hit the fence before reaching the peak of its travel - your extended description simply repeats what I said. Over the assumed distance (I have no knowledge whatsoever of cricket pitch dimensions but I'd say 40 or 50 metres?) and the height of the fence I think the key word here is gullible.
Incidentally, you discounted any wind resistance so why is the curve asymmetric?

Terry, thanks for picking up on my grammar, or lack thereof, but even hiding under the cover of tongue in cheek I feel hate mail is a bit strong.

As for rabbits, poink or otherwise, a woman opened her 'fridge and there was a rabbit inside. She asked the rabbit what it was doing and it asked - 'this is a Westinghouse isn't it'? She answered 'yes, so what' and the rabbit said' well, I'm westing'.

Cheers all, have a wonderful chocful Easter. Oh dear is it chocful or chocfull?

Hi Trevor. I can't find where I discounted air resistance but if I did I meant not to.
My extended description is a bit of fun really but I love stories like this.
The same writer described how LC while bowling noticed that the batsman was dead batting his bowling. Imagine the batsman's surprise when he played dead bat and found LC laying in front of him catching the ball as it dropped lazily to the ground.
Or Duleepsinji 'doiting' in the field at backward square leg one hot afternoon suddenly saw out of the side of his eye a flicker. Thinking it was the ball he went for the catch - and caught a swallow in flight.
BTW that dratted rabbit failed to show up with my egg. Never mind- maybe next year.

Sorry, Trevor. I was only trying,with rare disingenuity, to provoke the old arguments about Arts v Sciences. Alas, cover blown and no takers!

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 52-60

Thanks Guys,
I was hoping I hadn't set off something too serious there! I thoroughly enjoy this site and the Forum and have no intention of deliberately upsetting anyone, but it is fun to try and remember all that science stuff after all these years. A bit of a debate now and then is stimulating.
Pleased to say the Easter Bunny did visit me this morning with some very nice, quality chocolates.

Cheers

During a visit to Keighley I went for an evening walk.I noticed a hut in the distance.On closer inspection I came across a field bounderied by stone walls, an even smaller hut in one corner which I imagine was the score-box..I unlatched a gate and wandered out to the middle of the field : two strips were cut.The boundaries were short.Two segments of opposite stone wall were white washed.The boundaries were very short.When out " in the middle" I couldn't help but childishly miming a flick to leg for six.Nostalgic reverie. I thought I had stumbled upon the cricket field I referred to earlier, but that was Morton, I believe.On one wall of the changing room it said " Balls aponsored by Willis Walker".The setting was idyllic.Can anyone guess which local cricket pitch this was?It was a name I had not encountered since school days.But an idyllic setting, and discovered by chance while walking over open country.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-66

Don't know which field that was - but nice to see you back posting after such a long absence! Where you bin?

Good grief Al. It's more than forty years ago. Haworth Baps is my best shot but I guess it's way off the mark.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-65

Current location (optional) leeds

Not far off the mark. I recommend anyone to seek out this little paradise if in the area. It's a gem.I also went up to The Tarn. That brought back a few memories.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-66

Wouldn't be Cullingworth, would it?
A

................ or Crossroads?

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1945 - 50

Current location (optional) Norfolk

hi Dennis-it won't be Cross Roads-the Pavilion is long gone and you can JUST make out CRCC faintly on the wall at the top of the field.at least you could a couple of years ago. Cheers.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 47-51

Current location (optional) Auckland NZ

Thanks for that information Bill. It must be over fifty years since I last visited Crossroads Cricket field. I should have checked it out on Google Earth before I responded. There's no sign of it ever having been there!

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1945 - 50

Current location (optional) Norfolk

I believe Shaun was indeed correct : confusion over the name.From its own website, would you believe :
"The Club was formed in 1900 from the Young Men's Class at the Sunday School as the Haworth West Lane Baptist Cricket Club. Amongst those who played a prominent part in its formation was Mrs Angus Crowther (ex-Deputy Lady Mayoress of Bradford), who, at the time, was a teacher in the Sunday School.

