HISTORY

ROTHLEY PARK CRICKET CLUB

Article taken from the Loughborough Echo 1980 by Phil Spencer.

Much of local cricket has its roots deep-seated in the past and there can be few presentday clubs with as long or as intriguing a history as ROTHLEY PARK, our subject for this week. Cricket in the village is sufficiently old to be suitably vague about its origins, but it is
known that a Rothley team existed in 1815 and that, in 1897, they became foundermembers of the North Leicestershire League. They therefore hold the record for unbroken membership of the league and have boasted a variety of long-serving men who have also
served the league – like Eric Brunt 41 years on the league committee, Alf Wykes and Jack Roberts (20 years each).

Cricket has been played in Rothley for 165 years. The original club was, I think, called Rothley House, and one of the first games was a victory over neighbouring Thurcaston on a pitch behind the Red Lion.

Records also indicate a friendly game against Loughborough at the same venue in 1872. By the turn of the century, however, they had moved to a new ground, in the shady confines of Rothley Temple.

With the change of headquarters came a change of title and no doubt because of their new-found association with the templars and their stirring deeds, a new shield was designed, whose four corners bear the initials of Rothley Park Cricket Club.

Leading figures of those times were Wykes, who was captain and a foundermember of the league; under-arm bowler ‘Leggy’ Nurse; and Joe Archer, a spin bowler and Rothley postmaster. Nurse was a fast underhand leg-break bowler who habitually put the ball up to his eye before each delivery – Wykes played for thirty years and was still a
respected pace bowler, if slightly less speedy, when he finished playing in his fifties.

One to rival him in terms of service was Thomas Brunt, Eric’s father, who played until he was 58 years of age. A fearsome speed merchant who’d taken all ten wickets while playing for Ashby Hastings in 1910, Brunt had trials with Hampshire while in the Army and played for Leicestershire Club and ground.

His bowling was the scourge of opposing batsmen and he once took six wickets in six balls until an incident in one match, in which he broke a batsman’s arm, changed his sporting life.

Brunt was so upset by the accident that he changed to bowling slow leg breaks after that, but his phenomenal capacity for taking wickets remained unimpaired, for he frequently ended the season with the largest number of wickets.

A respected and revered figure, who once took a double hat-trick, Brunt none the less never captained Rothley Park.

He was a hard disciplinarian, desperately keen to do well, and son Eric tells a story about Aronsohn Cup Final, at Woodhouse, in 1938 when his father and Woodhouse batsman Don Marshall – who at one time also served Rothley Park – were engaged in a private if friendly personal battle.

Marshall somewhat renowned as a big hitter, had commented beforehand that if he could hit Tommy Brunt for four or six off his first few deliveries, he’d be ‘set’ for a good score.

Eric remembers vividly fielding at cover-point and seeing Marshall smash one of his father’s first deliveries towards him. He also remembers dropping it and the pain from a damaged shoulder as he fell – and his father’s valuable and oft-expressed displeasure at
the spilled chance.

Fortunately, for young Eric, Rothley went on to victory and to lift the cut-glass Aronsohn Bowl for the first time.

In the 1920’s, Marshall and men like Alan Wilkes had been prominent figures on the Park, and in the early thirties, a pavilion, costing 48 pounds was erected, a symbol of the club’s progress since their formative days.

The Temple Estate helped out by fencing off the new structure and wicket to keep the cattle away from the prized new arrival.

Before Tommy brunt retired, he saw to it that his two sons Eric and Cecil continued the family tradition. Eric joined up in 1936 when Walter Lole was leading the side, a year that brought the club’s first trophy as Division 2 Champions.

Eric remembers Lole as a fine captain, whose son Dickie is still associated in a cricketing sense with Mountsorrel.

One of the few to maintain an interest in Rothley cricket after retiring from active participation is Herbert Vann a former captain who after 25 years as Chairman retains his links as Vice-President.

In the final year of ‘peace in our time’ before the declaration of hostilities, Rothley Park became Division 2 Champions, having been relegated to that section two years earlier.

The league stumbled on for two years more until 1941, with matches that were truncated because of air-raid warnings and much loved Park pitch was used as meadowland.

After the war, with their players all seven years older, the club had to start from scratch – yet as ever, the lamp of village cricket was not to be dimmed.

Brothers George and Harry Hyman formed the nucleus of a new XI and a nephew Alf Copson – 2nd team captain – lovingly tended the ground back to its former glory. Alf was to remain Park ‘groundsman’ for twenty years.

The League recommended on a regional basis and Rothley re-emerged slowly with the help of newcomers ken and pete Chester, all-rounders Steve and Derek Ball and Secretary Ron Hardy, who later emigrated to Canada.

The early 50’s were remarkable for the blossoming of several Rothley stalwarts, despite the ‘friendly’ nature of their fixtures. Apart from those mentioned, Hugh Mansfield now a life member was a well-known Rothley personality, as was scorer Jack Wells, whose connections with the club as secretary, player and umpire stretched back fifty years.

In 1956 and again twelve months later, Rothley took the now defunct Garner Cup and in 1959 came Rothley’s best-ever season, when they trailed Heather by just five points at the League’s summit in a season which, says Eric, was fascinating right to the final match.

With 44 years associated with Rothley cricket, Eric Brunt remains actively interested in the club and despite an illness that made him relinquish any official position with the club three years ago, he still goes regularly to watch.

He enjoys the game as much as ever, but, in common with many other village clubs, Rothley Park are now a team composed of players from outside the village itself, he says.

Whereas people looked forward to playing cricket in my day, they don’t now, comments Eric. There are so many counter-attractions. People only play when there’s nothing else to do.

He is very proud of an elegant barometer, presented by the club to mark his retirement.

Now in Division 3, Rothley Park look hopefully to the future with their beautifully situated ground, complete with new pavilion (bought second hand from Newtown Linford and previously used as a café) and a potentially fine side if a youth policy inaugurated by
First XI player Sam Rowe continues to bear fruit.

The scheme started five years ago, encouraged youngsters under 18 years of age to play for Rothley in a junior league and already five juniors have made sufficient progress to make their first team bow.

Wicketkeeper Jim Esworthy is a product of the scheme, as is Nigel Paddock (Loughborough Grammar School) and John Beaumont, who has played for the County Schools Under 14 side.

They are most proud of the fact that, for the very first time, they managed to defeat the formidable Cropston Juniors by eight wickets and to date, have won outright five of their seven matches.

The likes of Esworthy, Paddock etc, plus batsman Clive Bradbury, Martin and Nigel Williams and skipper Bob Preston give rise to Rothleys confidence that sometime in the near future, those ‘good old days’ of 1959 will be eclipsed by even better times in the 1980’s.