Lives in Cricket No 3 - George Duckworth

in profuse supply; a television set from the Prince of Baroda and, Mrs Duckworth having mentioned a taste for such fruit, an airmailed batch of paw paws, which, in days of few if any fridges, had rapidly to be distributed to neighbours, slightly suspicious of such exotica. The Duckworth household was the centre for all this organisational activity, with George Duckworth, as usual, delighting in every single moment of both the arrangements and the stirring events themselves. His home was the hub of an intricate cricketing network. As well as the Indian visits, it was the brokerage base for hundreds of deals for Lancashire leagues’ professional engagements. Without any of the normal paraphernalia of official business life, his house was probably the nearest there had been to a cricketing job centre there had been in England. George Duckworth – ‘Warrington’s ambassador at large’, as he was dubbed by the South African journalist, Bert Fellows – showed consummate administrative capacity in these ventures. He presents as a man of substantial competence, a compound of vigour, effectiveness and tact. The goodwill visits to the Indian subcontinent included meetings with the likes of political heavyweights, such as Pandit Nehru, the Indian leader. His family members nowadays laugh ruefully when they read of the army of helpers and experts that travels with an England cricket squad when it leaves these shores – or even when it remains at home. George Duckworth’s was a one-man band. He played all the instruments in what now would be a large orchestra, and one that seldom appears to rise to the harmonies and impact of the Hallé. In some ways, this aspect of Duckworth’s varied career is the most revealing of his aptitudes and gifts. They were successful outings and tremendous achievements. One of his attributes was that he found time to make contact wherever he went, as Bert Fellows reported from South Africa, with expatriate Warringtonians, and succeeded in re-uniting them with the old folks at home on many occasions. He was drafted in other ways into administrative responsibilities. He kept contact with the Warrington Cricket Club, volunteering for coaching and umpiring duties and becoming a vice-president. He was a member of the Lancashire committee from 1957 until his death, and he was a director of his other sporting love, Warrington The Legacy 57