Cricket: Huddersfield Cricket legend Peter Dibb retires

Oct 22 2009 By David Lockwood

Not surprisingly he began to find the travelling a bit of a bind, plus he missed many of his old friends, so he moved back to Newsome again.

When he began playing cricket back in the late 1940s, matches lasted two hours 20 mins and Cup-ties were timeless, and he has both watched, and adapted to many changes down the years.

"I think one of the big differences today is the vast improvement in the quality of the wickets. They didn’t get the proper preparation they receive now. Any batsman scoring 500 runs could be considered to have had a very good season, while it was commonplace to see bowlers with single-figure averages.

"But fortunately pitches have been improving over the years.

"At Honley, John Sanderson was one of the people who helped start the improvement, as he saw what people were doing with their wickets when on tour down south. And that work was then carried on by the current Honley groundsman Peter Green, who does a terrific job.

"I also don’t remember there being so much noise on the field years ago, with people appealing all the time and inane remarks which are aimed at unsettling the batsmen, who in turn used to ‘walk’ more than is seen nowadays. Nor do I remember the umpires getting the trouble they seem to encounter now."

Batting: First XI: 842 innings, 302 not outs, highest score 84no, 12,759 runs; average 23.63. Second XI: 88 ins, 59 no, 76 hs, 757 runs, ave 26.10.

Bowling: First XI: 13,228 overs, 3,494 maidens, 33,656 runs, 2,140 wickets, average 15.73. Second XI: 1,955 ov, 670 mdns, 4,569 rns, 282 wkts, ave 16.20.

He is one of only three players to have achieved a remarkable double by scoring over 10,000 runs in the Huddersfield League and claiming over 1,000 wickets – the other two being John Shaw and John Sanderson.

Combining his all-time statistics together, which, as well as playing both in the League and for the League includes games for the Penguins and for Yorkshire’ Over 50s (for whom he has played on numerous occasions), Dibb’s tally tops 17,000 runs and 3,000 wickets.

"I’ve always been enthusiastic and really enjoyed my sport and the way of life, and I will continue to enjoy watching cricket, both at Yorkshire and Honley, and look forward to carrying on meeting old friends."