The New Millennium - Changing Times

In the year 2000 Mike Foster was engaged, a player who had seen good service with Yorkshire and Durham, but his performances were somewhat disappointing for a player of his undoubted calibre. The side itself was reasonably strong in NYSD terms, and the effect of this was seen in the following seasons with the engagement of Imran Jan of Trinidad as professional. In the 2001 season we finished 2nd in the league to a Guisborough side who were in the process of winning the second of five consecutive league titles, a feat which had never been achieved previously. Indeed Imran was engaged as Guisborough's pro for the 2004 season, the fifth of those successes.

In 2001 we pushed Guisborough hard for most of the season, but never seemed to be able to make up a small points gap to challenge. The Third Team won their first major honours in 2001, winning Division 4 of the NYSD League and backing that up with a league / cup double by taking the Ray Bell Cup. A strong second team had also taken the Robinson Cup the year before, so strength in depth was returning slowly.



Imran's performances on the field were good, sometimes spectacular, but his main contribution to the club was off the field of play.His appointment coincided with the setting up of a structured coaching system for youngsters, players went through coaching courses and regular structured training sessions were established, something which had never before been done at the club. We may only have had an under-13 team in addition to the previously established under 17s, but it was a start.

The kids took to this with great relish, and a new enthusiasm descended over the club. Imran was the main catalyst for this, proving to be superb with the youngsters. Coaching by professionals was something that was only done in a very haphazard manner before 2001, but Imran launched himself into it with gusto. The best legacy he left is that the number of coaches has increased and that the coaching system has developed to what we have today. This is not to ignore the sterling efforts (not least in time devoted) of the other coaches, but I feel Imran was the most conspicuous driving force.

So we reach 2004, the 75th Anniversary year of Blackhall Cricket Club, and one which was to prove memorable, not always for the right reasons. Fahim Fazal was engaged as pro, a player who had taken many wickets for Marske in the previous seasons, and a big hitting batsman.

To celebrate the Anniversary, Durham CCC agreed to come and play a 20/20 game against us as a warm up for the main 20/20 tournament which had proved an enormous success when introduced to the county circuit the previous year. As with the Des Haynes benefit in 1981, this was to prove a huge success, though the one striking difference was the weather. It was a miserable day, and only superhuman efforts by the volunteers from the club on the day got the game on. Early June rain threatened the whole affair, industrial heaters were hired to blow hot air under the covers, and the rain thankfully relented around 2.30. To their credit, Durham said they were turning up no matter what, and more mopping provided a square which was playable. The pitch itself was perfect.

The game itself took place on a dull and cold (but dry) evening, and was a high scoring affair, in the tradition of 20/20 cricket. Durham posted 184 in their 20 overs, which included a 6 run penalty for Blackhall not completing their overs in the allotted 75 minutes, as the game was played to full 20/20 rules, free hits included. The Blackhall Select XI, decked out in their blue & yellow coloured clothing, replied with 175 after a late flurry saw them almost reach their target.

Despite the weather understandably putting many people off travelling to the game, around 4-500 people attended and witnessed a memorable occasion, and it was a game I was personally privileged to umpire.



This was the undoubted high point of the season, however, as the first team finished rock bottom of the NYSD Premier Division and were relegated, thus ending 71 years of continuous membership of the top flight of the NYSD League.

Unlike previous years when re-election was the requirement, this is no longer the huge disaster it could have been had it happened at that cliffhanger league AGM in 1980. There is a specified route back into the top flight, by winning Division 1. In 2005 the team finished 3rd, losing ground after some unexpectedly bad results, and at the time of writing they are top in May 2006, and should be in the promotion shake-up at the end of the season.

So what of the future? Well in the words of Christopher Lloyd in Back To the Future, "Your future isn't written yet, no-one's is". The club has a full complement of youth teams, the players from the 2001 youth set up are now starting to progress into the 1st team, and hopefully that conveyor belt of players will continue into the foreseeable future. We should not have the playing gap that the club experienced in past years. In time the club will find its rightful level, either in the Premier Division or in Division 1, whichever that may be.

The coaching set-up is in place, hopefully some other players will join that system to ensure it runs on into the future, awards recognising quality of coaching have been received from the ECB, and the kids continue to show great enthusiasm for the game. If we can't capitalise when England have just won the Ashes, when can we?

Grants are slowly being put into place to provide good changing facilities after years of coping with cramped portakabins, and on the whole my belief is that Blackhall will remain an enjoyable place to play cricket. In my time at the club I can think of very few players who have not enjoyed themselves whilst at the club. After all, enjoyment is the primary aim for an amateur sportsman in any discipline. Success helps enhance enjoyment, of course.

Whilst the last 20 years or so of this history are purely based on personal recollection, I have tried to keep it as factual as I can, and not stray too much into the realms of sentimentality. If I have done so, I apologise, but would proffer the explanation that I too have found the experience of being around Blackhall Cricket Club over the last 30 years or so an immensely enjoyable one.

In addition, there are countless players, officials, scorers, coaches, tea ladies, supporters and club sponsors who have not been individually mentioned, as time / space does not permit (and people who didn't get mentioned would get the hump!). Suffice it to say that without the efforts of those people the club would not exist today.

This is a skeleton history of the club. The nature of our record keeping system over the years means that many minutes / score books are "whereabouts unknown" (especially the score books), so a comprehensive club history would be impossible to compile, unless someone fancies devoting their life to trawling through back issues of the Northern Echo and Hartlepool Mail?

I just hope it has evoked a few memories of sitting in the sun with a beer.