HOWZAT! Huddersfield is set to stage a cricketing first.

A conference - entitled The Heritage and History of Pennine Cricket - will be held on March 19 at Huddersfield University.

It is thought to be a first ever academic conference to focus on the history of local league cricket.

It is organised by lecturer Dr Peter Davies and PhD student Robert Light, both from the university's history department.

Mr Light will speak about local league cricket, along with Brian Heywood and Ian Tomlinson, while guest speakers Prof Jeff Hill and Dr Jack Williams will speak about cricket in the inter-war years.

The event is part of a lottery-funded project Dr Davies and Mr Light are undertaking to investigate cricketing history in Kirklees. Last August, the pair received a £43,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the two-year project.

They aim to create a cricketing archive for the area, focusing on the social history of the game over the past 200 years - information plaques will also be placed outside all Kirklees cricket grounds as part of the project.

Mr Light, 39, is an expert on cricket in the Victorian era, while Dr Davies, 38, of Salendine Nook, has lectured in history at Huddersfield University for 13 years.

Dr Davies, who believes historians have often ignored sport in the past, published a book last August to coincide with the start of the project.

For the book, entitled Pennine Pitch, he visited all 46 league cricket clubs in South Kirklees taking photographs, chatting to locals and learning about the history.

* Admission to the conference is free and it runs from 10am to 4pm.

For further details, contact 01484 472606.