Chapter 3
With a ground of their own Collegiate had to think hard about what sort of cricket they should play. Their decision, in essence the same as has always been made by the club, was that the only way of getting regular, good cricket in the Sheffield area was to play league cricket. They consequently joined the Sheffield & Hallamshire League with their First XI and the Rotherham & District League with the Second XI. The S. & H. League contained all the best local sides, but in the 1890s Collegiate were League Champions three years running and also won the Rotherham & District League Cup on four occasions.
In general the scores in the S. & H. League were not high, perhaps some of the grounds being a bit rough. H. B. Willey batted consistently well, but there were no real batting stars and probably Collegiate had greater depth in batting than most other sides. An early member of the club, the Reverend Hugh Wood, had played a few times for Yorkshire in 1879 and 1880 and Frank Baines played once as a batsman in 1888, but they had stopped playing before the club's entry into league cricket. Certainly the batting seems to have been stronger than in 1885 when, having dismissed Norton Oakes (sic) for 13, Collegiate were themselves shot out for 8.
The undoubted star among the bowlers of these years was Frank Atkin (known as 'Knick-knacks'), who in the ten years between 1884 and 1893 took 1020 wickets for the club, a remarkable performance, whatever the class of opposition or the quality of the wickets, as he only played in some 250 matches in that period. He happily continued to take many more wickets in the following ten years. In the only yearly averages available he took his wickets at 8 runs apiece.
The other main wicket-taker, from the middle 1880s up till the First War, was C. R. Wilson, who bowled slow leg-breaks rather in the style of his more famous younger brother, E.R. His greatest performance was, on the Devon Tour of 1906, to take all 10 wickets for 131 out of a score of 326 made by the R.N. Barracks. He was more fortunate then than many years earlier when, having secured the first 9 in one match, his elder brother, R.T., put himself on at the other end expressly to dismiss the last batsman, which he did. In 1912, at the age of 45, he also got 9 for 26 against Kiveton Park. C. R. Wilson was a crusty customer, who often made gruff remarks. At Aston Hall on the appearance of the fourth consecutive left-hander through the years Aston Hall always seemed to produce them-he remarked to the nonstriker :- "You must have a left-handed stallion in these here parts".
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Tinsley, late 1800s Back: H. Willey, F. Atkin, Burn, A. M. Connell, H. Hadfield. Seated: B. Wragg, H. Bury, H. B. Willey, L. Holland
The man, however, who must take the greatest credit for the success of the club in this period was H. B. Willey, who was the First Team captain from 1881 to 1914 and also during much of this time really ran the club by himself, organising all the teams, up to four on one day. As well as being a highly competent cricketer, he was an all-round games-player of distinction and a very charming man. From 1919 to his death in 1933, in recognition of his services to Collegiate, he held the peculiar honorary title of 'Club Captain'. All his charm must have been called into play in one match against Gainsborough Britannia, captained by a Percy Marshall. Both sides thought that they had won the toss and waited for each other to go out to field. When the misunderstanding was discovered, Marshall refused to toss again and Collegiate agreed to take the field. Later, when Collegiate were within seven runs of victory, H. C. Hall ran in to knock off the runs without pads or gloves, whereat Marshall objected, saying that the batsman was 'not in proper cricket apparel'. However he did eventually agree to finish the match, which Collegiate duly won. H. B. Willey's name is perpetuated in prizes for young players.
Other players of distinction at the turn of the century were Hugh Barber, who twice played for Yorkshire, but soon left this area, George Bott, a fine fast bowler, Harold Steel' a successful batsman, Jim Peech, who was asked to keep wicket for Yorkshire, but was found to have had the bad taste to be born in Surrey, and Ike Parker. Parker was 'taken over' by Collegiate with the Tinsley ground. He kept the Greyhound Inn on Attercliffe Road and also dealt in second-hand goods. He was a hard-hitting batsman and a fine lob bowler, who also played much cricket for Sheffield United and Carbrook, for whom in 1894 he took 94 wickets for 520 runs in 19 matches. According to Harold Willey he was 'a great gentleman'. He retired to live in Cleethorpes, for whose Second XI he took 6 wickets for 18 runs in a match when he was 70 years old.
There was also in the early l900s another batch of good players, who were just starting with Collegiate, of whom the most outstanding was Dr. R. G. Selby, a useful bowler and very fine batsman, who might well have played for Yorkshire, if he had not been born in Scotland. He made 153 not out in a record Bassetlaw League partnership with T. A. Gainsford of 264 for the first wicket against Kiveton Park. The one who achieved greatest fame was Jack Chapman, who later captained Derbyshire and in 1910 put on 283 with Warren against Warwickshire, a stand which is still the world record for the ninth wicket. Harold Willey made a lot of runs for the club, fooled many unwary batsmen with his lobs, was for many years a member of the Yorkshire Committee and was President of Collegiate from 1954 to his death in 1972. F. C. Bedford was a fine off-break bowler, who was thought by several sound judges to be the best bowler produced by the club between 1900 and 1940.
In their perpetual endeavour to have the best possible cricket Collegiate had, in 1898, added to their other commitments an XI in the United League and in 1905 they changed to XIs in the Mexboro' & District League, the Hallamshire League and the Rotherham & District League. In 1908 they again made a change, having XIs in the Bassetlaw League and the Hallamshire League, which remained the pattern up to the First War.
In 1901 membership subscription was £1-1-0 and it remained at this figure until 1916, which was the last year matches were played at Tinsley, though there had to be a special appeal in 1914 to clear a deficit of £494-6. Rent of £25, later £27-10-0, was paid for the Tinsley ground to James Hadfield and also a water rate of £3. The membership was 75 in 1901, 90 in 1908 and 74 in 1914. 'Gate Money' was charged at Tinsley up to 1914, though the paying customers seem to have sadly diminished over the years; £17-0-3 being collected in 1901, £8-17-0 in 1906, £1 -13-2 in 1908 and 8/11 in 1914. The present Treasurer would be envious of some of the payments for May, 1901 :-
May 1 Ike Parker for 2 dozen cricket balls £5 8s 0d
May 4 I. Parker for fees as Umpire v. United 3s 6d
May 4 Scorers fee & exes. v. United 1s 0d
May 4 Assistance of boy for groundsman: 2 weeks 3s 0d
May 10 Walter Hanson: 4 weeks wages
as groundsman £5 12s 0d
As far as is known one potential member in 1907 was not accepted, but his application has happily been preserved for posterity:-
Sheffield: March 27th 1907.
Dear Sir,
I write to see if you will give me a trial in one of your Colts matches. I am a fast bowler and three weeks ago I bowled a ball down a screen for measuring the speed of projectiles and it worked out at a speed of nearly 54 miles per hour. C. T. B. Turner, the famous Australian fast bowler at his very best, only bowled at a speed of 59 an hour when he bowled down a screen for measuring the speed of projectiles, and no doubt I shall be able to increase my speed, for when I bowled, I hadn't handled a ball for six months, although I am generally in good condition. I was very much surprised for I didn't think I could bowl as fast as that. I have also thrown the cricket ball 121 yards, and I can run 100 yards in 10 1/2 sacs. I am not affiliated to any club in Sheffield. I am 26 years old and stand 5ft. 10in. and weigh about 11st. 71b. I was born in Sheffield and I am a navvy by trade. I am commencing training to see if I cannot get a bit nearer to Turners 59 miles an hour speed, for although I am always in good condition, I think practice goes a long way. It wouldn't be much out of your way to give me a trial in one of your Colt Matches, but if you don't consider me worth a trial let me know as soon as you can, and I'll see if I can get a chance with some other team.
Yours truly
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