When it comes to individuals who have had a huge role to play at Mirfield Cricket Club, there are few people in the club’s history who can claim to have had as much involvement as Pat Neal.

Pat has taken up numerous roles at the club during his time, including being a member of the committee, club secretary, youth team manager, Mirfield’s first ever club historian and, of course, a formidable player. He has also written two books on the club’s history, one of which was produced in association with the Cricket Heritage Project at the University of Huddersfield. He wrote 50 Not Out which focuses on the year of its re-formation in 1952. His second book George Herbert Hirst – Mirfield Cricket Club 1891, looks at how this legendary and inspirational cricketer spent a season at Mirfield in the early stages of his unprecedented career. Pat admits that he ‘got bored one lunchtime’ and began trying to find whether stories that Hirst had spent the 1891 season at Mirfield were in fact true. That lunchtime’s research eventually led to the production of his second book.

Following a conversation with club president Clive Brook, Pat became Mirfield CC’s first historian in 2002. Pat admits to having always had a certain fascination with figures and, after exploring the history of an old photograph at the time of Mirfield’s 50th anniversary, he began to take an active role in researching the club’s history. Pat has done a tremendous job in doing so, and has managed to accumulate statistics for the majority of seasons post- 1952. Since 2002 he has kept detailed first and second team playing records for Mirfield.

Pat has not only been influential behind the scenes at Mirfield. He has also proved to be a prominent first- and second-team cricketer for the club. Over the course of his ongoing playing career, Pat has appeared in eleven cup finals (Heavy Woollen Cup, Jack Hampshire Trophy and the Wheatley Cup). One of Pat’s finest achievements came in the 1990 season when he helped the club to the Heavy Woollen Cup and Central Yorkshire League Championship ‘Double’.
The victories were made even sweeter considering that in the previous season Mirfield had been runners-up to Batley in both the league and the cup. Pat did not bat in the cup final but made a vital catch on the boundary during the game.

Pat believes his greatest personal achievement came in the 1989 Jack Hampshire Trophy semi-final tie away at Ossett. Pat recalls: ‘I was part of a good side that included the likes of Andy Bolt, Russell Heritage and Iqbal Khan…There didn’t seem like there was much chance for me to bat.’ Pat did get his chance, however, batting at number eight with Mirfield 97-8 chasing 180. Pat took part in a stand with Simon Gelder, the pair notching 84 between them and winning the game for Mirfield. Unfortunately, the team were unable to recapture their form in the final, narrowly losing out to Batley.

This loss is one of three final defeats which Pat has experienced during his career. However, his positive moments for Mirfield far outweigh the negatives. Another memorable moment in his career came in 1991 when he helped spur Mirfield 2nd XI to victory in the Wheatley Cup. They later won it again in 1997. During his time playing cricket for Mirfield, Pat has scored 12,426 runs, including 1,000 runs in a season twice for the Mirfield second team. He has also scored 13 career centuries, two of which came for the first team. In his 21 years at Mirfield, Pat has scored 84 half-centuries, including 21 for the first eleven.

Pat first got into cricket through his father. He often went to watch his Dad play in games and remembers being responsible for keeping match scores; something that helped develop his interest in sporting statistics. Born in Wakefield in 1961, Pat soon moved with his family to Herefordshire where his Dad went on to play for Ledbury CC. Pat occasionally made appearances for the club; when he was 12 they were a player short, and he eventually went on to play for them regularly for a few seasons. He even got to form a batting partnership with his father for a number of games! Pat did not play a lot of cricket at school, opting instead to take part in athletics where he represented his county in the 200 metres. He did, however, represent Herefordshire twice at under-15 level in cricket - against Worcestershire and Avon. And he still has the tie to prove this fact!

Pat went on to play for Herefordshire-based club Colwall in his late teens. At this time, he saw a lot of the Worcestershire county side. He idolised players such as Basil D’Oliveria and Glenn Turner, but he always supported his home county Yorkshire. His biggest hero was the great Geoffrey Boycott. As a teenager he saw the opening batsman notch his hundredth first-class century.

