Glory, Glory Alley-lujah (13 May 1999)
THAT WAS THE YEAR that was; 1953 was a Royal year as Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Everest was scaled for the first time, Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile, Sir Gordon Richards won the Derby on Pinza after many years of trying and
13-May-1999
13 May 1999
Glory, Glory Alley-lujah
by Gerry Wolstenholme for League Cricket Review
THAT WAS THE YEAR that was; 1953 was a Royal year as Queen
Elizabeth II was crowned, Everest was scaled for the first time,
Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile, Sir Gordon
Richards won the Derby on Pinza after many years of trying and
England regained the Ashes for the first time since 1932/33.
And in Blackpool it was a momentous year for sport. Two sportsmen
were lionised around the town, footballer Stanley Matthews, who
had been instrumental in Blackpool winning the FA Cup for the
first ever time and the Blackpool Cricket Club prof-essional Bill
Alley, who very quickly built himself a reputation as an
unmerciless destroyer of Northern League Bowlers. Alley, a former
boxer and boilmaker's assistant, had joined Blackpool after five
successful years with Colne in the Lancashire League and the
announcement of his signing with the club was greeted with
universal approval as he was already known as a hard-hitting left
hand bat and a more than useful medium pace bowler.
Blackpool's first League game of the season was postponed because
of the town's interest at Wembley, but thereafter Alley soon got
into his stride, particularly at Blackpool's Stanley park.
Stylish, Confident and aggressive, he plundered 87 with nine
fours and one six in 73 minutes off Chorley and then when he did
fail with the bat, being one of Saraje Dhanawade's eight wickets
at Kendal, he polished off the opposition batting with a masterly
5-26!
Leyland Motors came to the Park as League leaders but Alley soon
put them in their place; he only took 1-11 in their 128 all out
but then cantered elegantly to 73 not out in Blackpool's reply of
130-2. And then came his first century for the club. In a
friendly but hard-fought game against W Green's XI he plundered
101 not out of a total of 149-8, and in the process began his
assault on the adjacent Stanley Park putting green. Six balls
went over the Park's wall that night and it could well have been
the occasion that two youngsters, Gerry Wolstenholme and Graham
Kelly, of Football Association fame, locked the small door that
had been placed in the park wall for the very eventuality of
collecting cricket balls quickly. Groundsman George Nodder was
deputed to slip through the door to collect, but as he
disappeared the two errant schoolboys slipped the bolt on the
cricket ground side and Mr Nodder had to make a long detour to
return to the ground! He was not well pleased, discovered who the
miscr-eants were and cuffed the youngsters around the ear!
The Don Bradman of the Northern League
This did not deter Bill Alley from continuing his big hitting and
5,000 spectators turned up regularly to watch his displays. After
only five games he had 307 runs at an average of 153.5, and then
in July he scored centuries in successive League games. Fleetwood
were beaten by eight wickets, Alley 105 not out, and then he and
Arthur Mott put on a Northern League record for the second wicket
with a partnership of 221 against St Anne's, Alley 144 not out.
It was after this game that he was christened the Sir Donald
Bradman of the Northern League.
Perhaps his best knock of the season was against Chorley when,
like Horatius standing alone at the bridge, he enabled his side
to escape with a draw as he scored 98 out of 115-8 against
Chorley - and this after a 3-24 stint with the ball. He ended the
season with a record 1,345 League runs at an incredible average
of 149.44, to which he added 41 wickets at 16.05 runs each. His
phenomenal feats continued during his four seasons with
Blackpool, by which time he had amassed 4,845 League runs at
115.36 and taken 179 wickets at a lowly 12.31. He scored 14
League centuries and, incredibly, all of them resulted in him not
being out.
But Bill Alley's story at Blackpool is not only about statistics,
it is about the charisma of the man, the entertainment he
regularly provided and the great interest that he re-awakened in
cricket in the town. Young boys flocked to the nets to be taught
by the great man, and also, when not playing the correct shot, to
learn words that had not previously been in their vocabulary; all
delivered, of course, in the best possible taste! The crowds
turned up in their thousands, visiting teams loved to come to
Stanley Park for, although they suspected they might suffer at
Alley's hands, they knew that it would be a great atmosphere and
that they were being provided with the opportunity to be a part
of something special.
Alley, at the age of 38, went off to join Somerset in 1957 and it
was a sad day at Blackpool when he announced his decision to
leave. Everyone watched his progress with great interest and he
astounded even his most staunch supporters as he proceeded to
score 1,000 runs in 10 seasons with a remarkable 3,019 in 1961.
In all he scored nearly 20,000 first-class runs and in addition
he took 768 wickets.
Blackpool will always remember Bill Alley and in that Royal year
46 years ago a signature tune was loosely adapted to celebrate
his feats. As a contrast to Blackpool Football Club's unlikely
but widely used signature tune of Yes, we have no bananas, some
young cricket supporters developed John Brown's Body for Bill
Alley with the chorus being Glory, glory Alley-lujah and with the
accent of course on the Alley!
If his forthcoming autobiography, published by Empire
Publications, is half as good as was his cricket, readers are in
for a real treat and cries of Glory, glory Alley-lujah will be
ringing out once again!
Source:: League Cricket Review
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