John still packing a punch

MAN FOR THE BIG OCCASION: John Punchard (left) and captain Alan Durose.

CRICKET:

THOUGH Royton pride themselves on being a young side, club officials had no hesitation in bringing in golden oldie John Punchard for Sunday’s John Willie Lees Wood Cup final.

Punchard was only 16 and in his first season in the CLL when he played for Royton against Littleborough in the 1973 final.

He is now in his 38th CLL campaign — with no plans for imminent retirement — and he admitted: “If someone had said to me after that first final as a teenager that I would be playing in another one 38 years later I would have thought they were drunk!”

That timespan included two more finals for Royton — as captain in 1985 and 1987.

“To be honest, Royton lost all of those finals quite heavily,” admitted Punchard, who has scored nearly 20,000 league runs and taken more than 1,000 wickets during his time in the CLL.

These days, Punchard spends most of his time in the Royton second team, nurturing the next generation of young talent at the Paddock.

“I see that as my role, but it’s also nice that Alan (Durose) and the committee want me to play for the club in the big matches.

“We have a young side and it’s amazing to think that none of the other lads in the team were born when I played in my first Wood Cup final.”

Punchard does have a Wood Cup triumph on his CV as he was in the Middleton side which defeated Radcliffe in 2001.

But he yearns to win the trophy as a Royton player, adding: “It would be great to win it for the spectators, too.

“Royton won the league in 1980, which showed we were the best team over a season, but we have never been able to win the cup which is very important to many of the supporters.

“The club has lost nine finals so hopefully it will be 10th time lucky.”