This is the history of the greatest county cricket club in England. Since its foundation in Sheffield in 1863, Yorkshire has won the County Championship 31 times outright. The club’s history is festooned with triumphs, controversy and outstanding players. This video, with the use of archive prints and photographs, very rare film footage and interviews, traces the complete history of Yorkshire from the colourful early professionals like “Sheffield’s Pride”, Tom Marsden, through the golden age of Lord Hawke’s captaincy, the phenomenal feats of the legendary Hirst and Rhodes to the invincible Brian Sellers’ team of the 1930s. A team that included two of Yorkshire’s finest bowlers, Bill Bowes and Hedley Verity, and the outstanding England opening batsmen Herbert Sutcliffe and Leonard Hutton. Post-war newsreels show the triumphs of the all-conquering Brian Close team of the 1960s and how Yorkshire carried on producing an apparently endless list of outstanding players such as Wardle, Watson, Trueman, Illingworth, Hampshire, Boycott, Old, Bairstow and Moxon. There are also interviews with the players from these glorious times revealing some of the secrets of their successes, including the great Sir Leonard Hutton’s last interview before his sad death in September 1990. Recent victories are also illustrated, in the Gillette and Benson and Hedges Cups and John Player League, and the internal strife which tore the club apart in the 1980s. Finally, there is a look behind the scenes of the present Yorkshire Club, showing the latest developments which the county hope will help them recapture some of the triumphs of earlier times. This video is essential viewing for all cricket lovers, and is a unique record of the most successful team in the history of English cricket.