He also began playing for his college side at St. Johns York in 1983 where he was captain in his third year and scored his first century. Pat graduated from St. Johns with a degree in History and American Studies, and has worked in a number of different occupations which have included working for a building society, a firm of solicitors, a funeral division as a regional administrator, and finally Stockport Crematorium, where he currently works as assistant registrar. In this job he is able to use his research skills further as he helps relatives who are investigating their family history. Pat married wife Gill on 7 April 1990. They have an 11-year-old son who currently keeps score for Mirfield CC on matchdays and plays for the junior section.

Pat first joined Mirfield in 1986 after his wife (then his girlfriend) got a teaching post at a nearby school. He made his debut against Hunslet Nelson on 10 May, but did not get to bat as Mirfield bowled out the opposition for just 51. The next game against Batley saw him open the batting with Andy Bolt, and he recorded a score of 20 not out before the game was rained off. He joined the club committee in 1989 and was under-15s cricket manager for two years from 1990. In 1996 he became club secretary, a role he still operates in today. The role includes producing the annual report at the AGM and registering new players, but Pat jokingly admits: ‘It looks good on the CV to put that you are secretary of the MCC!’

Pat has taken a more prominent playing role in the first team since the club’s departure from the Bradford League. And he’s been very successful. At the 2006 awards night he not only topped the club’s batting averages but also won an award for most man-of-the-match gongs, as well as picking up the players’ player of the year award, which he admits meant a lot to him. He believes that the greatest player he has ever played alongside is Iqbal Khan, who he describes as a ‘brilliant batsman, a brilliant fielder and a great spin-bowler.’ During his 21 years at the club, Pat has never considered leaving. He admits that even when he received an offer from another club, he was never tempted to play away from Mirfield CC. ‘It has become a part of my life…in 21 years I’ve not thought of playing anywhere else.’

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Profile of Trevor Kellett
By James Norbury

Following Mirfield's withdrawal from the Bradford League at the end of the 2004 season - due to the loss of a number of first-team players - the club joined the Huddersfield Central League for the beginning of the 2005 season.

In order to build a first eleven capable of performing at that level, Mirfield CC made the decision to join forces with Harry Lime Cricket Club - formally of the Dewsbury League and Central League - and it has proven to be highly successful and beneficial for both clubs.

One long-standing HLCC member who joined Mirfield CC was Trevor Kellett. Trevor joined Harry Lime Cricket Club in 1976 not long after the club had been formed. He will go down in Limers history as the first player to score a century for the club. This is a statistic he still considers to be his proudest moment in cricket, even to this day.

One of the main things Trevor will be remembered for during his time at Harry Lime is his close friendship with fellow cricketer Kevin Bell, a friendship they both still continue with to this day at Mirfield Cricket Club. In fact, it was Kevin who first introduced Trevor to Harry Lime in the first place. The pair first met while working for the company Rigbys. When it came to new players for Harry Lime, they had to be 'recommended' - they could not just join up. Trevor later made his debut for Harry Lime playing for the second eleven.

His first game was against Batley Muslims up at Castle Hall School. The Limers bowled out the opposition for just 87. Harry Lime won the game with Trevor and Kevin maintaining a batting partnership that saw the pair notch up the winning runs. Looking back on Trevor's debut match, Kevin remembers: "As we walked onto the pitch we said to each other 'we're going to see this game through'". "And we left with smiles on our faces," adds Trevor.

Kevin was Trevor's batting partner when he picked up the Limers' first century. The match was played against Denby Grange. Trevor looks back on the feat with great fondness as the century is the only one he has scored during his career thus far. Reflecting on the moment, Trevor remembers: "I was batting alongside Kevin but he nearly ran me out on 99!", to which Kevin adds: "I was even more nervous then he was!" The achievement was even more spectacular as Trevor had picked up consecutive ducks in his previous two matches. As he worked his way through the innings towards the century, Trevor recalls: "I just kept reminding myself to take things in my stride and that it was only just another game of cricket."

