 | 15 July 2009 Accessibility help Text only |
|
|
| BBC Homepage | | |
| |||
| Contact Us Like this page? Send it to a friend! | | |
WY Sport HistoryYou are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > History > WY Sport History > 'It's not just a game!' 'It's not just a game!'Cricket's as much a part of summer in Kirklees and Calderdale as the rain which usually ends up pouring down on match day! Despite the weather, it's always attracted hundreds of players and spectators - many with fascinating stories to tell...  Hartshead team on the eve of World War One "I think when I started to wander around the local cricket grounds, I began to think this was a different type of history, community history that just needed somebody to tell it," says Dr Peter Davies from Huddersfield University. "I've taught a lot about kings and queens and popes and religion and politics and the more I think about it, the more history is about villages and communities. I am becoming a bit of an evangelist for local community history."  Dr Peter Davies A few years ago, the sound of leather on willow was probably far from Peter's mind as he spent most of his time at Huddersfield Uni lecturing in European History. Now, while teaching is still a big part of his job, his role as Senior Lecturer in History and Media means his remit is much wider. Not only does he find himself giving lectures to aspiring sports journalists but, having successfully applied for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, he also finds himself spearheading a whole series of projects which it's hoped will put West Yorkshire's sporting history - including Calderdale's and Kirklees' fine cricketing heritage - very firmly on the map. It was when he was prevented from playing for his local cricket team because of an injury that Peter decided it was time to give the sport an academic makeover. He explains: "Because we work in academia we can give each cricket club a really serious treatment. A lot of club histories are extremely valuable but hopefully we added a few layers of expertise. The centenary histories are very much about the scores and the batters and the bowlers and the results. We were more interested in the social background to the clubs - the women, how world wars affected them, fund raising, the clubs' origins and the problems they had. It's more to do with their place in their community and the village."  Batting for Emley! Since then the University has embarked on a similar project, this time for rugby league. Peter says: "It's the way sport interacts with society. Look at cricket clubs and rugby league clubs. When a war came they had options. Do we carry on as a mark of solidarity? Do we give up and have a break as a mark of solidarity? What usually happened, particularly at cricket clubs, was that once they gave up it took a couple of decades to get going again because of the dislocation, but I think the thing we realised as well was that even those on the front line in the trenches wanted their club to be still going when they came back because it was part of their life and when they came home on leave they wanted to fit in a few games to remind them of what life was like back in England. "Another big philosophy we've got is that sport is underplayed by traditional historians and often neglected. It's very easy to say that sport's just a game and we should forget it but it's not just a game, it's a culture and it's a way of life." While it's now possible to gain credits towards a Huddersfield University degree by taking a course in Bat and Ball: Cricket and Society in Calderdale and Kirklees 1800-2000, take a look at the project's website, The Cricket, and you'll see it goes far beyond the academic. From Lascelles Hall, formed in 1825 and the oldest club still in existence in Kirklees, to Queens Road Muslims Cricket Club in Halifax, you'll find the history of a 100 different clubs. You'll also find cricket walks, activities for schools and newsletters showing this is very much a community affair.  Through an artist's eyes: Lightcliffe CC Not content with looking at the history of 100 different cricket clubs - that's how many there are across Calderdale and Kirklees - Peter talks about the challenge of putting together 100 exhibitions, one for each club: "It was a great challenge but we had a fantastic time meeting people and going to different places. We didn't hold them in the club because we thought that the only people who would see them would be cricketers. We went to community venues - pubs, post offices, garden centres. We even did one in Huddersfield Police Station because there's a Huddersfield Police Cricket Club so even if you got arrested you could see one of our exhibitions!" Not only did the Cricketing Heritage project send a photographer around all of the clubs but they even commissioned an artist, Sue Brant, to provide a lasting memorial of the cricket grounds! And it's not only about playing the game: "It's also about tea ladies. What would happen if there were no women at the clubs? I think the answer would probably be, 'No cricket!' They do so many important jobs." Following on from the cricket exhibitions, Longwood Bowling Club got in touch, asking if they too could have an exhibition. Peter says: "If you ask me to name the three sports with the most potential for study I'd say cricket, rugby league and bowls because there's a sort of community side to those three sports. They are sort of working-class sports in many ways. Pubs, factories and churches have all been involved. When you see a bowling green it's always wedged in between houses. It's the same with cricket and, to some extent, with rugby league."  Cricket Heritage exhibition, Cleckheaton The University has also asked anyone who has memories of rugby league during and before the 1940s, whether at a grass roots or professional level, to get in touch. Rob Light - who has been working on Up and Under, the University's rugby league oral history project - believes it's only fitting this is happening in Huddersfield, the town where the sport was born, and says: "The memories of fans, players, coaches, administrators and officials of the game not only provide an irreplaceable record of rugby league's past but also offer a window into a vital part of the social and cultural history of West Yorkshire." And, of course, such memories can be more than just about sport. Batley Muslims Cricket Club was formed in 1962. Decades later club members told the Cricketing Heritage project that when they first arrived from India and Pakistan, not speaking the language, they often felt vulnerable and one important way to feel more confident was to play cricket. Peter Davies isn't surprised that these details are emerging: "What our projects are saying is that sport is important, and the social history of sport is important. It's something that people do in common and they enjoy doing. It's part of their lives." last updated: 26/09/2008 at 16:29 SEE ALSOYou are in: Bradford and West Yorkshire > History > WY Sport History > 'It's not just a game!' 
 |
| | About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy |