Roses Match
Encyclopedia
The Roses Match refers to any game of cricket played between Yorkshire County Cricket Club
and Lancashire County Cricket Club
. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the Roses
in the 15th century. These matches have a long and proud history and are traditionally the hardest fought matches in the English first class game, with many dour draws recorded as both teams battled to avoid the ignominy of defeat.
The term is occasionally used in connection with other sports where Lancashire play Yorkshire, such as rugby union
. and rugby league
(War of the Roses).
in Sheffield
. The very first "Roses Match" was played in 1867 at the Station Road Cricket Ground, Whalley
near Blackburn and was won by Yorkshire by 5 wickets. The first match in the newly constituted County Championship, in 1890, ended in the inevitable draw. Including first class matches, second team fixtures, one day games and other representative matches there have been over 600 Roses Matches over the century and a half since the first one.
In the match played over the Whitsuntide bank holiday
in June 1924 Lancashire were skittled for just 74 in their second innings, leaving Yorkshire a target of just 58 the next day. Despite opening with Percy Holmes
and Herbert Sutcliffe
Yorkshire were dispatched for just 33 by Cecil Parkin and Dick Tyldesley
, Lancashire's first win in Yorkshire for 25 years.
At the Old Trafford Roses Match in 1926, a record 78,617 spectators paid to watch the match peter out into a high scoring draw, with centuries from Lancashire's Harry Makepeace
(126), Ernest Tyldesley
(139) and 92 from Frank Watson
being answered by Yorkshire legends Percy Holmes
(143) and Herbert Sutcliffe
(89) who put on 199 as if to make amends for events 2 years previously. Leonard Green, Lancashire's captain, was batting when the score stood at 499. Neville Cardus
relates the story that he said to himself "It's not likely that Lancashire ever again will score 500 against Yorkshire, so I'm going to get this single run if it kills me." He pushed a ball from Wilfred Rhodes
to the off-side and ran 'like the wind'. The ball was hurled back in anger by Yorkshire legend Emmott Robinson
, striking Rhodes on the wrist while Green dived to make his ground. Picking himself up he heard Rhodes muttering to himself "There's somebody runnin' up and down this wicket. Ah don't know who it is, but there's some-body runnin' up and down this wicket."
and Ian Sutcliffe's opening partnership of 223. This was their side's highest first-wicket stand against Yorkshire, beating Reggie Spooner
and Harry Makepeace
's 181 at Old Trafford in 1912.
In an effort to break the dominance of the batsmen on such featherbed pitches, and years before the infamous bodyline
series, Ted McDonald
, an Australian fast bowler, used a version of 'leg theory' in the Roses match at Old Trafford the following year in 1927, bowling to a 4-man leg trap with no slips.
's 9 for 42 for Lancashire in 1937 while the brilliant Yorkshire left arm spinner Johnny Wardle
took 9 for 25 on a rain-affected pitch at Old Trafford in 1954. Fred Trueman
made his debut in the 1949 game while his long time England partner, Lancashire legend Brian Statham
, made a big impact aged just 20 in his first Roses match in August 1950, when he shocked a packed Old Trafford crowd by falling flat on his face at the start of his opening spell. He picked himself up, dusted himself down and later that over ripped out Frank Lowson
's middle stump. He soon dismissed Ted Lester
and Willie Watson
for 2 more ducks and Wisden
said his bowling "bordered on the sensational".
Not to be outdone Fred Trueman was always keen to entertain the crowds, even during one of the slower passages of play. On one occasion, before a packed Old Trafford Roses crowd, he was returning the ball with his party piece left-handed throw from deep mid-wicket when he slipped and fired the ball high over the startled wicket keeper to the third-man boundary. Renowned for his mastery of seam and swing, and ebullient self confidence, he was once asked by a straight faced Richard Hutton if he'd ever bowled a straight ball. Fred didn't miss a beat "Aye, I did. It went straight through Peter Marner
[of Lancashire] like a streak o'piss and flattened all three."
by Granada Television
, shown in Lancashire and Yorkshire Television
between the 1970s and the late 1980s. Matches were shown in these and other ITV regions in the United Kingdom.
Yorkshire and Lancashire played two Roses Matches a season home and away in the County Championship
. In 1993 the Championship was reduced so 18 teams would play each opponent once. For some seasons Yorkshire and Lancashire played an extra early season game to maintain home and away fixture. With a two division County Championship was introduced in 2000 with home and away games against each opponent which brought back two Roses Matches. In 2002 Yorkshire were relegated so there was a three year break in games until their promotion back to the First Division.
Australian Darren Lehmann
smashed 252 in just 288 balls in the Headingley
Roses Match in 2001, the season in which Yorkshire regained the County Championship for the first time in over 30 years. Belying the fixture's turgid reputation, fellow Australians Stuart Law
and Andrew Symonds
have both made quickfire hundreds for the Red Rose County in recent years while Andrew Flintoff
was no less destructive during his best of 160, 111 of his runs being smashed between start of play and lunch.
