Bingley CC marks 100 years in the Bradford League

More than 250 guests, including England and Yorkshire cricketers past and present, will mark the milestone at the former Bingley Cricket Club in Wagon Lane next month.

The club, which merged in the 1988 season with Bradford to become Bradford and Bingley, has organised a celebration dinner and a photographic exhibition charting its century since joining the league in 1910.

Secretary Tom Bairstow said: “We are one of the few clubs to celebrate a century in the league and there will be a lot of reminiscing and nostalgia.”

Former Ashes-winning England test bowler Matthew Hoggard is expected to attend the event on Saturday, Septem-ber 11. Bradford-born Adil Rashid, who took ten wickets for Bradford and Bingley’s second teams in one of his first competitive matches, has also been invited.

Captains from the late 1950s to the present day will also join the celebration. Former Yorkshire fast bowler Mike Cowan will be the guest speaker.

Mr Bairstow, 74, who has been a club member since birth, has gathered memorabilia and press cuttings for the exhibition, including reports and pictures of Bradford and Bingley’s history-making “double double” in 1969. It was the first and only time any club in the league won the first and second team leagues and cups in the same year.

Mr Bairstow, of Eldwick, said: “I think the celebrations went on for two or three days.”

The feat also spawned a 23-verse poem, written by former club secretary Lister Barraclough, discovered by his son Philip while clearing out his house. It will be included in the exhibition.

Mr Bairstow thanked those who had been involved with Bradford and Bingley for many years.

He said: “We have a lot to thank the present committee for and I think we have been very lucky over the years with the way the club has been run, with an emphasis on the cricket, rather than the drinking.

“There has been a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment over many years by a lot of people at the club.”