Accrington Cricket Club
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Archive Derby match out on DVD


Monday September 3rd 2007
A recently released DVD features rare footage of the Accrington verses Church local derby from 1902.

The five minute film snippet is contained in the latest release of Mitchell and Kenyon films entitled Edwardian Sports.

The film gives a unique insight into the early days of the Lancashire League which was then in its twelfth season.

The film last a little over five minutes and begins with a glimpse of the field of play. In the background are eight huge smoking factory chimneys.

The shots of the crowd in front of the pavilion show a packed house with 1,000 spectators all wearing head gear of all shapes and sizes, Straw hats, bowlers and flat caps were the order of the day. Men, women and children all dressed for the occasion.

There is also a glimpse of the stand at the railway side of the ground. The umpires wore ankle length coats and piles of sawdust could be seen at both ends of the field. The sight screens were huge with two screens visible at what is now known as the Highams End of the ground.

The players themselves wore caps or sun hats. Accrington paraded in front of the camera at the end of the match. The commentary isn't quite accurate, stating that Ormerod top scored with 15 of Church's 28 all out. Ormerod was in fact Billy Ormerod, who went on to become Accrington's leading run scorer of all time. In all probability it is Ormerod and his opening partner Saul Wade who can be seen batting in the action shots. These two took Accrington level but Ormerod and Jack Finney were both dismissed at 28. Harry Heaton came in and went on to hit 101 not out in Accrington's 185-7. The scoreboard operators can also be seen in the film as can Accrington professional Walter Hall who shows off his suspect round arm bowling action that helped him take 7-10 in the match.

The film was shown in Accrington Town Hall the following Monday evening and lay undiscovered in the basement of a shop in Blackburn until recently.

 

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