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

145 but a turning point in their fortunes came at Saltaire. East Bierley were all out for 97 and this did not bode well, but five wickets each for Vibert Anderson Rodney, the Guyanese medium pacer (five for 21) and Johnny (five wickets for two!) caused Saltaire to realise only 45 runs and vitally to give East Bierley their third win of the season. That win was followed by two more back-to-back wins and suddenly East Bierley had saved themselves from relegation. As in the previous season, there is no way East Bierley could have performed their last minute Houdini act without the services with the ball of Johnny. He took 42 wickets at 12.69 apiece finishing tenth in the Bradford League averages. The man who was top, Tony Bowes, had only taken two more wickets at 9.04 each and only Mike Fearnley who came second had taken a seriously greater number of wickets (66) in this badly rain-affected season. Miles Lawrence featured in the league batting averages. Dalton 1970 Then, in 1970 at the same time as West Indian star Roy Gilchrist started for East Bierley Johnny left them and returned to the Huddersfield League for the first time since those days at Kirkburton at the very start of his professional career. He joined Dalton who were in section B of the league and was joined there by his son Miles. His season there started with a bang. At Slaithwaite (often pronounced ‘Slowet’) on May 2 in 11.5 overs, he took five wickets for three runs and “two of those runs were conceded when deep-mid on missed a catch”. Miles had already top-scored with 45. Johnny had been one of four players to score double figures with 14. With paceman Robert Trueman taking four for 13 at the other end, Slaithwaite were all out for 18. No mention was made in the press of the condition of the wicket and Johnny who reached the headlines was given full credit for bamboozling his opponent batsmen. Wickets for Johnny and wins for Dalton kept coming. Seven for 30 against Linthwaite on July 22 was a notable example. Seven more successful seasons in league cricket