About the Author John Shawcroft saw his first county match at Ilkeston when Derbyshire met Nottinghamshire in July 1946. He has been a member of Derbyshire for many years and has written two histories of the club, one for the Helm series of county histories. In 2006 his book Local Heroes, The story of the Derbyshire team which won the County Championship , was short-listed for the Cricket Society’s Book of the Year award. He is also the author of Cricket Grounds of Derbyshire in the ACS series. His main interests are cricket and the game’s history, music and the theatre, football and walking in the Derbyshire countryside. Front cover illustration A 1920s Bank Holiday Crowd at Horton Park Avenue, Bradford