In 2003, the Twenty20 Cup
was introduced and for these matches the Yorkshire Carnegie now play the Lancashire Lightning. This has provided a fillip to the Roses fixture with very large crowds coming to grounds for this short format. 14,215 turned up for the 2006 match at Headingley in June 2006. A crowd of 17,000 turned up at Old Trafford for the 2008 fixture which Yorkshire won by 4 runs. Up to the end of the 2008 season Yorkshire have won 5 games to Lancashire's 4 with a no result match.
In 2012, there will be no Roses Match in the County Championship due to Yorkshire getting relegated.
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....
and Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
. Yorkshire's emblem is the white rose, while Lancashire's is the red rose. The associations go back to the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
in the 15th century. These matches have a long and proud history and are traditionally the hardest fought matches in the English first class game, with many dour draws recorded as both teams battled to avoid the ignominy of defeat.
The term is occasionally used in connection with other sports where Lancashire play Yorkshire, such as rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. and rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
(War of the Roses).
Early days
The first First Class Match between Yorkshire and Lancashire was in 1849 with Yorkshire winning by 5 wickets at the Hyde Park GroundHyde Park Ground
Hyde Park Ground was a cricket ground in Sheffield, Yorkshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1830, when Sheffield Cricket Club played Nottingham Cricket Club in the ground's inaugural first-class match. Sheffield used the ground a number of times in first-class cricket, from 1830...
in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. The very first "Roses Match" was played in 1867 at the Station Road Cricket Ground, Whalley
Whalley, Lancashire
Whalley is a large village in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large picturesque wooded hill over the river from the village....
near Blackburn and was won by Yorkshire by 5 wickets. The first match in the newly constituted County Championship, in 1890, ended in the inevitable draw. Including first class matches, second team fixtures, one day games and other representative matches there have been over 600 Roses Matches over the century and a half since the first one.
In the match played over the Whitsuntide bank holiday
Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...
in June 1924 Lancashire were skittled for just 74 in their second innings, leaving Yorkshire a target of just 58 the next day. Despite opening with Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England...
and Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
Yorkshire were dispatched for just 33 by Cecil Parkin and Dick Tyldesley
Dick Tyldesley
Dick Tyldesley was a Lancashire cricketer who was one of the most important figures in Lancashire breaking Yorkshire's stronghold on the County Championship between 1926 and 1930.He was the youngest of four brothers who all played for Lancashire, but were unrelated...
, Lancashire's first win in Yorkshire for 25 years.
At the Old Trafford Roses Match in 1926, a record 78,617 spectators paid to watch the match peter out into a high scoring draw, with centuries from Lancashire's Harry Makepeace
Harry Makepeace
Joseph William Henry Makepeace was an English sportsman who appeared for his country four times at each of cricket and football. He is one of just 12 double internationals....
(126), Ernest Tyldesley
Ernest Tyldesley
Ernest Tyldesley was an England cricketer. The younger brother of Johnny Tyldesley and the leading batsman for Lancashire. He remains Lancashire's most prolific run-getter of all time...
(139) and 92 from Frank Watson
Frank Watson (cricketer)
Frank Bramley Watson was an English first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire.One of Lancashire's most prolific batsman, Watson originally batted in the middle order before moving up to opener for the latter part of his career. He made 22,833 runs for the county with a highest score of 300...
being answered by Yorkshire legends Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes
Percy Holmes was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England.Holmes was born in Oakes, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England...
(143) and Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two World Wars...
(89) who put on 199 as if to make amends for events 2 years previously. Leonard Green, Lancashire's captain, was batting when the score stood at 499. Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
relates the story that he said to himself "It's not likely that Lancashire ever again will score 500 against Yorkshire, so I'm going to get this single run if it kills me." He pushed a ball from Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
to the off-side and ran 'like the wind'. The ball was hurled back in anger by Yorkshire legend Emmott Robinson
Emmott Robinson
Emmott Robinson was an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1919 to 1931. He was awarded his county cap in 1920. Robinson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium pace.-Life and career:Robinson was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England...
, striking Rhodes on the wrist while Green dived to make his ground. Picking himself up he heard Rhodes muttering to himself "There's somebody runnin' up and down this wicket. Ah don't know who it is, but there's some-body runnin' up and down this wicket."
Batting feats
Lancashire finally surpassed their 1926 record total of 509 for 9 declared in 2005 in another high scoring draw when they posted 537 thanks to skipper Mark ChiltonMark Chilton
Mark James Chilton is an English cricketer. Chilton was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Durham University where he won the British Universities tournament in 1997. The same year he made his debut for Lancashire, aged 20...
and Ian Sutcliffe's opening partnership of 223. This was their side's highest first-wicket stand against Yorkshire, beating Reggie Spooner
Reggie Spooner
Reginald Herbert Spooner was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. He also played Rugby Union for England.- Biography :...
and Harry Makepeace
Harry Makepeace
Joseph William Henry Makepeace was an English sportsman who appeared for his country four times at each of cricket and football. He is one of just 12 double internationals....
's 181 at Old Trafford in 1912.
