About us.
Upper Hopton Cricket Club (UHCC) are an amateur cricket club located at the Sutcliffe Memorial Ground, off Jackroyd Lane, in the village of Upper Hopton, which is located between the small town of Mirfield and the village of Kirkheaton in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, WF14 8HY.
Short History.
Although cricket in the village dates back to 1892 when Upper Hopton Workings Men's Club had a team. UHCC was actually formed in 1904 with its headquarters at the Travellers Rest Public House in the village. Cricket was played on a field just above the Travellers Rest which had a levelled square, but with an outfield on somewhat of a slope rendering fielding difficult from certain positions. The grass was kept reasonably short by cattle grazing there each week until Saturday mornings. This form of ground maintenance was prevalent until the early 1950's.
The very first recorded cricket match took place here on Fri 24th June 1904.
The 1905 season turned out to be a successful one with the team winning league and shield competitions in the Mirfield & District Cricket League where we remained until the 1950 season when a decision was reached to join the Dewsbury & District Cricket League.
It's worth mentioning that around this time in the Dewsbury & District Cricket league that matches were "timeless" This meant that the team batting first had to be bowled out or were to have declared their innings before the fielding side could bat, meaning no "quantity of overs" or "time" restrictions applied. Similarly in cup ties, (which were always mid-week fixtures), the team batting first would suspend its innings upon reaching 120 runs allowing the fielding side the opportunity to reach 120 runs also, if this score was reached the team who batted first then had to decide whether to resume their innings or continue to field. (quite different from rules that apply today). UHCC had much success in the Dewsbury & District Cricket League during the period 1950 to 1982. The first team remaining in the top division for the whole period and the second team winning seven out of eight cup finals they reached between 1954 and 1978.
1982 was to be the final year in the Dewsbury & District Cricket League before embarking on a complete change of scenery by joining the Huddersfield Central League in 1983. But before that, another major change occurred in the Club in 1963 when the club moved to its new ground, our current ground on Jackroyd Lane where we still play presently.
Back in 1923 Mr. Charles . E. Sutcliffe of Hopton Grove & Whitley Hall generously donated Croft House, The Recreation Ground and its adjoining field to the village. The latter became the football ground which was used by the Working Men's Club until the late 1950's prior to its conversion into a cricket field around 1960. Charles was the head of a family Maltsters, he became a great benefactor of the village. He gave much support to the local Church and School, whilst also holding the post of president of the Cricket and Working Men's Clubs.
Life in and around Upper Hopton has always centred around the Church, the Working Men's Club, The Travellers Rest Public House, Croft House Community Centre and the Cricket Club. Over the years the cricket club has been very well supported by these and other local organisations to whom much gratitude is due. Our present ground was not played on until 1963 after extensive levelling work had taken place to make it flat. officially opening on the 16th June 1963 in a ceremony performed by Mrs. T. R. Sutcliffe assisted by Canon H. N. Myers club president, and the Chairman of Mirfield Urban District Council Mr. Geoffrey Howard Walker. A match had taken place against Mr. A.V. Kitchen's Dewsbury & District cricket league eleven prior to the official opening. The very first Run being scored by Roy Ellam. The first Wicket was taken by Harold Dransfield and the first Catch aptly caught by Mr. A.V Kitchen himself.
As previously mentioned, 1983 saw the club move into the Huddersfield Central League. The decision to leave the Dewsbury & District league was not an easy one, and the acceptance of UHCC into this league brought the league membership number to 60 teams, one of the largest in the country. One of the prime reasons for changing leagues was to see and play at other attractive village grounds in pleasant surroundings such as Bretton, Kexborough, Cawthorne and Thurstonland for example, all these, and others would be encountered for the first time in this new league. On the cricket side, both teams immediately won their sections "D & E" respectively as champions, and this feat was repeated in our second season also.
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