Chris Balderstone
Encyclopedia
John Christopher Balderstone (16 November 1940, Longwood, Huddersfield
– 6 March 2000, Carlisle, Cumberland
) was an English
professional in cricket
and football, and one of the last sportsmen to combine both sports over a prolonged period. He played football as a midfielder
for Huddersfield Town
, Carlisle United
, Doncaster Rovers
and Queen of the South
. He played and umpired first class cricket making it to international level - he in played in two Tests
in 1976 and umpired two ODIs from 1994 to 1998. In a long club career he was a key part of the five trophy winning Leicestershire
side of the early and mid 1970s.
where he was signed by Bill Shankly
in May 1958. He had to wait until Denis Law
left the club for Manchester City
for a first team opportunity and made his first team debut in March 1959 and scored in a 2-1 defeat away to Cardiff City
. All Balderstone's time at Huddersfield was spent in the second tier of English football. He made 117 Football League appearances for Huddersfield, and played a total of 131 senior games for them (scoring 25 goals).
who had just been promoted to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history. As Balderstone later said, "They gave me a bit of stick at first because I wasn't the quickest player or the hardest tackler. I used to think I made up for it with speed of thought and control of the ball. I always had confidence in my ability and I knew there'd be somebody in the crowd who appreciated a bit of skill. I won them over and they were very good to me after that."
He scored on his debut, a 4-1 home win over Norwich City
, which gave him the distinction of scoring the club's first ever goal in the second level of English football. He stayed with Carlisle for the next 11 years, the club's most successful period where not only was he a key player but also became club captain.
His most notable cup run was in the 1969-70 League Cup where Carlisle made it to the semi final. He enjoyed other successes in cup competitions, "In 1970 we beat Manchester City in the League Cup when they had Lee, Bell and Summerbee. And in '74 we beat Sunderland at Roker Park in the FA Cup when they were the Cup holders. We played against Liverpool in the next round and took them to a replay."
In 1973-74 Balderstone enjoyed promotion to the First Division, then the highest level in the English football pyramid. It was Balderstone's penalty against Pat Jennings
and Tottenham Hotspur that had Carlisle briefly topping England's Football League after the first 3 games of the 1974-75 season. However, Carlisle were relegated at the end of the season, the only relegation in Balderstone's career. In all he made 376 League appearances for the Cumbrian club.
after his top-level season with Carlisle. It was when with Rovers he became the only player to play League Football and first class cricket on the same day (see Cricket Career under Leicestershire section).
Balderstone's next club was in Scotland. "Queen of the South
rang me up. Carlisle used to play practice matches against them and they remembered me. I caught the train to Dumfries
from Leicester every Friday night. It was quite a trek but it gave me another couple of years football." When George Cloy
and Crawford Boyd
were each later interviewed for the Queen of the South website, each commented on Balderstone's ability with the ball. Cloy in particular said Balderstone's passing ability was the best in Cloy's entire career at Queens.
He later played for non-league Enderby Town.
on 10 June 1961 against Glamorgan for the strong Yorkshire
side of the decade. It was from 1963 when he started to play regularly but only during the football close-season as a slow left arm spin bowler and a lower-order batsman. Balderstone was also an exceptional fielder. His football career, however, took precedence and he did not appear in more than 11 matches in any season as Yorkshire were County Champions five times between 1962 and 1968. Before he followed Ray Illingworth
to Leicestershire
in 1971, his career batting average was less than 18 runs per innings.
Leicestershire won their first-ever trophy in 1972, the inaugural Benson and Hedges Cup at Lord's, and Balderstone took the man of the match Gold Award. He scored 41 not out and steered the team to the trophy. This marked the beginning of a golden era for Leicestershire, with 5 trophies in 5 seasons, and Balderstone was at the core of the side.
In 1973 Balderstone played his first full season of cricket and jumped right to the front-rank of English batsmen, making 1,222 runs at an average of 42. He passed the 1,000-run mark in 10 of the next 12 seasons, batting either in the middle order or as an opening batsman. His runs were an important part of Leicestershire's first County Championship
success in 1975, and he weighed in with 43 useful wickets in that season too.
In 1974 he top scored for his side in the Benson and Hedges final but they were defeated by Surrey. However, they did win the Sunday League, bettering their runners-up spot of two years before.
