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Villagers celebrate centuries as ‘home of cricket’
Hillams captain Will Vaks, right, and vice captain, Rob Edwards, are continuing a tradition upheld by players in the teams of 1902. Picture: mike cowling.
WHEN Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads India out to face England on the hallowed turf of Lord’s today, the home of cricket will celebrate a very special landmark.
It will signal the start of the 2,000th Test match to be played after England faced Australia more than a century ago at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877.
However, the village of Hillam in North Yorkshire has laid claim to being the forefather of the game in the region after the unearthing of documents dating back to 1620.
Painstaking research by amateur historians has unearthed a court roll from the 17th century which mentions the word “crickitt” and a village of “Hillham” in Yorkshire.
Members of the cricket team for Hillam and neighbouring Monk Fryston are now marking the long association of their villages with the game at the official opening of the club’s new pavilion this weekend.
Hillam and Monk Fryston Cricket Club’s chairman, Tonu Vaks, said: “It is amazing to think that a version of cricket could have been played all those years ago here in Hillam. We do not know exactly where the ground was, but it could well have been exactly where we play now.
“It would suggest that Hillam could be the earliest documented location in Yorkshire where cricket was first played.”
Villagers have been able to confirm the historical references after the club’s head groundsman, Mike Allison, spotted a mention in a book, More Than A Game – the Story of Cricket’s Early Years, by the famous cricket lover and ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major.
The book makes reference to a court roll for the Lord of the Manor dating from 1620 which mentions a settlement 15 miles to the east of Leeds known as “Hillham”.
The court roll contains the phrase “terr in loco voc Crickitt” which is roughly translated as “known to the locals as the cricket ground”.
The village’s historians, Stuart and Jenny Hoare, began the detailed research in an attempt to trace the original documents before finding the 17th century parchment in an archive.
Its ancient links to the sport will be celebrated on Sunday when the cricket pavilion is officially opened by the Selby and Ainsty Tory MP Nigel Adams.
The new pavilion marks a watershed for the club, which had faced an uncertain future as recently as 2008 when the first team were only able to field nine players for some matches.
But the pavilion is now signalling a new dawn for the club, which celebrated its centenary last year and the first team is now 12 points clear at the top of the third division of the Wetherby Cricket League.
Planning permission was first obtained in 1998, but it was not until a decade later that the footings for the pavilion were dug. The building has been in use since April, but Sunday will mark its official opening.
It is hoped that the pavilion will become a focal point for villagers from both Hillam and Monk Fryston, and the cricket club’s committee is planning to make it available for hire for community events, weddings and birthday celebrations.
The building has replaced a pavilion which dates back to the start of the club and is still located on the opposite side of the pitch.
The new pavilion was built after the club’s members raised £24,000 and secured a £33,000 grant from a community scheme run by the Micklefield-based landfill company Caird Bardon.
But the concerted efforts of the members have kept the price down for the pavilion, which would normally have cost up to £120,000 to build.
The official opening will be marked by a T10 contest – where each team will face 10 overs – between Hillam and Monk Fryston, Sherburn Eversley and South Milford cricket clubs.
Mr Vaks, whose parents were originally from Estonia, was born in London before he moved to Yorkshire in 1976 and has been involved with the club for 15 years. He said: “We have managed to get cheap materials and people have been working for free on the pavilion – it really has been a community effort.”
Mr Vaks’ son, Will, 27, is the first team captain at the club, where he started playing in the junior side at the age of 11.
Will said: “We feel really privileged to have something like this, and it will hopefully help the club go from strength to strength as there were real concerns whether we would carry on a couple of years ago.
“Hillam has a long history with cricket, and hopefully the pavilion will now mean the game has a long future here as well.”
paul.jeeves@ypn.co.uk
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