Lives in Cricket No 19 - Frank Sugg

four in the morning and go and practise in the Pitsmoor Woods. There was a path running through those woods and we played on that because it made us bowl straight and hit straight. If we did not the ball would go into grass a foot high and among trees where we had to hunt for it. It was the straight and narrow path that led to success.’ 12 Even so, it is hard to imagine Frank faithfully respecting the restraints imposed by the ‘straight and narrow path’ and never despatching the ball into the long grass! Even as a boy, he liked to deploy the long handle. While Frank must have exaggerated the early hour of the lads’ rising, there is no reason to question his recollection of their enthusiasm for cricket – or in the winter months for football. Boys engaged in makeshift games of cricket in streets and patches of land were a common sight at the time in Sheffield, as in other towns. Apparently Frank and Walter were nicknamed ‘W.G.’ and ‘Richard Daft’ by their pals, suggesting that even at this early age they stood out among their peers. Family Background and Early Days 15 Still rural? Pitsmoor, Sheffield in 1880, a contemporary painting by a local artist, John Taylor. (Courtesy of Sheffield City Council) 12 Sporting Chronicle , 25 July 1916.