| Looking out over the snowy field, it is strange to think that Lowerhouse, and clubs like them in the Lancashire league, were not so long ago the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings of the world – where top-class overseas professionals rushed to gain rich experience as well as earning a hefty pay cheque. The list of professionals to grace the league drops off the tongue like precious jewels: plink Michael Holding, plonk Sir Learie Constantine, plunk Steve Waugh. Lowerhouse themselves have had an astonishing 25 pros who played Test cricket, and Heaton, who essentially runs the club, played and watched lots of them. The best? “Oh, that’s hard, there’s a difference between best and effective. The most effective we had is Francois Haasbroek (2011-13), who were nothing more than a South African state cricketer, came here as pro, married a Burnley girl and now plays as amateur. With him, we won the league, the cup, the double, you name it. “The highest in standard was Manoj Prabhakar (1991), he was a top five all-rounder in the world. Kirti Azaz (1983-85) was another Indian pro, he won the World Cup for India on the Saturday and travelled up after the celebrations to play for us against Burnley the following day, and if I’m not mistaken he got a ton. Nobody would do that these days, but he had such pride. He hit 76 sixes in a season, I used to go into Lowerhouse junior school the other side of Liverpool road, to get the balls back on a Monday morning. He was a fabulous player. And Ryan Harris went on to play for Australia after he played for us. He was in his mid-twenties, most people thought it had passed him by, but we seemed to rejuvenate him and he went on to become one of the world’s greatest bowlers for about three years for Australia.” Another surprise name in the hall of fame is Matthew Mott (1998), now the slightly under-pressure coach of England’s white-ball men’s side. “A super lad,” says Heaton, “I’d probably say that back then I wouldn’t have imagined him becoming a serious coach as he was quite a lighthearted lad, keen, determined on the pitch, but he didn’t strike you as coach/manager material. We’re very proud of him. We liked him a lot.” In fact, the club have had a keen eye for pros with a little bit of something extra, engaging Tony Dodemaide (1986), who went on to become head of cricket at the MCC, chief executive of the Waca and an Australia selector; Andrew McDonald (2005), now head coach of Australia’s men’s teams, and Harris, who also coaches. Alongside this, Lowerhouse have at last gained international recognition, when Liberty Heap, whose shirt is framed on the clubhouse wall, played in the Women’s Under-19 World Cup. The days of the Lancashire League engaging huge names disappeared with the year-long nature of modern cricket, and the money swilling around – top players have neither the time nor the financial need to commit to playing in the north-west of England for six months. When Mitchell Starc can pick up £2.35m from Kolkata Knight Riders and Harry Brook £380,000 from Delhi Capitals, the £12,000-£15,000 a club such as Lowerhouse can afford to pay fades into insignificance. But though crowds are down from the League’s heyday, Lowerhouse will still, astonishingly, attract 800-1,000 spectators for a warm Friday night first XI game, fed by the flourishing junior section that Heaton and others put in place during the 2000s to revitalise the club. “That’s something to cherish,” he says. “Burnley is the world’s biggest village. We get so many spectators because they can relate to who they’re watching in the first XI, they’re either watching their nextdoor neighbour, the guy they work with at the factory or their son or nephew. They can relate to who they’re watching, they’re not coming and watching a team full of pot-hunters who don’t care about the club, don’t know the spectators and don’t speak to the spectators.” And though the pro might not turn heads quite like a West Indian in their heyday, their importance is undimmed. Heaton again: “The thing a professional brings is impetus, this is a guy that’s better than you, this is a guy that may go on to play Test cricket, could go on to be the world’s greatest player. They bring intensity, they bring knowhow, they bring aura, they lift the place – it can go wrong, but initially that’s everything that you get. Especially when they’re getting fifties, hundreds and taking five wickets, it doesn’t half help, and what we all want is a professional to bat around, so the amateurs can take their time.” It can work for the young pros too, last year’s pro, Ruan de Swardt, was recently named by South Africa for their (albeit second-string) Test squad to tour New Zealand. The 2024 IPL launches on 23 March, Lowerhouse’s first XI kick off against Rochdale away on 14 April. Something, perhaps, for everyone. Numbers add up in Go Green Game The Spin has previously mentioned Edgbaston’s “Go Green Game”, last September’s IT20 between England and New Zealand where the organisers tried to reduce the carbon footprint of the match. The numbers are now in, audited by Net Zero Now, and the game emitted an impressive 33.7% less carbon than a comparable match day in 2022 – reduced from a projected 494 tonnes of CO2 (before any reduction activity) to 327.79 tonnes – more than the club was hoping for. The numbers include everything from spectator travel, food, drink and merchandise bought, energy usage immediately before, during and after the game and pitch maintenance. Fans were encouraged to travel from Birmingham New Street by free shuttle bus, the groundstaff used electric mowers and rollers, power was sourced purely from wind, hydro and solar, and no red meat was served. |
| “The programme was a success in its achievement of emissions reductions beyond the target 25% and represents a significant step forward in climate impact management at sports venues,” said Simon Heppner, Net Zero Now founder. “By reporting transparently on the process, it is hoped the Go Green Game can stimulate a discussion about development of a consistent sector methodology and encourage greater sector engagement and accelerated action.” All showing what can be done with a little bit of vision. Meanwhile the ICC is still unable to confirm or deny whether it has re-signed a sponsorship deal with Aramco, the world’s biggest oil giant, which was judged the worst of the 25 largest oil and gas companies, in terms of carbon targets, by Carbon Tracker last September. The ICC had a global partnership with Aramco to sponsor all major ICC events that ran out at the end of 2023. Quote of the week “I’m thrilled to embark on this new chapter of my cricketing journey” – South Africa’s just-retired Test captain Dean Elgar signs a three-year contract with Essex, a very useful replacement at the top of the order for Alastair Cook, who retired at the end of the 2023 season. Memory lane Just your classic Australian-fast-bowlers-going-full-boyband-before-an-Ashes pic. Before the 1998-99 series in Australia, it was Michael Kasprowicz, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie (pre-mane, the coolest of the lot) and Damien Fleming who crossed their arms and looked all serious. Oddly enough, the leading wicket-taker in the series was leg-spinner Stuart MacGill with 27 poles at 17.7. |
Lowerhouse links, clockwise from left: Ryan Harris, the groundsman, Manoj Prabhakar and Matthew Mott. Composite: Alamy, Getty, Tom Jenkins 
