It's Just not cricket (Hibs related)

[Viva_Palmeiras]

At the beginning of the summer in times of olde (its been mentioned in Hibs lit - The Life and Times of Last Minute Reilly for example) Hibs used to take on Leith (Franklin I assume) cricket club on the links.
Perhaps folks like Jb can advise - does this still take place (when?) or when did it last take place and why did it stop?

And if its stopped is there any appetite or likelihood that it could be resurrected?

[greenpaper55]

If i remember rightly it was at the end of summer just before the start of the new season that these games took place, it must be all of fifty years ago since i last saw it and i had to be dragged down the links on a summer evening by my auld man as i thought cricket was boring. Maybe someone like Ancient Hibee will fill you in more.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Thx greenP

[Jack]

I suspect it was stopped for injury reasons.

It might look like a genteel sport but certain a Hibs goalie, and its not the one that automatically springs to mind, missed the beginning of a season because of a cricket injury.

There's been footballers at other clubs suffered similar fates.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

I suspect it was stopped for injury reasons.

It might look like a genteel sport but certain a Hibs goalie, and its not the one that automatically springs to mind, missed the beginning of a season because of a cricket injury.

There's been footballers at other clubs suffered similar fates.

He also went against club orders to play in one game - was Goram a wicket keeper / batsman?

[Stax]

He also went against club orders to play in one game - was Goram a wicket keeper / batsman?
Both :greengrin

[Stonewall]

He batted and bowled. Admitted to me he couldn't catch a cricket ball as his hands automatically got into a position to catch a football.

[O'Rourke3]

Mentioned once in Tony Smith's book about his dad - so during WW2 was the last reliable date I have. Played for Franklin for a bit late 70's and it was never mentioned....

[linlithgowhibbie]

I lived in Gladstone Place which fronts onto the Links and used to watch these games in the early 60s. I remember Ronnie Simpson, Tam Preston and I think Jim O'Rourke and Pat Stanton and others whose name I forget playing. I think it stopped in the mid 60s due to fears of injuries. I used to collect autographs from the players then, never ever refused by players in those days.

[bradman]

I played for Leith Frankilin v Hibs in the early 1960s on 3 occasions. Among those who played for Hibs were Ronnie Simpson, Bobby Kinloch, Eric Stevenson, John Fraser and Tommy Preston. I was also the Leith Franklin scorer in a couple of games in the late 50s when Lawrie Reilly and Gordon Smith both played.
The fixture started just after WW 2 and I think it ended in the mid sixties but I remember big crowds at Leith Links for some of the earlier games.

[JimBHibees]

Pretty sure there was a pair of brothers Les and Dennis Compton that played for England at cricket and Arsenal for football at the same time. Think Dennis might have played for England at both.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

I played for Leith Frankilin v Hibs in the early 1960s on 3 occasions. Among those who played for Hibs were Ronnie Simpson, Bobby Kinloch, Eric Stevenson, John Fraser and Tommy Preston. I was also the Leith Franklin scorer in a couple of games in the late 50s when Lawrie Reilly and Gordon Smith both played.
The fixture started just after WW 2 and I think it ended in the mid sixties but I remember big crowds at Leith Links for some of the earlier games.

Thanks Don ;) very interesting must have been some occasion!

If you had your time again I guess you would have avoided a "duck" in your last game (cricketing chaps ken whits gaun oan ;) )

[DaveF]

Pretty sure there was a pair of brothers Les and Dennis Compton that played for England at cricket and Arsenal for football at the same time. Think Dennis might have played for England at both.

I read an article a while back about football \ cricket combo's and noteable ones were:

Phil Neville played in the same Lancashire youth team as Andrew Flintoff before committing to football.

Viv Richards played for Antigua in some world cup qualifiers!

[Peevemor]

Ian Botham played a few games for S****horpe.

[bradman]

Thanks Don ;) very interesting must have been some occasion!

If you had your time again I guess you would have avoided a "duck" in your last game (cricketing chaps ken whits gaun oan ;) )

Yes indeed, would then have been the only batsman to average over 100 in test matches

[hibee62]

I read an article a while back about football \ cricket combo's and noteable ones were:

Phil Neville played in the same Lancashire youth team as Andrew Flintoff before committing to football.

Viv Richards played for Antigua in some world cup qualifiers!

I read an article somewhere recently (possibly in The Cricketer) about a young guy, Gary Neville, opening the batting and steering his team to victory alongside one of te recent Australian greats. Possibly Matt Hayden but I can't remember just now...

Found it, it was on sky sports during the summer ashes:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2385313/Gary-Neville-Matthew-Hayden-Bury-Times-1992.html

[big-mo]

In one of the sections in the book I am working on, 'He's One Of Our Own', Tam Preston recalled the Franklin games, circa 1963/64 -

'Shortly After he left Hibs and during the Bob Shankly era, (Shankly was not interested in anything other than football); TP got a call asking if he would come back and get a team together from the Hibs players to play against the Leith Franklin Academical Cricket Club.
TP duly obliged and as he had done on previous occasions, he however was unable to get a full team from the Hibs players and resorted to asking Heart’s Donald Ford and his brother Malcolm to play.
These games were played on Leith Links and sometimes attracted a crowd of nearly 10,000. In one of the earlier matches against Franklin in 1960, Hibs narrowly lost to the hosts when they failed by only 17 runs, one of the Hibs players that took the eye of the Franklin selectors was Bobby Kinloch and they even went to the extent of inviting him to play for the Leith side.'