A Geordie All-Rounder: 42 - The Burnopfield Basher
All-round sportsman Malcolm Scott tells of his final season playing county cricket.
Over and above Colin Milburn's cricket success in Australia, 1969 was a tragic year for my mate from Burnopfield. Just before midnight on the 23rd May at Moulton in Northamptonshire four vehicles lay in ruins.
Unfortunately so did Colin's cricket career. The same day we had achieved one of the highlights of the season by beating the West Indian touring side by 65 runs. Due to play Surrey the next day we were all shocked to hear Colin had been injured. Later we learnt he had lost an eye in the crash. The Burnopfield Basher made a brave comeback but unfortunately was never the same again.
About six months later Barry Smith, (a friend of Colin) and I were contacted by a member of the BBC, who asked if we would, amongst others, appear on the Eamonn Andrews popular TV show "This is Your Life", the celebrity being Colin Milburn. We readily agreed and were told it would take two evenings, with a rehearsal run through the day before the show.
As it happened we had already planned a few days holiday in the north east before this came up. So Colin, Barry, Mary and myself spent time together both in Shields and in Burnopfield. Colin of course had no idea about the forthcoming show and after a few 'bevvies' we were all on edge in case we gave the game away. Somehow we managed to keep the secret and finally said cheerio, with Mary, who had just passed her driving test, driving me back to Shields.
The next week's rehearsal was chaos, with people forgetting their lines, myself included. The Milburn's family milkman was there and when he approached Eamonn Andrews, he just froze. When he finally did speak up nobody could understand a word he was saying because of his broad Geordie accent. At that point I didn't think there would be a show.
On the 'night' things improved, although behind the curtain, watching the proceedings on TV waiting for our turn to' go on', the nerves were stretched, Colin was shocked, but the secret had been kept. He put on a great performance and Eamonn Andrews seemed pleased with the proceedings.
Personally I had mixed feelings about how Colin would cope with the evening. Normally, he would have enjoyed the event, but knowing him so well, I was aware he was silently suffering from the loss of his left eye. At the end of a successful evening Colin went off with his parents to some after-the-show celebrations.
There were a lot of well known people at the show such as famous cricketers Denis Compton, Fred Trueman and Australian Ray Lindwall. I have no idea how it happened but later in the evening I found myself in a nightclub sitting alongside Fred and Ray, two of the best fast bowlers the world has ever known. It was a memorable night!
Colin and I saw less of each other after the event as we went our separate ways. He became a TV cricket commentator and an after dinner speaker before a tragic fatal heart attack twenty years later. I was very saddened to hear the news. "A cavalier batsman beloved by everyone" wrote Tony Lewis in his obituary.
Over and above the sad events of 1969 I had an idea that this would be my last year in county cricket. With Mushtaq performing well and Dennis Breakwell, a young left arm spinner showing real promise, it was inevitable I would be' on my way' at the end of the season. It was ironic that my last first class county game should be at Lords, the scene of my 1967 battle with the M.C.C. I only played in eight games that season taking seven wickets for 400 runs.
As expected, near the end of the season I got a letter from Arnold Payne, chairman of the County Cricket Club, thanking me for my loyal support and efforts during the last 11 seasons. It enclosed a cheque for £300 with the usual platitudes of the time.
In total I had played 185 county games for Northants and bowled 4,773 overs, 1,718 which were maidens and taken 461 wickets at an average of 24.7 runs per wicket. I had proceeded to the wicket on 253 occasions and scored 2,445 runs at an average of l2.86.
An unexpected highlight of my last season with Northants was in the final of the Northampton Charrington Bass International Single Wicket Competition. It was like a farewell prize. I beat Colin Milburn and Sarfraz Nawaz on the way only to lose to South African Hylton Ackerman in the final.
