Summer Times is the Journal of the Old Scarborians Association

years, acting as a father figure to a succession
of grateful young players, and when he was
too old for that he acted as the county’s scorer.
Not many clubs can have had such a loyal
servant. He was also a great all‐rounder. He
was at one time the Borough’s regular goal‐
keeper and was the town’s table tennis cham‐
pion.
He was, and happily still is, a great sportsman.
Of my immediate contemporaries, the most
outstanding players were Eric Dixon, Peter
Jackson and Brian Stockdale. Eric was a very
good and very courageous wicket keeper. I
have already mentioned his standing up to Bill
Foord in the Scarborough club nets, and I
remember how he would stay close to the
wicket on the leg side even when the batsman
was taking a big leg‐side swing. On one occa‐
sion he was hit full on the head by the bat, but
carried on playing in a blood‐soaked bandage.
Following the game he played for Wilf Bar‐
ber’s North Riding team. He, Horswood and
Newton were invited to the Yorkshire nets at
Headingley, as a prelude to probable selection
for the Yorks Under 17 tour of Hampshire, but
Marsden wouldn’t let them have the time off.
Nevertheless, Eric still believed he could make
a career in cricket, and decided to leave
school after the fifth form. Unfortunately, the
Scarborough club never gave him the first
team experience he needed to enable him to
progress.
Ironically, Brian Stockdale, was offered a con‐
tract by Yorkshire, but turned it down to pur‐
sue the career he had started with the Forestry
Commission. In the history of High School
cricket, he was probably second only to Foord
as a seam bowler, though not as fast and not
able to move the ball out as well as in. Never‐
theless, I have a distinct memory of his turn‐
ing me inside out when I batted against him
for an RAF touring side that was playing Scar‐
borough.
Peter Jackson was probably the most effective
school batsman of my generation. He had a
35
Bradman‐like ability to pull any ball that was
a fraction short. And because there were al‐
ways plenty of short‐pitched balls in school
cricket he amassed a lot of runs. He scored
two centuries in 1951 (including 129 not out
against Scarborough College) – something
nobody else achieved for the school while I
was there, though Brian Moor scored at least
one ton against us for the College.
Peter was a very good captain, combining in
his second year (1951) what Mr Haigh de‐
scribed as charm, sureness and firmness. He
was also a distinctly brisk fast bowler, but
unlike Stockdale did not get much lateral
movement. He left our school in the sixth form
when his family moved to Hull, and he trans‐
ferred to Hull Grammar. So we had the pleas‐
ure of playing against him, and I remember
being quite pleased to survive his attack when
I opened the batting, and was last man out
with 38.
Two other players who were immediate con‐
temporaries were John Burden (whom I en‐
vied for his luck in living in North Marine
Road right next to the cricket field gate) and
Arthur Edwards. They had been very promis‐
ing colts, but their development was halted
when – with the best possible intentions ‐‐ Mr
Rossington promoted them straight into the 1 st
XI. Neither ever regained batting confidence,
though Arthur put in what Mr Haigh de‐
scribed as a wholehearted effort in 1951 as
makeshift wicketkeeper, even if he was ‘as
frequently puzzled by spin as the batsmen’.
Peter Robson and Don Barnes had come to the
1 st XI in 1950, and in 1951 took 37 wickets
each. Robson took eight wickets for just ten
runs against Coatham. He ran in like a run‐
away train, arms and legs pistoning rhythmi‐
cally before firing the ball with a very fast
arm. He was rightly feared by the Coatham
batsmen, in particular – they nicknamed him
‘The Grinder’, and he was certainly the most
destructive pace bowler of his generation at
the school. He was also an ebullient hitter of
the ball.