The Story of Hanslope Cricket Club

Part 3 - New Ground, Giddy Heights : the 1960s

By the late 1950s Hanslope CC was definitely a force to be reckoned with. As well as a full and successful programme of weekend fixtures, there were mid week knockout competitions, notably the Wolverton Express Cup, which is still going strong. Most fixtures were still relatively local, with trips to various Northampton clubs being particularly common. In 1959 the name ‘Northampton’ preceded seven different opponents – Tech College, NALGO, Swan, RAFA, Express Lifts, Brevitt and Delapre - on the fixture list. With Milton Keynes still more than ten years over the horizon, this was still a wholly rural area dominated by the one large town. The furthest journey was to Studham near Dunstable and, other than that, the remaining games were to local village clubs like Roade, Ashton, Stoke Bruerne and New Bradwell. Still no Castlethorpe though.
The Fixture Card for 1961

However there were problems with the Watts field, and in 1960 things came to a head, after the annual visit of the fair had left the field in an awful state. The club decided to ask the parish council for permission to use the recreation ground, which was already being used for football. Permission was given and the club shared the use of the ground and the changing rooms, which still stand, with the footballers. Arthur Snaith, the founding captain and now a life member, opened the new ground for the 1961 season.

All this time the club had been playing friendly matches, but the formation of a North Bucks league saw Hanslope CC take the first step into the most successful period in its history.

In 1961 a new league was formed for North Bucks. This was quite a low-key affair, with only five clubs, giving eight Saturday league matches a season. These were played on a normal basis, with no overs limitations, and so all three results were possible. Hanslope played in this league for three years, winning it each time.



Derek Walker receives the North Bucks Trophy

N. Bucks league winners

Back row, left to right:
Derek Walker, Fred Brown, Barry Stimson, Ken Horne, Michael Snaith.

Front row, left to right:
Alan MacMillan, George Walker, Roy Rock, Bob Baird (capt.),
Rob Tomkins, Bill Barnes.

Wearing the new caps presented by Arthur Snait

The club had become a local cricket power-house by the early 1960s, winning the Wolverton Express Cup two years running, and was now a major force in every competition they entered.

Hanslope won the North Bucks league in each of the three seasons that they took part. This was probably the strongest team the club has ever had, and it is in that context that the next step, a huge leap of faith, was taken. Below is the reproduction of a very battered and frayed report from the Bucks Standard of November 27th 1964 . It reports the moving speech made by founder and first captain Arthur Snaith as that momentous step was taken after a truly stupendous season.

Bucks Standard report, November 1964

(This report can be read in larger size by clicking here
Note - it will take a while to download on a dial-up connection)

"Is there ever likely to be a season to equal the one being reported?" Arthur Snaith’s words, movingly put, speak volumes about what the club stood for within the village community at that time.

Note also the outstanding season from Roy Rock. 1000 runs, 50 wickets and twenty catches, all in one season, is a feat worthy of top praise in any era, and is unlikely to be ever matched in future years.

In 1964, after much soul-searching, Hanslope Cricket Club applied to join the Northamptonshire County League. At this distance, that may seem fairly small beer, but it meant the club would be taking guard and marking out its run-up, against the likes of Kettering Town, Wellingborough Town and Peterborough Town, not to mention, more locally, Wolverton Town. There were three divisions to the league, with most of the clubs coming from much larger places than Hanslope. Even being accepted was quite an ordeal – three inspectors, Pete Lloyd from Wolverton, Bernard Cornelius from Northampton Vallance and a Mr Perry from Wellingborough, came to make sure the ground was of an acceptable standard. Their consent was given, though some club members were rather surprised, to say the least. Whatever the concerns had been, it was a different story just over twelve months later when Hanslope were crowned champions of Division 3 for 1965, at their first attempt.

Extract from 1966 County League handbook.

