Sport & Hobbies
In the early 1870s, all roads led to Motherwell. The town needed skilled labour for the iron works, and amongst the newcomers were a bunch of blokes from Shropshire and North Wales who wanted to play cricket. This was the start of Motherwell Cricket Club, founded by proper steelmen.
The book spans 150 years of club cricket. There are tales of ladies promenading the cricket field as smoke belched out factory chimneys; stories of crowds in their thousands watching Motherwell take on local rivals, Newmains and Bellshill; and memories of cricketing legends who graced Motherwell’s delightful old Home Park ground, even a prime minister.
It recalls great games and great nights, the Cricket Dinners and Player of the Year Awards, and remarkable characters who devoted large parts of their lives to the club.
Motherwell is not a “big club” and hasn’t enjoyed too much success, and that’s the fascinating thing about its story - how it has survived against the odds when world wars, pavilion fires, and diminishing playing resources threatened to spoil the fun.
Happily, Motherwell Cricket Club is alive and well, still playing cricket in a footballing town.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
Fantastic book written by Fantastic people. Covering every aspect of a wonderful cricket club. Not only to play for but be a part of as a whole. Amazing stories, memories and performances. Very proud to have been a part of Motherwell cricket club and friend with some wonderful people.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book . It’s authors have captured the essence of amateur team sport . The triumphs ( few ) ; the disasters ( many ) ; the highs and lows ; but most of all the camaraderie ( always ) . Their research has obviously been first class . Congratulations to them for capturing the spirit of a wonderful club .
I'll admit to being biased, as an ex player who knows the authors I was always going to enjoy the book, that said though, this is a great read. From the origins of the club to the present day, extremes of club history that I know (knew) little about, but touching many points in between which brought superb memories rushing back. Reminders of the odd couple who were Bill Jardine, gnarled and wisened, and Tom Findlay, tall, elegant and unfailingly polite, and their friendship forged through a love of the game of cricket and (the real) MCC. Ronnie Morrison exhorting us to keep the ball “Up-up-up” as it circled back from wicket keeper to bowler, almost always followed by a few bars of Gilbert & Sullivan. Reminders of games played and friendships made, not to mention the beautiful setting that was Home Park. If you have a connection to the club, this is a must read, and if you haven't, you should read it anyway. Well written, well researched, well done.
A wonderful book compiled on the back of painstaking research and information gathering. Memory evoking and especially interesting with regard to how the club was formed all those years ago. The front cover of the book is amazing and somehow captures the journey perfectly. One black spot in the book is the lack of respect shown to the only cricketer in 150 years to gain international honours with Motherwell CC. For an unfashionable club like Motherwell to achieve this was quite extraordinary overcoming the cricket establishment and the private school system. One would have expected a small section called INTERNATIONAL HONOURS and a photograph of which there was neither. Something for the club to be really proud of but it was buried away in a section called YOUNG CUBS.
Congratulations Steve and Graham on a wonderful record of a continuing local institution which has become a hub of fellowship for a disparate group of people from Lanarkshire and beyond over a 150-year history. Tales of weekly, monthly and annual endeavours which keep alive a (periodically) unfashionable club in a hidden haven within deepest industrial Lanarkshire. This is a testament to years of dedication. Memories flood back of winter nets at Hamilton Crescent and Wishaw, Saturday morning struggles to replace two and three players poached to the 1st XI (including strike bowlers and opening bats) at the last minute, but, most of all, the priceless joy of time spent in great company from Dalgety Bay to Dumfries. An essential and valuable addition to Scottish sporting and local history.
