Little Minx turned batting star into a lifelong friend
‘From Bacup to Barbados’ by Rossendale’s own former England tour manager and Lancashire Cricket Club chairman Bob Bennett, was recently published and is available as an eBook on Amazon. We will be serialising Bob’s memoirs over the coming weeks. In this excerpt he recalls the fervent excitement around Bacup when West Indies legend Everton Weekes - who sadly died in July - first joined the club in 1949. A star-struck nine-year-old was smitten and would go on to become a lifelong friend, but it was a humble Hillman Minx rather than cricket that first caused their paths to cross.
EVERTON Weekes, now Sir Everton, was one of the great batsmen of all time and his arrival in 1949 created massive local interest.
His winter had been spent in India where he had scored a century in five consecutive Test innings and was then unfortunate, in the sixth, to be run out on 90, a record still waiting to be broken.
At the age of nine, cricket was not of importance in my life, but on Saturday the only place to be was Lanehead, the home of Bacup Cricket Club, and so I soon decided I would not be the exception.
You had to be on the ground at least one hour before the start of play at two o’clock, otherwise there would be no seats left and to stand straining to see what was happening on the field was not an option I found to my liking.
Thousands streamed up the hill from the town centre, passing Woolworths on their left to witness the entrance of the maestro onto the green grass of Lanehead.
Yet, on one particular Saturday afternoon, at 2.05pm there were more people walking down the hill, with Woolworths on their right, than there were walking up to the ground.
I need record no more than “he” was out to the first ball of the match against Rishton.
Sir Everton became and remains my idol.
He would regularly visit the family home at a very impressionable time in my youth. His accommodation was over a local fish and chip shop owned and run by a lady called Mrs Maggie Sharrard, and during the week because of a lack of transport his movements were very limited.
Eventually he did get a car, a mid-grey Hillman Minx which I believe my father played a part in sourcing. Everton and my father met early in Everton’s days at Bacup through a member of the Bacup Cricket Club Committee and although dad had no real interest in the game, they somehow became very good friends.
Maybe the Hillman Minx played some part.
During the 2019 cricket world cup on 22nd June
West Indies played India at Old Trafford.
Several of the former West Indian players attended the game, one of them was Joel Garner the very tall, very fast bowler of the not too distant past.
I enquired about Everton’s health and during our conversation the Hillman Minx was mentioned.
Joel’s eyes lit up “Everton was only telling me last week about his first car – a grey Hillman Minx”.
It became clear during our conversation that there was a special bond between Everton and Joel which gave me a good feeling. He told me “Everton no longer drives but he knows that when and wherever he wishes to go I will take him.”
See more next week.