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© Shepley CC 2008

Updated 07 July, 2008

Dale Skelly

Profile by Dave Wooding

Described by former captain Brian Kettlewell as “probably the best wicketkeeper Shepley has seen”, Dale joined the Marsh Lane outfit from Central League side Cawthorne in time for the 1984 season. With other clubs sniffing around the talented stumper before his switch, Dale states: “I had heard that people from Lascelles Hall and Kirkburton had been to see me play, but I’m glad I did decide to go to Shepley.” Indeed, he had a 10-year spell with the club up to 1994, and then a return to the club in 1999.

It would appear that Dale’s decision to join Shepley paid dividends instantly, as his first season saw him help the club to the league title, something that to this day still remains one of his proudest moments at Marsh Lane. As well as the Byrom Shield, Dale helped Shepley to two victories and a runners-up place in the Ted Gill Trophy, with Dale recalling: “The competition was good to me; I remember being man of the match in two of the matches.”

The man of the match awards Dale picked up were not given to him easily. It took a century in the first final against Honley to ensure he walked away with the award, while Dale recalls that in the following year against Thurstonland, “Stevie Carter took 4 wickets for just over 30 runs, and got around 30 with the bat, whereas I only got about 20 or so. I think I only beat Stevie because I had taken a few good catches that day.”

It wasn’t always plain sailing for Dale at Shepley though, with the keeper recalling a rare off-day on a poor Dalton wicket: “I remember standing up to David Barber bowling spin, and couple of times the batsmen got a knick on it, but it just would not find my gloves. Balls were popping up and hitting my shoulders or chest instead. Eventually I just took the pads off and let someone else have a go. It just wasn’t my day.” Performances like this, however, were something of a rarity during Dale’s time behind the stumps, and solid displays with the gloves on were reinforced by real talent with the bat.

Having started his Shepley career batting at either 3 or 4, right-handed Dale eventually cemented his place as an opening batsman. His worth to the team was considerable, as he bagged over 1,200 runs in the 1990 season, with 993 coming in the league and Sykes Cup. More runs came as a result of helping the team into the Heavy Woollen Cup final. Dale, however, remembers his failure to secure 1,000 runs in the league and Sykes Cup: “We were coming into the last game of the season and I needed just 12 runs to get past the mark. The match was against Elland, who had already won the league, and as they had nothing left to play for they switched their order around, with the batsmen doing the bowling and the bowlers opening the batting. Somehow one of them got me out when I’d only got 5, leaving me an agonising 7 runs short!”

Nowadays Dale is back in the Huddersfield Central League with his first club Cawthorne, where he is still behind the stumps and opens the batting. He is joined in that team by his brother and son, as well as former Shepley swing bowler and good friend Ian Glover.

Website Administration: ian.watkinson@shepleycc.com