Balderstone made history in 1975 by taking part in a County Championship match and a Football League game on the same day. Balderstone was 51 not out against Derbyshire
at the end of day two of Leicestershire's match at Chesterfield. After close of play he changed into his football kit to play for Doncaster Rovers
in an evening match 30 miles away (a 1-1 draw with Brentford
). He then returned to Chesterfield the following morning to complete a century the and take three wickets to help wrap up Leicestershire's first ever County Championship title.
In 1977 Leicestershire won their last trophy in this period, a second Sunday League victory.
Among his many personal notes was in 1976, he did the hat-trick against Sussex at Eastbourne; five years later, against Essex at Grace Road, Leicestershire's home ground, he shared an unbroken county record second wicket stand of 289 with David Gower
.
Having had a delayed cricket career, Balderstone played on for Leicestershire into his mid-40s without noticeably losing batting form or his fielding athleticism. Though he bowled less frequently from 1980 onwards, his batting helped take Leicestershire to runners up in the 1982 County Championship. He picked up a sixth and final winners' medal with a third Benson & Hedges victory in 1985. This makes him winner of the highest number of medals in the club's history. Balderstone was given a testimonial benefit season in 1984 and played on for Leicestershire until 1986.
to make his international debut aged 35 having focused in his younger days on football. Against other international sides he might have played more Tests, for he was chosen on the strength of consistent quality performances for Leicestershire. It was his misfortune, however, to come up against the West Indies just as they were reaching that level of intimidation they were to maintain for the next two decades. Against the fearsome pace of Andy Roberts and Michael Holding
he struggled, like so many other English batsmen: his four innings produced only 39 runs. He did though score 35 from sticking it out for 3½ hours at the crease on his test debut. In his second test, at a parched Oval, he encountered Michael Holding and one of the finest individual fast-bowling performances in history - Holding took 14 wickets in the test. Opposing fast bowler Vanburn Holder
later said, "I played against him when we had a pretty ferocious attack and he never blinked. He had plenty of courage."
.
Barrie Leadbeater
, the umpires' chairman and a close friend, said: "He was a fine, positive player who won a lot of friends by his approach. He was a gentleman in everything he did on and off the field and his death came as a tremendous shock. He will be sadly missed. There was a refreshing honesty about everything he did and he was a true sportsman of the like we don't see today."
Vanburn Holder
, like Balderstone, became an umpire and stood in Balderstone's last game as an umpire, at the St Lawrence Ground
, Canterbury
. Holder said: "He was a great companion, a fine umpire and an exceptional sportsman."
Longwood, Huddersfield
Longwood is a village and suburb of the town of Huddersfield in the English county of West Yorkshire. It is situated some west of Huddersfield town centre, in the valley of the Longwood Brook, a tributary of the River Colne....
– 6 March 2000, Carlisle, Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
professional in cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and football, and one of the last sportsmen to combine both sports over a prolonged period. He played football as a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
for Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
, Carlisle United
Carlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
, Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
and Queen of the South
Queen of the South F.C.
Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS...
. He played and umpired first class cricket making it to international level - he in played in two Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in 1976 and umpired two ODIs from 1994 to 1998. In a long club career he was a key part of the five trophy winning Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
side of the early and mid 1970s.
Huddersfield Town
A quick thinking, skilful, cultured player, Baldertsone's football career started with Huddersfield TownHuddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
where he was signed by Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
in May 1958. He had to wait until Denis Law
Denis Law
Denis Law is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s....
left the club for Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
for a first team opportunity and made his first team debut in March 1959 and scored in a 2-1 defeat away to Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
. All Balderstone's time at Huddersfield was spent in the second tier of English football. He made 117 Football League appearances for Huddersfield, and played a total of 131 senior games for them (scoring 25 goals).
Carlisle United
In June 1965 he moved for £7,000 to Carlisle UnitedCarlisle United F.C.
Carlisle United F.C. is an English football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, where they play at Brunton Park. Formed in 1904, the club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system....
who had just been promoted to the second tier of English football for the first time in their history. As Balderstone later said, "They gave me a bit of stick at first because I wasn't the quickest player or the hardest tackler. I used to think I made up for it with speed of thought and control of the ball. I always had confidence in my ability and I knew there'd be somebody in the crowd who appreciated a bit of skill. I won them over and they were very good to me after that."
