Jim Greenhalf reports on the archive films being shown this weekend which cover many aspects of cricket in the years spanning the 1930s to the 1970s

Caught on film over the years and now safely in the vaults at the Yorkshire Film Archive are many cricketing films – childhood memories of matches on the beach, the excitement of a county match at Headingley or Scarborough and the carnival of an international game.

These films spanning the 1930s to the 1970s have been brought together for a 90-minute film show hosted by the Yorkshire County Cricket Supporters’ Association to be held in the East Stand Long Room of Headingley Cricket Ground at 7pm on Sunday.

Those were the days, of course, when scratch games of cricket took place in streets, parks and school playgrounds, usually with a battered tennis ball and an old bat. Wickets were chalked on walls and trees.

Reflecting the class system, professional cricket consisted of Gentlemen and Players, up until the early 1960s. There was no such thing as one-day cricket let alone 20/20 competitions. County cricket took place over three days and Test matches over five. Cricketers wore white. Batsmen did not wear protective helmets with face guards.

So these films show cricket as it used to be, including matches at Hovingham and Scarborough in the 1930s, with the likes of Herbert Sutcliffe and Bill Bowes on film, and a fathers versus daughters cricket match at Hunmanby Hall Girls School after the war.

There will be footage of England’s ill-fated Ashes Tour of Australia in 1958, an insight into the lot of the cricket tourist before the days of jet travel, and film of the players of the Bradford Interlink Cricket Club in action at their home ground on Spencer Road, Little Horton, in 1972.

Graham Relton, YFA archive manager, said: “Archive footage is an incredibly important part of the UK’s heritage, and in terms of heritage there are few things more important to Yorkshire than cricket “I’ve had fun compiling the cricket-themed films for the evening and have even thrown in the odd googly with a seasonal film about Bonfire Night and a classic cine-club production about the traditional game of knurr and spell. There should be something for everyone.”

Graham hopes the audience will be hit for six with rare footage of England batsmen Reg Simpson and Pudsey-born (Sir) Len Hutton as they open the batting at Headingley against the visitors India in 1952, and be bowled over by 1950s footage of cricket being played in the snow as part of the annual Northern Cricket Society Boxing Day match.

There will be a promotional film for Scarborough as a tourist destination in 1960, which features Scarborough’s famous cricket ground on North Marine Road and an interview with Yorkshire captain Brian Close at Acklam Park, Middlesbrough in 1964.

Charlotte Evers, who chairs Yorkshire County Cricket Club Supporters’ Association, added: “It is great to welcome the Yorkshire Film Archive to Headingley in the 150th year of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

“The Supporters’ Association have a host of events over the year. We know the cricket films will be real nostalgia for our members and we hope to see some new faces at the screening too. Non-members are very welcome.”

The film show starts at 7pm at the East Stand Long Room at Headingley. Tickets are £5 including refreshments, and are available on the door.

Yorkshire Film Archive is the public access film archive for our region, finding, collecting, preserving and showing moving image material made in or about Yorkshire, dating from 1888 to the present day.

Cricket features strongly in its amateur collections – childhood memories of matches on the beach or down the street to the excitement of a county match or the carnival of an international game.

Yorkshire County Cricket Supporters’ Association (YCCSA) was born in 1981, the brainchild of a Doncaster couple, Margaret and Keith Wilford.

They, along with friends and other Yorkshire cricket supporters, worked tirelessly organising coffee mornings, jumble sales and many other events to provide funds to create the association, which raises funds and to encourage awareness of and interest in the existence and purpose of the club.

All profits from YCCSA activities go back to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, with donations over the years including TV, video camera and bowling machines for the Cricket Centre, benches near the memorial garden, cricket balls for all Yorkshire Academy home matches – every year, £5,000 for the Yorkshire Pride Appeal and two flat-screen TVs for the Long Room.