In an effort to break the dominance of the batsmen on such featherbed pitches, and years before the infamous bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
series, Ted McDonald
Ted McDonald
Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald was a cricketer who played for Tasmania, Victoria, Lancashire and Australia, as well as being an Australian rules footballer who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Football Club, and Fitzroy Football Club.A very fast bowler with the...
, an Australian fast bowler, used a version of 'leg theory' in the Roses match at Old Trafford the following year in 1927, bowling to a 4-man leg trap with no slips.
Bowling feats
There have been many outstanding bowling performances in Roses Matches, not least Jack IddonJack Iddon
John Iddon was an English cricketer who played in five Tests in 1935....
's 9 for 42 for Lancashire in 1937 while the brilliant Yorkshire left arm spinner Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle
Johnny Wardle was an English spin bowler of post-war cricket. His Test bowling average of 20.39, is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler, since World War I....
took 9 for 25 on a rain-affected pitch at Old Trafford in 1954. Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...
made his debut in the 1949 game while his long time England partner, Lancashire legend Brian Statham
Brian Statham
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...
, made a big impact aged just 20 in his first Roses match in August 1950, when he shocked a packed Old Trafford crowd by falling flat on his face at the start of his opening spell. He picked himself up, dusted himself down and later that over ripped out Frank Lowson
Frank Lowson
Frank Anderson Lowson was an English cricketer, who played in seven Tests for England from 1951 to 1955. In first-class cricket, Lowson amassed 15,321 runs at an average of over 37, but had drifted away from the county game by his early thrties.-Life and career:Lowson was born in Bradford,...
's middle stump. He soon dismissed Ted Lester
Ted Lester
Edward Ibson Lester is an English first-class cricketer, who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club....
and Willie Watson
Willie Watson (England cricketer)
William "Willie" Watson, was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and England. He was a double international, as Watson was also a footballer who played for England's national team.-Cricket career:...
for 2 more ducks and Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
said his bowling "bordered on the sensational".
Not to be outdone Fred Trueman was always keen to entertain the crowds, even during one of the slower passages of play. On one occasion, before a packed Old Trafford Roses crowd, he was returning the ball with his party piece left-handed throw from deep mid-wicket when he slipped and fired the ball high over the startled wicket keeper to the third-man boundary. Renowned for his mastery of seam and swing, and ebullient self confidence, he was once asked by a straight faced Richard Hutton if he'd ever bowled a straight ball. Fred didn't miss a beat "Aye, I did. It went straight through Peter Marner
Peter Marner
Peter Thomas Marner was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire and then Leicestershire. He was rated by Trevor Bailey as the most formidable English batsman without a Test cricket cap....
[of Lancashire] like a streak o'piss and flattened all three."
Modern times
The Roses Match was broadcast on ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, shown in Lancashire and Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
between the 1970s and the late 1980s. Matches were shown in these and other ITV regions in the United Kingdom.
Yorkshire and Lancashire played two Roses Matches a season home and away in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
. In 1993 the Championship was reduced so 18 teams would play each opponent once. For some seasons Yorkshire and Lancashire played an extra early season game to maintain home and away fixture. With a two division County Championship was introduced in 2000 with home and away games against each opponent which brought back two Roses Matches. In 2002 Yorkshire were relegated so there was a three year break in games until their promotion back to the First Division.
Australian Darren Lehmann
Darren Lehmann
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australian cricketer, who made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998. He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s, and only became a regular in the ODI team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005...
smashed 252 in just 288 balls in the Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
Roses Match in 2001, the season in which Yorkshire regained the County Championship for the first time in over 30 years. Belying the fixture's turgid reputation, fellow Australians Stuart Law
Stuart Law
Stuart Grant Law OAM is an Australian-born cricketer. He is also the head coach of Bangladesh national cricket team, as from July, he succeeded fellow Aussie Jamie Siddons, who left shortly after the 2011 Cricket World Cup...
and Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....
have both made quickfire hundreds for the Red Rose County in recent years while Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
was no less destructive during his best of 160, 111 of his runs being smashed between start of play and lunch.
In 2003, the Twenty20 Cup
Twenty20 Cup
The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...
was introduced and for these matches the Yorkshire Carnegie now play the Lancashire Lightning. This has provided a fillip to the Roses fixture with very large crowds coming to grounds for this short format. 14,215 turned up for the 2006 match at Headingley in June 2006. A crowd of 17,000 turned up at Old Trafford for the 2008 fixture which Yorkshire won by 4 runs. Up to the end of the 2008 season Yorkshire have won 5 games to Lancashire's 4 with a no result match.
In 2012, there will be no Roses Match in the County Championship due to Yorkshire getting relegated.
Head to Head (1849-2008)
| Match format | Total matches | Yorkshire | Lancashire | Match Drawn | No Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Class (3/4 day matches) | 264 | 83 | 53 | 127 | 1 |
| One Day Matches | 62 | 21 | 34 | ||
| 7 | |||||
| Twenty20 Twenty20 Cup The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:... |
10 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1 | |||||