Other memorable moments in his career include the time his side narrowly lost out in the final of the Super Cup, as well as the match which saw Calder Grove seconds bowled out for just 4 runs when Trevor was playing for the Harry Lime second eleven. Trevor says he enjoyed cricket during his youth, although he did not play it particularly often at a competitive level. He played for the house teams at his school but never for the actual school team itself. Speaking on the cricket options available to him at the time, Trevor states: "If I had had the opportunities that kids have open to them nowadays, I would have started playing at a much younger age."

Trevor was influenced in his love for cricket by his father who also enjoyed the game but, like many children of his generation who shared an interest in cricket, his idol was the legendary Geoffrey Boycott.

Incidentally, Trevor's first experience of competitive cricket, after leaving school came when he was 21 in 1976 - the same year that he joined up with Harry Lime. This opportunity came through his job at Rigbys, and he played for the company's cricket team in the local works league which went under the title of the Spen Valley and District Workshop Cricket League. He would eventually go on to become the team's treasurer. After joining Harry Lime, Trevor would play for Rigbys on a Monday having played for the Limers on the previous Saturday. The two leagues were comparable in quality, with both containing cricketers who had previously played at a higher level.

A successful season saw Harry Lime win Section 'E' of the Dewsbury League in 1983. They also managed to reach the semi-final of the Sheard Cup, a game they eventually lost to Etherton. It was during the early 1980s that Trevor first began to consistently turn out for the Harry Lime first team. This saw him hit a personal 'purple patch' that resulted in the century as well as becoming leading scorer at the club in that same season.

The club eventually made a move from the Dewsbury League to the Huddersfield Central League. This was largely due to slipping standards in the Dewsbury League. The second team folded in 2002 before the Limers finally merged with Mirfield CC at the end of the 2004 season. Looking back on the move, Trevor believes that it was a move that should have happened years earlier. "We now play at a higher level but there are still some of us who just want to have fun."

Trevor describes himself as a bad loser with a winner's mentality: "I have a reputation for being demonstrative, a bit intense and excitable. I think I amuse people because of this." As well as working at Rigbys, Trevor has also been a life insurance salesman, and he now drives a van for a home delivery network. He has one child and is married to Glenys who he wed in 1986, with Kevin Bell his best man.

Trevor looks back on his time as a Limer with great fondness and remembers that in some ways the cricket club had a uniqueness that was different to others. "Harry Lime was always a social club that enjoyed playing cricket not the other way round."

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Profile of Paul Newton
By James Norbury

Cricket has been in Paul Newton’s blood for as long as he can remember. Incredibly, his first taste of competitive cricket came when he was just eight years old during an under-16s league game. Since then Paul has gone on to play for a number of different clubs both in his homeland of Australia and here in England.

One of the proudest moments during his time in the game so far came quite unexpectedly. While looking at the Victorian Premier Cricket website he discovered that he had been nominated for ‘best innings seen’ by Ringwood CC’s secretary Paul Jones. The innings in question came while playing for Ringwood during the 1982-3 season. Paul scored 106 not out against local side Footscray, prompting the local paper to lead with the story: ‘Superb batting by Newton – Ringwood Cricket Club’s past players were treated to a superb batting display as Paul Newton hammered a magnificent century at the weekend.’ The achievement was even more memorable for Paul as the Footscray side that he played against contained a number of extremely talented players including Merv Hughes, as well as a young Tony Dodemaide who went on to enjoy success with both Australia and Sussex.

Paul has had a number of other personal achievements during his cricketing career. On 17 April 1998 he received the 1997 Mirfield Sports Council Sporting Achievement Award. That season had seen him score 1,234 runs at an incredible average of 137.11, and this total figure included five centuries.

In the 1980-1 season he formed a successful batting partnership with Daryl Stranger that saw them notch up 176 runs between them against St. Kilda CC. That stand remains the highest seventh-wicket partnership in the history of Ringwood CC. This is a record that Paul is immensely proud of, and he admits to “checking back every now and again to make sure it’s still there”.  

