Cricket club Bramall Lane, Sheffield Yorkshire England
Cricket club
Published: 22nd June 2010
[edit] Cricket at the Lane
Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket clubs and originally had six clubs playing there. It was managed by an umbrella organisation for these clubs; the Sheffield United Cricket Club.[4]
Bramall Lane opened on 30 April 1855 as a cricket ground with a match between "The Eleven" and "The Twenty Two",[2] The Eleven, despite being the senior team, lost by an innings and 28 runs.
A team representing Yorkshire played the first county match at the ground on 27 August 1855, against Sussex but lost by an innings and 117 runs.[5]
Although the first county game had been played eight years earlier, the official Yorkshire County Cricket Club was not formed until 1863.[6] The idea came from Ellison, who was using his own finances to support the club, in order to improve Bramall Lane's financial position as the county's headquarters. It was the club's headquarters until 1893, when they moved to Headingley in Leeds.[6]
In 1897, Jack Brown and John Tunnicliffe recorded a first wicket score of 378 against Sussex—a ground record that has never been beaten. Brown's score of 311 and Yorkshire's innings of 681 for 5 declared were also records when the cricket ground closed.[7] Other notable scores include the 681–5 declared Yorkshire scored against Sussex in 1897, the 582 for 7 declared they piled up against Surrey in 1935 and the 579 posted against the touring South Africans in 1951. 6 other scores in excess of 500 were made. In contrast there were a host of scores under 100, mainly in the 19th century, although Derbyshire's paltry total of 20 in 1939 remains the lowest ever score. Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 24 in 1888 but Kent showed the Yorkshire batsmen up in 1865, bowling them out for 30. Many of the low totals were made on rain affected, uncovered wickets.
The ground hosted a single Test match in 1902, against Australia, which England lost by 143 runs.[8] Australia won the game by 143 runs thanks to a century by Clem Hill and the bowling of Saunders and Noble, who both took 5 wickets in England's first innings of 145 and Noble and Trumble who took 6 and 4 wickets respectively to bowl the home team out for 195 second time around. The defeat was blamed on the poor light at the ground; a product of smoke emitted by local factories. Attendances were poor, and the experiment was never repeated.
In addition Jack Brown's triple century 10 double centuries were scored on the ground, Sir Len Hutton scored unbeaten two double tons, an 280* against Hampshire in 1939 and 271* against Derbyshire in 1937. W Barber posted 255 against Surrey in 1935 while the great Indian batsman VS Hazare scored 244 not out for the Indian tourists in the first season after World War Two.
Among many notable partnerships W Barber and Maurice Leyland amassed 346 for the second workcet against Middlesex in 1932 and the aforementioned VS Hazare and Vinoo Mankad put on 322 for the Indians against Yorkshire for the 4th wicket in 1946. Only one century was scored in list A one day cricket at Bramall Lane, John Hampshire's 108 against Nottinghamshire in 1970 in the Sunday League.
Three bowlers took all ten wickets in an innings at Bramall Lane, the feat being more common in the annals of first class cricket than many imagine. The great Australian leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett took 10 for 37 for the tourists in 1930 while TF Smailes took all 10 for 47 for Yorkshire against Derbyshire in 1939. G Wootton took 10 for 54 for an All England Eleven v Yorkshire in 1865 while 9 other bowlers took 9 wickets in an innings there, including a haul of 9 for 12 by the great Yorkshire slow left armer Hedley Verity.
The best match bowling figures at the ground, 16 for 114, were recorded by G Burton of Middlesex against Yorkshire in 1888 while Hedley Verity took an incredible 15 for 38 against Kent in 1936. Len Braund took 15 for 71 for Somerset in 1902 while the immortal W. G. Grace showed his youthful talent with the ball with a haul of 15 for 79 for Gloucestershire in 1872.
D Hunter of Surrey dismissed caught 5 batsmen and stumped another in one innings in 1891 while Yorkshire stalwart Jimmy Binks completed 5 dismissals in an innings 3 times.
The two ends of the ground were known as the Pavilion End and the Football Ground End. Between 1863 and 1973, Yorkshire played 391 first class matches, including 339 County Championship matches at Bramall Lane. Yorkshire's last match at the ground took place on 4, 6 and 7 August 1973, a drawn game against Lancashire.[6] The construction of the South Stand began soon after, over the cricket square, finally enclosing the football pitch on all four sides.[9] Yorkshire's cricket games in Sheffield moved to Abbeydale Park.
