Category Archives: Cricket

A cricket powerhouse

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Worksop College has (pretty much) always been good at cricket, however over the last ten years or so things have moved onto the next level, with a large increase in England junior representation and most importantly the progression of those players to the senior ranks. The reason for this cricketing excellence probably stems from the excellent 1st XI square laid in the latter stages of Victorian age, which in turn led to excellent cricketers on the teaching staff in those early years and this has somehow percolated through the years.

I digress… 2015 has been especially good; here are some highlights:

  • Joe Root played an integral role in England winning the Ashes and was voted the best batsman in the world;
  • Samit Patel was recalled to the England squad for the forthcoming tour of UAE;
  • Patel, Brett Hutton and Billy Root were all in the Nottinghamshire XI whom p;played Hampshire in September;
  • Richard Kettleborough umpired the Cricket World Cup final;
  • Current Worksop pupil Tom Keast has been selected for the England under 19 team

Not a bad set of stats for a school with only 250 boys!

Winter 1964 at Worksop

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  • Three weeks after the start of term, the School Theatre is closed due to it being deemed a significant fire risk (considering health and safety didn’t exist in 1964, it must have been pretty bad!). The 1964 play (Jean Anouilh’s Becket) took place in the Henry Hartland Grammar School theatre instead
  • In October, Jeff Butterfield opens the newly-levelled 1st XV pitch and in December Phil Sharpe opens a new cricket score box
  • A College Christmas nativity entitled “A Christmas Incident” was performed in the Chapel before the end of term
  • R.W. Knott (Talbot 1960-1965) becomes the third Worksop boy in as many years to be selected to play for England Schoolboys against Scotland at rugby – the previous two were C. Diball (School House 1958-1963) and P.D. Gardner (Pelham 1958-1964)
  • The 1964 XV recorded wins against Worksop RFC, RAF College Cranwell, KES Birmingham, Mount St Mary’s College, St Peter’s York and Old Worksopians. They recorded reversals against Rossall, Jeff Butterfield’s XV, Wrekin College, Welbeck College, Denstone College, QEGS Wakefield and the on tour Hurstpierpoint College
  • J.M. McKean (Pelham 1945-1950) beat P.S. Southcott (Mountgarret 1943-1947) in the final of the annual OW Squash competition. N.B. McKean still plays the game and took part in OW squash just two years ago!
  • D.W. Hardy (Talbot 1939-1944) captained the England Minor Counties cricket XI in a match against Australia in summer 1964

Phil Sharpe

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On 20th May 2014 we heard the very sad news that one of our best known old boys, Phillip Sharpe (Shirley 1949-1955) had passed away.

Phil had a highly distinguished cricketing career with both England and Yorkshire and was voted as Wisden’s cricketer of the year in 1966, however he started his cricketing career here at Worksop in 1949. Amazingly, during his first year playing cricket at Worksop the then headmaster Canon Maloney confidently stated that “this boy Sharpe will never make a cricketer, he is far too small” – indeed in the under 14 colts team photograph of the same year we can see his point, Phil was shorter than his peers despite being boosted by a couple of extra steps!

Colts XI cricket 1949

Worksop College Colts cricket XI 1949 Booth, Kidby, Gill, P.J. Sharpe, Amison, Sampson, Rawlin
Somers, Bradwell, Long (capt), Wakefield, Cooke

Happily this prediction was entirely incorrect and by the time Phil was in the upper 6th in 1955 he was scoring runs at quite unbeliveable rates – even by today’s standards his run scoring was unheard of:

“In his fifth and final season in the Worksop College 1st XI, Phillip Sharpe scored 1251 runs at an average of 113.73. This included 240 not out against Wrekin and 216 against The Cryptics. he also scored five other centuries over the course of the school season including two in the same match, a two-day two innings match against the Old Worksopians”

Worksop College vs Wrekin College scorecard (via Cricket Archive)

Such was Phil Sharpe’s reputation at the time, in A.De M. Beanland’s book of the time (Worksop College 1895-1955) the sport section is introduced with the following:

“Vixere fortes  ante Agamemona – or or in more modern phraseology – there were cricketers here before Sharpe!” As Phil once told me, this statement was entirely correct in that there were indeed cricketers at Worksop before him…but none were as good!

Phil Sharpe was a fantastic cricketer, a great role model, a devoted Old Worksopian and one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. He will be sorely missed.

Phil’s obituary from The Telegraph Online can be found here.