ATTIS ECB Yorkshire Premier League North 
Y&DSCL Hall of Fame entrants - March 2009 
 
 
 
 
 
Jerry Dunnington 
 
Heworth 
 
Jerry is one of the League’s longest serving club groundsmen, having taken up the post way back in 1964. As a player, he made his first appearance for Heworth in 1957. He can boast a total of 36 entries in the League‘s averages split almost evenly between his earlier days as a batsman and his peak period as a bowler between 1980 and 2000. Jerry's appointment as groundsman coincided with the club's move from Meadow Way to their present ground at Elm Park Way where his expertise quickly saw the ground become one of the best in the League. Over the years he has given advice and active assistance to many groundsmen from other clubs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
John Flintoff 
 
Sessay 
In addition to a lengthy playing career John had three spells as 1st XI captain, served on the club committee for 20 years and has been a junior coach for many years. He was the first player to score 1,000 runs in a season (1,041 in 1984) and calculates that he has scored over 
22,000 runs, including 41 centuries. He boats a highest score of 183 and best bowling figures of 7-22. He topped the averages in three successive seasons, twice as a batsman either side of the bowling averages in 1983. He has been a regular member of Yorkshire County Over 50s and Over 60s teams. Haying missed out on Sessay's first visit to Lords, he was a proud member of the side who won National Village Knockout in August 2010. 
 
 
 
 
 
Peter Milne 
 
Londesborough Park 
 
Having first visited Londesborough Park's beautiful cricket ground as a one year old in 1947, Peter spent the rest of his life with the club. He was club captain from 1972 to 1978 and was Club Secretary from 1980 until his untimely death in 2016. During his 30 year spell in this crucial role, he has seen his club become one of the best clubs in the League following their switch from the East Yorkshire Alliance in 1998. Londesborough Park's admission to the league was dependent on a massive programme of facility improvement in which Peter played a major role.  
 
 
 
 
 
Roly Pattison 
 
Dringhouses 
Roly made his debut for his only club in 1946 and was a key member of an awesome attack when Dringhouses joined the League in 1957, when he topped the bowling averages in Div 2. He won the League bowling averages in1959 and again in1966 when his 51 wickets cost a mere 8.48 runs apiece. He recorded two eight wicket performances in the top division with 8-16 v Heworth in 1962 being the better one. He entered the record books in 1969 when he claimed his 8 wickets against Stillington without conceding a run after the first wicket. 
 
 
 
 
 
Don Paver 
 
Dringhouses 
 
Don Paver only played for seven seasons in the League but they proved to be a very fruitful septet. Undoubtedly the best slow bowler in the League at the time, he claimed a total of 307 wickets at a miserly average of 9.24 and topped the averages in 1960 with 56 wickets at 6.41. He was in the top three in the averages for 6 out of the 7 seasons that he played. He was also a hard hitting batsman who hit 113no v Bedale in 1958. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tony Simpson 
 
Woodhouse Grange, Dringhouses, Acomb, Heworth, Huntington 
Though remembered mostly as a batsman, Tony actually topped the League's bowling avenges in 1963. His supremacy owed much to his career best 9-45 against Sheriff Hutton Bridge. He qualified for the league batting averages in 21 successive seasons during which he had two strong opening partners, firstly John Bygate and then Dick Whaley. He proudly recalls making 86 in the Yorkshire Inter-League K0 final at Hull Zingari when the York League defeated the Pennant Alliance. 
 
 
 
 
Geoff Skilbeck 
 
Easingwold 
 
 
As well as an illustrious career in the York League, Geoff also had great success with York in the Yorkshire League, where he topped the bowling averages in 1977. He twice made 1,000 runs in a season, becoming the first player to make 1,300 runs when he totalled 1,303 in 1994. During that year he reached the 50 mark in each of his first 11 innings and went on to make a record 17 scores of over fifty, with three of them being converted into centuries. He has 11 York league centuries to his credit with 162no v Sessay in 1993 being his best effort. He twice took 8 wickets in an innings, both against TABS, with 8-28 his best return. Geoff followed his grand-father and father into the Easingwold side and the Skilbeck family has provided nine notable players from four generations and has been a continuous thread in the club's list of players for the whole of the League's history 
 
 
 
 
Peter Smales 
 
Dringhouses 
 
Peter is another one-club man, having played for Dringhouses for some 32 years following his debut in 1956. During this period he claimed just under 1,200 wickets at an average of under 11 whilst his economy rate from almost 6,000 overs was 2.3 runs per over. He twice topped divisional bowling averages and was leading wicket taker in a division three times. He was second in the top division bowling averages in both 1976 & 1979. His best season saw him grab 74 wickets at 8.45 in Division 2 in 1978. In the previous season he had recorded his best analysis when he took 9-28 v Woodhouse Grange in the top division in a seasonal total of 53 wickets. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
David Sykes 
 
Acomb 
David announced his retirement at the end of the 2009 season after an illustrious career with Acomb which had seen him break a number of records. In taking 40 wickets in his final season, he became the leading wicket taker in the top division at the time with 533 victims from a total of 3,685.4 overs – also a record at the time. In 1999 he won the League's Bowling Averages as leading wicket taker with 60 victims at an average of 11.50 and was then leading wicket taker in 3 successive seasons, 2003, 2004 and 2005. He also won the League‘s Bowling Award in 2002 & 2005. His best analysis was 8-23 v Woodhouse Grange in 2008. David has a fine indoor record, making 3,138 runs at an average of 31.07 and took 112 wickets at an average of 28.03. 
 
 
 
 
 
Ian Till 
 
Sessay 
Having made his debut for Sessay at the age of 11, Ian has remained a Sessay stalwart and for a number of years combined his role as Club President with that of scorer and occasional umpire. His record shows him making around 6,000 runs and capturing over 800 wickets at under 13 runs apiece. He topped the League bowling averages in 1977 with 42 wickets at an average of 9.23 and was leading wicket taker in 1969 with 55 victims. In 1974 he took 73 wickets at 8.36 to head both tables in the 2nd division. His best bowling was 9-29 against Civil Service in 1975. He was a member of the Sessay side who narrowly failed to lift the National Village Knockout Trophy at Lords in 1976 and was a key team member when Sessay were League Champions in 1980 and 1983. 
 
 
 
 
 
Len Watson 
 
Huntington 
Len‘s inclusion is in deserved recognition of his devotion and reliability as a player for Huntington over a period of 57 seasons during which time he has seen his club enjoy the heady heights of the top division and experience life in the lower ones. Through thick and thin, Len has been a stalwart of the team and has an impressive 34 years appearance in the batting averages. In his career he amassed over 12,000 runs with a top score of 109 v Hovingham in 1991. Having been a handy bowler in his younger days, Len became a competent wicket keeper for a number of years. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Denzil Webster 
 
Acomb 
Haying earlier played Yorkshire League cricket with Castleford and York, Denzil joined Acomb in 1961 and quickly established himself as a top all-rounder who headed the batting averages in 1971 and captured 51 wickets in 1969, both in the top division. However, perhaps his real value to Acomb was his tactical knowledge and sporting approach during a lengthy period as captain. These skills also served him well as captain of the League's representative team. He was elected as League President in 1998 and transformed the post into a high profile position. He continued to serve on the League Committee until 2008.