Still going strong

GENERATION GAME: Uppermill skipper Alex Griffiths (left), Cec Wright, Jim Bradbury and Adam Robinson.

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CRICKET:

CEC Wright, 77 years young, and Jim Bradbury, a mere 64, played for the last Uppermill team crowned as Saddleworth and District Cricket League champions — and both are still doing their bit for the club’s second XI.

It was September 15, 1984 — the final day of the season — when the Leefields outfit beat Droylsden to deny Heyside top honours.

Jim hit a vital 46 in that game, while club professional Cec took one for 44 from his 17 overs.

But the heroes of the hour, according to the Oldham Evening Chronicle, were last-wicket pair Andy Gartside and Alan Johnston, who steered Uppermill home after Droylsden were dismissed for 117.

Johnston had earlier bagged four wickets.

The captain of Uppermill 27 years ago was Dave Robinson. Ironically, his son, Adam, is a member of Uppermill’s class of 2011.

In the Chronicle, two weeks before the last-match decider against Droylsden, Cec announced his retirement as a pro cricketer, but added: “I expect to be playing with Uppermill again next season — as an amateur”.

He was tempted to return to Crompton — the club which first brought him to these shores from the West Indies in 1959 — in the role of paid man for another couple of seasons.

Cec turns 78 in December, and has no thoughts of packing in cricket.

“How can I retire when Courtney (his son) has bought me a new bag for my gear,” he said. “He keeps telling me I should call it a day and then he goes and does that.

“My other one was falling to bits, though. I must have had it for 25 years, probably since my last spell at Crompton.

“I’m still enjoying it, so I will carry on. It’s a good laugh with the lads.

“I was on a hat-trick the other day. The ball hit the batsman’s pads, but it was missing leg stump. I still appealed, though.”