David Thorpe:
On Both Sides Of The Boundary
Profiled by Peter Redding (Huddersfield University - 2006)
It was in the summer of 1985 that David Thorpe demonstrated his true prowess with the bat, beginning the season with two centuries in traditionally difficult early-season conditions, and but for a run out may have made a third in succession. It was the run out that resulted in him not speaking to Paul Scott, the other batsman involved, for two weeks!
His consistent form continued that season as he became the first batsman in the Huddersfield League to pass the 500-run mark for the season, and also provided Thorpe with the highest score of his career: 110 against Paddock, the second of his successive centuries.
Thorpe first encountered cricket at the age of 13, regularly attending his father’s matches at nearby Leymoor, often deputising if the club were short of numbers. His first opportunity to play regularly arose in the Leymoor 2nd XI, and he would go on to play for 15 seasons with the club from 1963 to 1977.
David arrived at Golcar in 1977 and began his time at the club in the second team before moving into the firsts. He was a middle-order batsman with a preference for pace bowling – something he attributes to the fact that “there weren’t many spinners around to face”, possessing a full range of shots, but was particularly strong on the on side when bowlers strayed in line onto leg stump, and was a batsman who was always keen to attack, which often led to his downfall, as he explains: “I didn’t have the concentration of a John Cooper to play long innings.”
As well as being a capable batsman, Thorpe could occasionally be a handy bowler, proving this by taking four wickets against Holmfirth, a game that he also scored a century in. He could truly call himself an all-rounder for a day! When asked about where he fielded, he responded with the words “Out of the way!”
The highlights of Thorpe’s playing career came in the 1981 and 1982 seasons. He was a member of the Golcar team that won Section ‘B’ of the Examiner 8-a-side competition in 1981 and then the following season he was in the side that reached the Yorkshire Champion of Champions final.
The 1981 and 1982 teams included players such as John Cooper and Brian Turner.
Since his retirement he has enjoyed watching the club’s matches, particularly over the last three seasons as they gained promotion to the top division in 2004, and then in the last two seasons when they attained positions of 4th and 6th in the league.
Golcar Cricket Club has changed a lot during David Thorpe’s time as a player and spectator. Facilities have improved and so have wickets. Batsmen are more prominent than in days gone by and this is rather akin to trends in the international game at the moment.
Thorpe says: “Wickets are far better at Golcar nowadays. They are more batsmen-friendly and more hundreds are scored, and there isn’t as much movement off the seam now as there was in years gone by, when 150 or 160 would have been considered a good score”.
After finishing his career with the first team David went on to play for, and captain, the seconds, where he was able to oversee the progression of many young players from the junior teams. As captain of the 2nd XI he needed to make sure that as many players were given an opportunity as possible, and this was not always easy when he was keen to be successful. As he says, “you can’t please everyone”, and this is the case when you are captain of any team.
Throughout the duration of his time at Golcar, ‘Thorpey’ has played with, and also watched, many top players. He rates Brian Turner as the best bowler he has played with and Kevin Plant as the best fielder. The man he views as the best batsman is Atul Bedade, and it is one of his innings that David remembers fondly. It came against Hall Bower, where prior to the match the Hall Bower players let it be known how confident they were of victory, so much so that a small bet was agreed: £10 a player at 3/1. The Hall Bower players ended up paying out long before they even got an opportunity to bat, the reason being that Bedade had clubbed an incredible 234 not out!
Since his retirement in the late 1980s, David has become a regular spectator at Golcar’s matches from the other side of the boundary, and is keen to remain a part of the cricketing community of Golcar. It is a community that he has valued throughout his time as a player and a supporter, but it also a community that he feels is becoming less prominent than it once was. He says: “Golcar has lost a bit of its village focus. We will never be short of players but we may be short of volunteers in the future. Will the players we have now become volunteers behind the scenes in the future?”
In addition to being a regular at the club’s matches, Thorpe also helps out with the Golcar under-11s team, and they currently have under-9s, 11s, 13s, 15s and 17s teams, making it a strong infrastructure, and over the years he has also been involved in auditing and fundraising, and has aided the club in arranging winter tours to the Caribbean every two years. He is a committed member of Golcar CC and continues to help the club out in any way he can.
