The Club History Of Old Sharlston CC



Cricket was first played in Sharlston on the village green. It was organised by 3 brothers, Ernie, Alfred and Arthur Bell who lived in the old White Horse with their sister Lily. The Inn, overlooking the green, was probably used by the players for changing and making the teas in the interval.
Ernie, who was the landlord of the White Horse, was later to become the first President of OSCC.
Sharlston was a small mining; farming village situated between Wakefield and Pontefract.
Sadly the mine closed in 1993 and 4 of the farms have been broken up and the buildings converted into luxury dwellings.

The cricket club was originally formed in 1905 and was called Old Sharlston Red Rose CC.

The Sharlston Rovers Rugby League Club was also called Red Rose.

As yet we have not been able to establish a connection. In 1906 the Red Rose bit was dropped and we became known as Old Sharlston Cricket Club.

At that time we rented a field from Mr Wildman a local farmer.
The field was situated at the south end of Grime lane to the west side; In 1908 after the members successfully turned the pastureland into a suitable playing area we were accepted into the West Riding Cricket League, with just one team we played on Saturdays.

1927 brought about the formation of a second eleven as cricketing interest in the village increased.; Old Sharlston won the 1st Division League Shield in 1936 and then again in 1948; at that time there were around 36 teams in the league.

1946 was the year Ernie and his sister moved from the old White Horse to an old Coach House on West Lane. The Pub, though many changes have taken place inside, still looks much the same from the lawns, which flow down to the road. The White Horse was the Headquarters of OSCC until the Pavilion was built in 1959, but regular meetings are still held there and is our “Watering Hole” after the match.

In 1957 we were asked to vacate the field, as the owner required it for extra grazing.; The Church came to our rescue and agreed to lease us the field at the back of the Church, which is now our present home. In 1958 a lease for 25 years was signed, with an option of a further 25 years. This option was taken up by us in 1983 and has just 2 years left to run. 50 years leasehold now secure, the members once again set about creating another playing area which included the removal of the turf in small slabs where the square was to be positioned, the ground was then levelled by hand and then relayed. One year later cricket was again played in Sharlston; Sometime around 1959 the first junior side was formed but by 1974 our wicket had worn so badly that it was deemed dangerous for the under 16's and we disbanded the junior team; In 1978 the club paid £2300 for a brand new square to be laid
Junior cricket was resumed in 1981.

1982 the first eleven beat Hundhill Hall at Hensall to win the West Riding Senior cup. The nineties brought a lot of success to the club.

In 1991 the first XI won the league, in the same year we had to find another £27000 to level the field and again relay the square. The “National Coal Board” paid for the bulk of this as Subsidence had caused most of the problems. During the grading of the outfield, the machine uncapped an old Bell Mine just off the square and was almost lost down the exposed shaft. Work was held up whilst the mine (which was not on any of the Board's maps) was recapped.

The following year Denby Grange was the opponents in the senior cup final, Sharlston came out on top in that encounter and regained the cup; Three more junior sides were added in 1993 the under 13's, 15's and 17's; The club left the West Riding League in 1994 and after passing stringent entry requirements we moved into the Pontefract and District cricket league.

The 1st XI was placed in the 3rd division and the seconds joined the 6th, in 96 the 1st team were promoted as runners up.

In 2000 our under 13's side won the Kitty Robinson Osgoldcross cup, the 1st eleven won their division and another junior side the under 11's was introduced;
2001, more success for the firsts as they won the Gordon Batley trophy and the second XI were promoted as runners up from the 6th division.

2002, the first XI beat Knottingley at Whitley Bridge to win the Hepworth Memorial trophy and the second's win division 5.
2003, a Sunday side was included to play in the Wakefield And District Union League.

2005, the first eleven became the West Yorkshire area champions in the national village competition; the Sunday side won the East Section of their league;
2006, the first eleven were winners of the Dyson And Skidmore cup winners; the Sunday side won their league and went on to win the play off final and finally the under 13's won their league.
A great centenary year!

Now for the future, we have moved from one team to eight in our first 100 years a lot of this is due to the main principles we have followed over the years;

1. To promote all forms of cricket in an enjoyable and entertaining atmosphere

2. To remain a non-profit making family club

3. To welcome all players regardless of race, ability, age or handicap

We are totally committed to the junior teams, as most of our successful teams of recent years are stocked with players who have come through the junior system. We have four qualified coaches and have recently invested heavily on new training facilities such as artificial practice wickets new cages and a bowling machine, we can see that the future prosperity of the club lies with the juniors. During the season we train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and everybody is welcome so if anyone is interested in playing please come along from 6pm onwards.

Finally, in 2006 we secured ownership of the field in our Centenary Year, first target hit, now on to number 2, a more ambitious goal. To replace our tired old pavilion with a more fit for purpose Clubhouse.

Working tirelessly into the next 100 years, we follow the motto on our club badge NEVILE FENO.

Footer