He scored on his debut, a 4-1 home win over Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
, which gave him the distinction of scoring the club's first ever goal in the second level of English football. He stayed with Carlisle for the next 11 years, the club's most successful period where not only was he a key player but also became club captain.
His most notable cup run was in the 1969-70 League Cup where Carlisle made it to the semi final. He enjoyed other successes in cup competitions, "In 1970 we beat Manchester City in the League Cup when they had Lee, Bell and Summerbee. And in '74 we beat Sunderland at Roker Park in the FA Cup when they were the Cup holders. We played against Liverpool in the next round and took them to a replay."
In 1973-74 Balderstone enjoyed promotion to the First Division, then the highest level in the English football pyramid. It was Balderstone's penalty against Pat Jennings
Pat Jennings
Patrick Anthony "Pat" Jennings OBE is a Northern Ireland former football player. He played 119 games for Northern Ireland as a goalkeeper, a figure which at the time was a world record and is still a Northern Ireland record, in an international career which lasted for over 22 years...
and Tottenham Hotspur that had Carlisle briefly topping England's Football League after the first 3 games of the 1974-75 season. However, Carlisle were relegated at the end of the season, the only relegation in Balderstone's career. In all he made 376 League appearances for the Cumbrian club.
Doncaster Rovers & Queen of the South
Balderstone joined Doncaster RoversDoncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
after his top-level season with Carlisle. It was when with Rovers he became the only player to play League Football and first class cricket on the same day (see Cricket Career under Leicestershire section).
Balderstone's next club was in Scotland. "Queen of the South
Queen of the South F.C.
Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS...
rang me up. Carlisle used to play practice matches against them and they remembered me. I caught the train to Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
from Leicester every Friday night. It was quite a trek but it gave me another couple of years football." When George Cloy
George Cloy
George Cloy is former professional footballer who played his entire 12 year senior career with Dumfries side Queen of the South Cloy also played for Kello Rovers, Threave Rovers, Dalbeattie Star and Crichton...
and Crawford Boyd
Crawford Boyd
Crawford Boyd from Kilwinning is a Scottish former professional footballer.Crawford Boyd is best known for his time at Dumfries club, Queen of the South The defensive cornerstone of the 1970s returned to Queens during the promotion campaign of 1980-81 to make a total of 321 first team appearances...
were each later interviewed for the Queen of the South website, each commented on Balderstone's ability with the ball. Cloy in particular said Balderstone's passing ability was the best in Cloy's entire career at Queens.
He later played for non-league Enderby Town.
Yorkshire
Balderstone first appeared in first-class cricketFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
on 10 June 1961 against Glamorgan for the strong Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
side of the decade. It was from 1963 when he started to play regularly but only during the football close-season as a slow left arm spin bowler and a lower-order batsman. Balderstone was also an exceptional fielder. His football career, however, took precedence and he did not appear in more than 11 matches in any season as Yorkshire were County Champions five times between 1962 and 1968. Before he followed Ray Illingworth
Ray Illingworth
Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...
to Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
in 1971, his career batting average was less than 18 runs per innings.
Leicestershire
Balderstone later remembered, "Ray Illingworth took me to Leicestershire. I might be a decent bloke on the outside but he knew I was mentally hard through football. Cricketers might think they're pretty hard but they're not compared to footballers. It was a great move for me."Leicestershire won their first-ever trophy in 1972, the inaugural Benson and Hedges Cup at Lord's, and Balderstone took the man of the match Gold Award. He scored 41 not out and steered the team to the trophy. This marked the beginning of a golden era for Leicestershire, with 5 trophies in 5 seasons, and Balderstone was at the core of the side.
In 1973 Balderstone played his first full season of cricket and jumped right to the front-rank of English batsmen, making 1,222 runs at an average of 42. He passed the 1,000-run mark in 10 of the next 12 seasons, batting either in the middle order or as an opening batsman. His runs were an important part of Leicestershire's first County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
success in 1975, and he weighed in with 43 useful wickets in that season too.