David Thorpe’s All-Star Golcar XI (players he has either played with or watched)
His consistent form continued that season as he became the first batsman in the Huddersfield League to pass the 500-run mark for the season, and also provided Thorpe with the highest score of his career: 110 against Paddock, the second of his successive centuries.
Thorpe first encountered cricket at the age of 13, regularly attending his father’s matches at nearby Leymoor, often deputising if the club were short of numbers. His first opportunity to play regularly arose in the Leymoor 2nd XI, and he would go on to play for 15 seasons with the club from 1963 to 1977.
David arrived at Golcar in 1977 and began his time at the club in the second team before moving into the firsts. He was a middle-order batsman with a preference for pace bowling – something he attributes to the fact that “there weren’t many spinners around to face”, possessing a full range of shots, but was particularly strong on the on side when bowlers strayed in line onto leg stump, and was a batsman who was always keen to attack, which often led to his downfall, as he explains: “I didn’t have the concentration of a John Cooper to play long innings.”
As well as being a capable batsman, Thorpe could occasionally be a handy bowler, proving this by taking four wickets against Holmfirth, a game that he also scored a century in. He could truly call himself an all-rounder for a day! When asked about where he fielded, he responded with the words “Out of the way!”
The highlights of Thorpe’s playing career came in the 1981 and 1982 seasons. He was a member of the Golcar team that won Section ‘B’ of the Examiner 8-a-side competition in 1981 and then the following season he was in the side that reached the Yorkshire Champion of Champions final.
The 1981 and 1982 teams included players such as John Cooper and Brian Turner.
Since his retirement he has enjoyed watching the club’s matches, particularly over the last three seasons as they gained promotion to the top division in 2004, and then in the last two seasons when they attained positions of 4th and 6th in the league.
Golcar Cricket Club has changed a lot during David Thorpe’s time as a player and spectator. Facilities have improved and so have wickets. Batsmen are more prominent than in days gone by and this is rather akin to trends in the international game at the moment.
Thorpe says: “Wickets are far better at Golcar nowadays. They are more batsmen-friendly and more hundreds are scored, and there isn’t as much movement off the seam now as there was in years gone by, when 150 or 160 would have been considered a good score”.
After finishing his career with the first team David went on to play for, and captain, the seconds, where he was able to oversee the progression of many young players from the junior teams. As captain of the 2nd XI he needed to make sure that as many players were given an opportunity as possible, and this was not always easy when he was keen to be successful. As he says, “you can’t please everyone”, and this is the case when you are captain of any team.
Throughout the duration of his time at Golcar, ‘Thorpey’ has played with, and also watched, many top players. He rates Brian Turner as the best bowler he has played with and Kevin Plant as the best fielder. The man he views as the best batsman is Atul Bedade, and it is one of his innings that David remembers fondly. It came against Hall Bower, where prior to the match the Hall Bower players let it be known how confident they were of victory, so much so that a small bet was agreed: £10 a player at 3/1. The Hall Bower players ended up paying out long before they even got an opportunity to bat, the reason being that Bedade had clubbed an incredible 234 not out!
Since his retirement in the late 1980s, David has become a regular spectator at Golcar’s matches from the other side of the boundary, and is keen to remain a part of the cricketing community of Golcar. It is a community that he has valued throughout his time as a player and a supporter, but it also a community that he feels is becoming less prominent than it once was. He says: “Golcar has lost a bit of its village focus. We will never be short of players but we may be short of volunteers in the future. Will the players we have now become volunteers behind the scenes in the future?”
In addition to being a regular at the club’s matches, Thorpe also helps out with the Golcar under-11s team, and they currently have under-9s, 11s, 13s, 15s and 17s teams, making it a strong infrastructure, and over the years he has also been involved in auditing and fundraising, and has aided the club in arranging winter tours to the Caribbean every two years. He is a committed member of Golcar CC and continues to help the club out in any way he can.
David Thorpe’s All-Star Golcar XI (players he has either played with or watched)
- John Cooper
- Prakash Karkera (India)
- Steve Whitwam
- Shane Deitz (wkt) (named in South Australia squad to play England on 17-19 November 2006)
- Atul Bedade (India)
- Sanjeev Sharma (India)
- Kevin Plant
- Phil Eastwood
- Bruce Jakeman
- Brian Turner
- Jabbir Singh (India)