(Note the printing error: it should be ‘1965’ not ‘1964’.)
Further details from this handbook merit inclusion. In it the averages for each division are produced in full, with 19 batsmen and 24 bowlers passing the qualification standards in division 3. In the batting, for Hanslope, Alan Wilson (239 runs at 26.56) was fourth, Alan MacMillan (222 at 20.18) was14th and Roy Rock (280 at 20.00) was 17th, but it is when the bowling averages appear that the club’s great strength becomes obvious. Hanslope have four bowlers in the first five, and their figures are almost unbelievable, and certainly merit being shown in full:
Northants County League 1965 - Bowling averages
Name Club Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Average
1 R. Baird Hanslope 115.1 53 134 29 4.62
2 R. Rock Hanslope 121.3 31 224 41 5.46
3 A. Wilson Hanslope 102 28 199 29 6.86
4 R. Tomlin Rushden 141.3 46 262 37 7.08
5. A. Melly Hanslope 151.2 51 283 39 7.26

During the season Arthur Melly took a hat-trick against Rushden and Roy Rock, amazingly, took 8 for 6 against Earls Barton.

The following season Hanslope C.C. took their place in Division 2, finishing fourth. This high standard was maintained for a few years, but, after a while, with players getting older, some moving away, and others having more limited availability with new family commitments, the inevitable happened, and it was relegation back to Division 3. In fact, on one occasion, after finishing bottom of that division, it looked like re-election would be needed, but a late withdrawal gave the club a brief stay of execution. However, it was not to be for long, and, after finishing bottom of division 3 again, in 1975 the club decided to resign from the County league, with the hope that, with the fast growing new city of Milton Keynes nearby, fixtures and maybe a league would be available nearer to home.

Fixture card for 1966 – Division 2, Northants County League

However, this is moving ahead too fast, as much more happened in the 60s and early 70s. In that time the club won the Wolverton Express Cup no less than three times, and also the then prestigious Newport Pagnell British Legion Cup. This victory is remembered with relish still by those who played. The final, on Bury Field, was against J. Clark’s XI. Jim Clark was a top local cricketer of the time, with forearms like tree trunks. In those days, with less plush outfields, his mighty sixes were famous throughout the area. With a team consisting mainly of Bletchley Town first XI players, the match looked like no contest. Not so. Hanslope’s bowling attack was one of the best around, though its fame had obviously not reached the distant plains of Manor Fields. In those days Bletchley was considered to be foreign pastures up here, with everything looking towards Northampton. Down there, Hanslope was considered to be the rustic north. The 20 overs match was a triumph for the villagers over the favourites, and the trophy came north to the outer extremes of Buckinghamshire.

The victorious team - Newport cup winners 1969

Back row, left to right –
Hughie Gregory (umpire), Barry Stimson, John Taylor, Roy Herbert,
Adrian Wilson, Derek Walker, Gordon Bryan, Fred Brown (manager).

Front row, left to right –
Malcolm MacMillan, Arthur Melly, Bob Baird (capt.), Bill Barnes, Alan Wilson .

Before we move to the next phase in the club’s history, let’s have a last look at this most successful period. The photograph below is taken at the end of the 1964 season. The trophies are: The North Bucks League Winners Trophy, the Wolverton Express Cup, the Newport Pagnell British Legion Cup and the Roade Six-a-Side Trophy.

Hanslope CC – multiple trophy winners 1964

Back row, left to right:

Fred Brown, D’Arcy Walker, Barry Stimson, Doug Hancock, Alan Wilson, Ted Ansell,
Derek Walker, Ken Horne, John Taylor, Brian Graves, Arthur Melly.

Front row, left to right:

Gary Rock, Roy Rock, Bill Barnes, Bob Baird (capt.), Robbie Tomkins,
George Walker, Terence Stimson.
Wolverton Cup winners

A rather faded report of the first of the club’s three victories in this mid week knockout competition, in 1962. The victory was repeated in 1963, against Old Towcestrians, and in 1964, again against N. Bucks Teachers. In the 1963 final Bob Baird took 6 for 27 in less than five overs.

The competition is still going strong, but Hanslope haven’t reached the final since they were runners-up to Ashton in 1965. The best performance since then is a semi-final appearance in 2005.