In 1974 he top scored for his side in the Benson and Hedges final but they were defeated by Surrey. However, they did win the Sunday League, bettering their runners-up spot of two years before.
Balderstone made history in 1975 by taking part in a County Championship match and a Football League game on the same day. Balderstone was 51 not out against Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
at the end of day two of Leicestershire's match at Chesterfield. After close of play he changed into his football kit to play for Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers F.C.
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...
in an evening match 30 miles away (a 1-1 draw with Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
). He then returned to Chesterfield the following morning to complete a century the and take three wickets to help wrap up Leicestershire's first ever County Championship title.
In 1977 Leicestershire won their last trophy in this period, a second Sunday League victory.
Among his many personal notes was in 1976, he did the hat-trick against Sussex at Eastbourne; five years later, against Essex at Grace Road, Leicestershire's home ground, he shared an unbroken county record second wicket stand of 289 with David Gower
David Gower
David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
.
Having had a delayed cricket career, Balderstone played on for Leicestershire into his mid-40s without noticeably losing batting form or his fielding athleticism. Though he bowled less frequently from 1980 onwards, his batting helped take Leicestershire to runners up in the 1982 County Championship. He picked up a sixth and final winners' medal with a third Benson & Hedges victory in 1985. This makes him winner of the highest number of medals in the club's history. Balderstone was given a testimonial benefit season in 1984 and played on for Leicestershire until 1986.
England
In 1976, Balderstone was called into the England Test teamEnglish cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
to make his international debut aged 35 having focused in his younger days on football. Against other international sides he might have played more Tests, for he was chosen on the strength of consistent quality performances for Leicestershire. It was his misfortune, however, to come up against the West Indies just as they were reaching that level of intimidation they were to maintain for the next two decades. Against the fearsome pace of Andy Roberts and Michael Holding
Michael Holding
Michael Anthony Holding is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed 'Whispering Death' by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease...
he struggled, like so many other English batsmen: his four innings produced only 39 runs. He did though score 35 from sticking it out for 3½ hours at the crease on his test debut. In his second test, at a parched Oval, he encountered Michael Holding and one of the finest individual fast-bowling performances in history - Holding took 14 wickets in the test. Opposing fast bowler Vanburn Holder
Vanburn Holder
Vanburn Alonzo Holder is a former West Indian cricketer who played in forty Tests and twelve ODIs from 1969 to 1979.Holder played in the golden era of West Indian fast bowling...
later said, "I played against him when we had a pretty ferocious attack and he never blinked. He had plenty of courage."
Umpire
Balderstone moved directly into umpiring the season after he stopped playing, standing in two One Day Internationals in the mid-1990s.Death
Chris Balderstone died suddenly at his home in Carlisle on 6 March 2000, having suffered from prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
Barrie Leadbeater
Barrie Leadbeater
Barrie Leadbeater is a retired English first-class cricketer and umpire.Leadbeater played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club as a middle-order batsman from 1966 to 1979, although he preferred to open the innings...
, the umpires' chairman and a close friend, said: "He was a fine, positive player who won a lot of friends by his approach. He was a gentleman in everything he did on and off the field and his death came as a tremendous shock. He will be sadly missed. There was a refreshing honesty about everything he did and he was a true sportsman of the like we don't see today."
Vanburn Holder
Vanburn Holder
Vanburn Alonzo Holder is a former West Indian cricketer who played in forty Tests and twelve ODIs from 1969 to 1979.Holder played in the golden era of West Indian fast bowling...
, like Balderstone, became an umpire and stood in Balderstone's last game as an umpire, at the St Lawrence Ground
St Lawrence Ground
The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent and is the home of Kent County Cricket Club. It is one of the oldest grounds on which first-class cricket is played, having been in use since 1847...
, Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. Holder said: "He was a great companion, a fine umpire and an exceptional sportsman."
Football
Carlisle United:-- Second Division 1973/74 - promotion
- League Cup 1969/70 - Semi finalist
Cricket
Leicestershire:-- County ChampionshipCounty ChampionshipThe County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
- winner - 1975; runner up 1982 - Sunday/National League - winner - 1974, 1977; runner up 1972
- Benson & Hedges CupBenson & Hedges CupThe Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals....
- winner - 1972, 1975, 1985; runner up 1974