Lives in Cricket No 52 - Schooled in Cricket (2nd edition)

130 the match was drawn and this robbed Wakefield of the chance to top the percentage wins for all the teams in the Yorkshire Council. A team called Steel, Peach and Tozer from a more lowly league within the Council now won this title. It obviously was another prize Wakefield wanted to win but they had won the jewel in the crown and the Wakefield Express proclaimed them champions of Yorkshire. As the Bradford League were not members of the Yorkshire Council this would be a contestable claim but nonetheless it was quite an achievement. It should be noted that first class players would often squeeze some league cricket into the beginning and end of the shorter-in those-days first-class season. The year 1966 was an anti-climax for Wakefield. Johnny had a good season but was not quite as outstanding as in the previous two seasons. Wakefield had a serious change of personnel and there was no Ron Wood, Alan Wright or Peter White. Wakefield also lost Colley and Atkinson who went to Hanging Heaton. Johnny’s son Miles joined the club but played and performed somewhat intermittently. Graham Boothroyd (brother of Alan), coming from Castleford, proved a more significant acquisition for the batting and Arthur Pearson, a tall swing bowler, was to accompany Johnny in the opening attack at the start of the season, but despite these acquisitions all this meant a heavy net loss to the club. Wakefield won the majority of their matches but were in third place for much of the season, but an incredible run in, during which Johnny took 24 wickets at an average of seven, caused Wakefield to win their last four matches and clinch a more than unlikely runner-up spot in the league. These were to be Johnny’s last matches for Wakefield but he had certainly gone out in style. To summarise Johnny’s time at College Grove, Wakefield had won the Central Yorkshire League in 1964 and 1965. In 1964 they added the Heavy Woollen Cup but the jewel in the crown double of league and Yorkshire Council came in 1965. A star again in league cricket