Still packing a punch

John Punchard with the many trophies he has won over the years.

OVER 16,000 runs, more than 1,000 wickets and the small matter of 360 catches.

That’s a remarkable record in anyone’s book but, when you consider all those statistics have been amassed in one league, then you really have come across the ultimate cricketing stalwart.

When one thinks of the many great amateurs to have graced the Central Lancashire League down the years, the name of John Punchard is up their with the best of them.

The Royton veteran, now 54, has traded cricketing blows with many of the league’s top amateurs, but it is the professionals in the early days who immediately spring to mind — none more so than the great Sir Garfield Sobers.

“He is the greatest player ever to draw breath so you never forget playing against him, especially when you are only 17,” said Punchard.

“I was in the Royton team and Sobers was bowling for Littleborough, but I managed to make a half-century in the game — just as he did — and later went into the away dressing room where he signed my cricket bat. I still have that today.

“He was a great man and invited myself and Bob Kelsall, our pro at the time, to the Littleborough pavilion for the showing of a film of his 260 for the West Indies against the Rest Of The World in 1975. That is something I will never forget.”

Punchard’s early career saw him play regularly in front of large crowds and against the likes of Sobers, Joel Garner, Rohan Kanhai and many others.

But it was Ezra Moseley, who spent most of his CLL career at Littleborough, who impressed him most.

“People forget that not only did he take 120 wickets a season for very few, but he also regularly scored over 1,000 runs. He would be the professional I would have most wanted in my team and we signed him when I was at Werneth in 1994. Unfortunately, he was injured during the winter and was unable to fulfil his contract which was a shame as we might have won the title with him.”

Punchard laments the lack of big gates at CLL matches these days, but understands the reasons behind the demise.

“People have more choices, with Sky Sports and other things. But you also have to accept that the big names are not there any more. There used to be world stars on show likes Sobers and Kanhai, but international cricket these days is a 12-months-a-year deal and you are not going to get those players here. And they didn’t just come here for the money. Those players were here to win.”

Punchard still covets Royton’s title-winning season of 1980 — the club’s only other championship came in 1914 — and his victory in the Wood Cup with Middleton in 2001.

He would have loved to have replicated that success with Royton in last year’s final and believes he should have done so.

“We would have won that game had our pro not got himself out,” said Punchard, referring to the farcical run-out of stand-in paid man Chesney Hughes.

Punchard looks back at his career with fondness, but he also intends to shape Royton’s future.

Having first played for the club at the tender age of 16, the veteran Punchard is still donning his whites and intends to do so for some time to come.

All the expertise and know-how gleaned in 39 years of cricket is being passed on to a new generation of hopefuls at Royton.

“They called me into the first team for the Wood Cup last year, but my role at the club these days is to bring on the young players as second-team captain.

“Don’t get me wrong, if the chance to play in a Wood Cup final came along again I would grab it, but as far as I am aware I will be leading the seconds again.

“That’s the way forward. When we won the league at Royton in 1980 there were eight or nine home-grown players and it’s getting that way in the first team now with quite a few lads having come through the youth section here.

“There are some youngsters in the second team, too, but they will probably need another year or two to mature.

“It’s amazing on a Monday night down here. You can’t see the ground for people and if only five-per-cent of those youngsters make the first team it’s worth it.”

If the young hopefuls under Punchard’s wing prove to be half as successful as the man guiding them through their cricketing education, they will have every reason to be satisfied.