Paul’s first role in cricket came when he was eight years old - as scorer for the Bedford Under-16s, a team one of his older brothers played for. His first competitive game came when he was asked to join the team when they were a man short. Looking back to his debut, Paul remembers with amusement that he was so nervous that when he came in to bat he took guard the opposite way round! He carried on making appearances for the side whenever necessary, and in his last game before the junior section folded he made it into the local newspaper. He shared a partnership of 50 runs with his older brother Peter, scoring 6 himself.

Following the collapse of the junior section, Paul joined up with the Ringwood CC youth team in 1969 and he would go on to tour New Zealand after being selected to play for the Victorian Schoolboys side. During his younger days he admits to being inspired by his idols Dennis Lillee and Ian Chappell, and often went to see them play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. At Ringwood Paul slowly began to work his way up the youth ranks until he eventually became a regular in the senior first eleven. During his time at Ringwood – up till when he left in 1985 - Paul played 65 matches for the first team, scoring 2,000 runs and averaging 32 runs per game. He also notched up two centuries for the club.

Prior to joining Ringwood, Paul had his first taste of success in cricket playing for Eastwood Primary School. The team was coached by Paul’s sports teacher Mr Foulkes, who was determined to lead a side to the Melbourne Metropolitan School Championship. The competition was entered by a few hundred teams from the region, but in the season of 1972 it was an Eastwood side containing Paul that captured the trophy.

The biggest influences on his career, especially during his earlier years, were his father Ken and his three older brothers: Ken, Robert and Peter. Paul got much of his love and enthusiasm for cricket from them, and he remembers how his father drove him and his three brothers to all their cricket matches.       

After six straight seasons spent in the Ringwood first eleven, Paul began to turn out more regularly for the seconds. He spent one season playing for the Ringwood second team before making the decision to find another club where he would have more first-team opportunities. He played one season for Croydon in the Sub-District Cricket League. The following season he decided to play at a higher level again, moving to Fitzroy-Doncaster of the Victorian Premier League. Following the end of the cricket season in Australia, Paul came over to England in 1988 with his friend Geoff Hughes to play on a winter tour. The tour proved to be extremely significant in Paul’s life as it was during this trip that he met his future wife Jan. Had it not been for this trip, Paul would never have gone on to play for Harry Lime or Mirfield.

In 1988 Paul joined up with Leeds League outfit Nostell. During his time at Nostell he played alongside fellow Aussie Dean Jones, who had recently played in the Australian side that won the 1987 World Cup. In Paul’s season at the club Nostell lifted the league title. For Paul it was an honour to play alongside someone who had that amount of skill, and he believes that Jones is the best player he has played with or against during his entire career.

On finishing the season with Nostell, Paul decided to take a sabbatical away from his beloved sport to focus on his work and home life. He returned to cricket in time for the 1994 season. His wife worked at Mirfield Free Grammar School alongside ‘Harry Limer’ Charlie Woodcock…and Woodcock suggested that Paul play for Harry Lime. The rest is history.

The first thing that struck Paul about Harry Lime was their attitude. “Harry Lime were a social team…It wasn’t just about the cricket.” Paul went on to become a prominent member of the Harry Lime first eleven, and played for eight years before their merger with Mirfield, in the process scoring 4,500 runs at an average of 52. While playing for the ‘Limers’, Paul made the highest score of his career: 176 not out. His former teammate Martin Hatfield said of Paul: “I remember that when he first started playing for us a couple of teams complained because they thought we were paying him to play for us!”

The man from Victoria took another cricketing sabbatical between 2002 and 2004, so as to spend more time with his two daughters, Sophie and Sarah, who are now 12 and 7 respectively. During this break, Paul played friendly cricket occasionally in Lancashire for Rossendale CC. On his return, Paul joined the rest of his Harry Lime teammates at Mirfield CC. In his first season back he helped the side to promotion and the league title.

VPaul was born in 1960 in a town called Moe, roughly 100 miles from Melbourne. His father later moved job and the children were brought up in the Melbourne suburb of East Ringwood. Before moving to England, Paul worked for the Department of Social Security in Australia as a hardware controller. In England he worked for Kirklees Council before switching to his current job in Human Resources at the University of Huddersfield. Paul is currently an active member of Mirfield Harry Lime CC and hopes to help the side in its bid for future success.

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