By BRIAN TILLEY

Published at 09:41, Friday, 15 January 2010

IN the depths of the worst winter for 30 years, it is comforting to turn to thoughts of summer, and the click of willow on leather.

Record breakers: Left, Clairmonte Depeiaza was presented with a silver tray by Courant editor Michael Sharman. in recognition of his services to Tynedale cricket. And, right, Courtney Walsh went on to break the world record for test wickets in the 2000 series in England.

And cricket in Tynedale has been made all the sunnier over the years by the appearance of some of the top names in West Indian test cricket as professionals at Prior’s Flat.

The first was in the twilight of a world-record breaking career, while another two were on their way into the West Indies test side.

The first exotic taste of Caribbean sunshine came in the flamboyant form of Cyril Clairemonte Depeiaza, a buccaneering wicket keeper from Barbados, whose mouthful of a moniker was shortened to simply “Dee.”

Tynedale Cricket Club had suffered a lengthy spell in the doldrums throughout the 1950s and 60s, with their only trophy in a generation the Tyneside Charity Bowl in 1956.

It was suggested in 1972 that the engagement of a professional might improve the side’s fortunes, but the prospect met with a mixed reaction at the club.

The younger players were all for it, but some of the senior stalwarts were dead against it, regarding the employment of a mercenary as just not cricket.

However, the progressives won the day, and over the next four seasons, Dee was immortalised as one of Tynedale’s all-time great sporting heroes,

He had already secured his place in cricketing history, when playing for the West Indies in the fourth Test against Australia at Bridgetown in May 1955.

In what was only his second test, Depeiaza joined his captain and fellow Barbadian Denis Atkinson at the crease when the Windies were 147-6 in reply to Australia’s massive 668.

In an epic, match-saving stand the pair, who came together towards the end of the third day of the six-day Test, batted throughout the fourth day, adding 347, breaking the previous-best for that wicket by three runs.

Their partnership remains a record seventh wicket stand for test cricket, and was achieved against an Australian attack which included legends Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Richie Benaud.

Dee was out in the first over of the fifth day for 122, scored in 330 minutes and including 16 fours, but the match was saved.

However, the series was lost, and Depeiaza played in only three more tests before disappearing off the selectors’ radar.

His five tests yielded 187 runs at an average of 31.16, seven catches behind the stumps, and four stumpings.

Depeiaza's batting style during his epic Bridgetown innings was colourfully described by Pat Lansberg in his tour account The Kangaroo Conquers:

Lansberg wrote: “He has quite the most extraordinary forward stroke in the game, with left leg and bat coming forward at the same time and practically parallel with each other. It is a stroke which he makes with deliberation, and he remains for a few seconds after the ball has hit the bat in the deepest contemplation.”

Two years later, he was plying his trade in Britain, firstly with Scottish club Forfarshire, before inspiring Heywood to the Central Lancashire League title in 1960 and 1963.

In 1965 – his last year with Heywood before moving to Haslingden – he took 100 wickets with his awkward, low-trajectory fast-medium deliveries.

He then came to Guisborough, before accepting Tynedale’s contract offer at the age of 36.

The lean years at Prior’s Flat came to as glorious end, as Tynedale ended 16 long years without a trophy by lifting two in a week.

First it was a win over South Northumberland in the Wilson Cup, before beating league leaders Percy Main by a single run to lift the Tyneside Charity Bowl.

They were runners up to Percy Main in the Northumberland League, but put that right the following season, by winning the title in superb style.

In his first season Dee topped the Tynedale batting averages with 792 runs at 44, with a top score of 141, and was leading wicket taker with 75 wickets.

The following season, a Depeiaza-inspired Tynedale won the Northumberland League for the first time in 36 years, and in his final season with the club in 1975, Tynedale enjoyed a clean sweep of all four trophies open to them.

Dee died in Manchester in 1995, aged only 67, but his name will never be forgotten in Tynedale.

More success followed with Alex Johnson as professional, but the call of the Caribbean was heard again in 1983, when Tynedale signed a young Jamaican fast bowler by the name of Courtney Walsh.

The teenager turned 20 during the season, and had to wait until well into May to make his debut because of the dreadful weather conditions. Once he got going, however, there as no stopping the bowling sensation, as he simply ripped apart the best batting line-ups in the North-East.

He took five wickets in both his first two matches, and ended the season with well over 100 wickets – including a devastating 9-15 haul in just seven overs against a shell-shocked Ashington.

He helped Tynedale to yet another league title, and a cabinetful of cups, and had signed a contract to play at Prior’s Flat again in the 1984 season.

However, when championship side Gloucestershire came calling, Tynedale felt unable to stand in Walsh’s way.

He went with the club’s blessing to carve out his own niche in cricketing history, as the first man to take 500 test wickets.

He achieved this feat against South Africa in 2001 and broke Kapil Dev's world record in the previous year against Zimbabwe. He played in more tests than any other fast bowler,and set a then-world record of 519 wickets at an impressive average of 24.44.

His one-day international record was good as well – 227 wickets from 205 matches.

He and Curtly Ambrose were amongst the most feared bowlers in the world, taking over 900 test wickets between them.

However, his bowling excellence with match by an equal ineptitude with the bat, for despite his touching insistence that he would bat well, he has been dismissed for no score in test matches on 43 occasions.

A true gentleman and role model, Walsh is one of the all-time greats of the West Indies.

His departure for Gloucestershire left Tynedale with a problem, and the answer came from another Caribbean island – Trinidad.

Kelvin Williams never made the full West Indian side, but he was arguably the most successful of all Tynedale’s West Indian imports.

In his first season, he helped Tynedale to their fourth successive title, scoring over 1000 runs and taking 115 wickets.

His batting over the next few seasons was phenomenal, as records tumbled to his flashing bat as he plundered runs everywhere from County Club to Benwell Hill. He also claimed wickets by the score as he steered Tynedale to numerous cups and championships in three spells with the club.

However, his reign was interrupted in 1987 when he handed the reins over to another Trinidadian, an immensely tall teenage fast bowler by the name of Ian Raphael Bishop.

Tynedale went on to have their the worst season in decades, and decided against renewing Bishop’s contract.

He did all right for himself though, being hailed within a couple of years as the fastest bowler in the world, capable of sending the ball down at over 95mph.

In an injury-plagued career, he played for the West Indies in more than 40 tests, reaping an astonishing 161 wickets at an average of 24.27.

In only 84 ODI matches, Bishop grabbed 118 wickets at an average of 26.50. His economy rate was just 4.33 runs per over.

When injury brought his playing career to a close, he went to a successful career as a TV and radio commentator – occasionally making reference to his days at Tynedale.

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