The first season, the Club played in a field behind Hoyle Farm. In 1901 and 1902 they played at Long Bridge before joining with Mytholmes Mission and playing on the Springfield ground alternate Saturdays.

In 1906, through the kindness and generosity of Mr Kershaw Barrett, the Club moved to the field at West End which has been the Club's home ever since.

For many years the Club played in the Keighley & District League, winning the Championship in in 1913. The 1914 - 1918 War came and took its toll of the leading players, and it was a tremendous task getting two teams together again. Some really willing workers raised, by voluntary subscription, £170 to build a pavilion, which was opened in 1921 and can be seen in the photographs at our Gallery page. In 1923 the Club made an application to enter the West Bradford League and was successful.

The Club continued to grow steadily over the years and in 1969 it changed its name. Because of the ever increasing costs in running a club fund raising was of primary importance. One of the most favored and most successful methods of raising funds was the Christmas Raffle, however the Baptist Church opposed this as a form of gambling and it was this that forced the Club to relinquish its connections with the Church, and later that year the Club was renamed Haworth West End Cricket Club.

In 1970 and in much need of repair, the old pavilion was pulled down and a new wooden pavilion with veranda put in its place. The Club had many successes during the 1970's, not least a young lad by the name of Peter Hartley. This youngster was so good in the juniors that he was soon showing the senior players how to Bowl. The rest is history. Peter was lucky enough to have been spotted by talent scouts and was soon on his way to play Professional Cricket with Yorkshire where he proved to be one of their most successful bowlers in recent years before heading off to Hampshire where he retired from the game at the end of the 2000 season.

In 1979 Haworth West End came out of the West Bradford League after 56 happy years and entered the Craven & District Cricket "

On the pavilllion it definitely said "Hawoth West End C.C."I think evven I could have missiled the ball over the wicket into the keeper's gloves from those short boundaries.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-66

With reference to Cross Roads C C
My father was a committee member for many years and my brother Malcolm played along with all my cousins
When they put new drains in they unearthed lots of ceramic knurr and spell balls ,the game was played there in the early 1900s
Bill Walsh played there along with his relatives
Sadly the field is once again rough pasture and no traces of the pitch can be seen
Here in Cumbria village cricket is still alive and well is this so in Yorkshire ?

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 59-66

Current location (optional) Gilsland -Cumbria

I certainly played for Knowle Park Congs at both Haworth Baps (high up on the moor) and Cross Roads. memories of Cross Roads include the awful stink that , depending on the wind direction, emanated from Robertshaws tallow rendereds nearby.
At Wilsden's ground you also invariably got the farm manure smell.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-64

Current location (optional) Wirral

After stumbling across (literally) Haworth West End's ground I ventured to the Lake District, a wonderful place to revisit for me. It even rained. Anyway, I came across a village cricket ground at the end of Kirkstone pass, just before Ullswater.The hills provide a breathtaking backdrop. Being put at long on and told to move to deep third man ( or even back-stop!)at the end of every over would be worth it just to play there.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-66

A couple of years ago I discovered a cricket ground at an old gold mining village, Walhalla in Victoria, Australia. level ground is at an absolute premium in this area, the local grave yard is so steep that people are almost buried vertically. Such is the draw of cricket that the top of a hill was sliced off to form the cricket ground. Take a look at it http://www.walhalla.org.au/p4.htm

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-61

Current location (optional) Blue Mountains via Haworth

Brian you are too polite------------- It is known locally as Robertshaw's Fat Shop !!
David-I remember your dad Willie and uncle Norman very well. They were indeed tireless workers for CRCC in the late 40's through the 50's.I have regular contact with your cousin Geoff. who married my cousin and now live in Christchurch NZ. .Cheers.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 47-51

Current location (optional) Auckland NZ