FROM BOWLER TO BATTER


Profile of Tom McCreadie by Ian Hodgson

Bat : No 6
Bowl : Retired
Personal Best : 98

There is only one way that Tom McCreadie plays his cricket. Whether it’s with a bat in his hand, fielding at slip or in the covers, Tom is aggressive by nature. Batting at number six certainly allows him to get on with it, an attitude that has left him with a very healthy average last year - a career best score of 98 against Rastick playing for the 2nd Xl.

His aggressive nature is carried onto the field where Tom ‘likes to annoy umpires’. He describes a spat with official Roger Harrison - when he received a bad decision and ended up with a two-match ban. Career highlights include his performance with the bat last season along with getting the chance to bat with the now Indian Test match batsman, Wasim Jaffer, while playing for Scholes CC. 

Tom didn’t really have any choice about playing for Broad Oak. He describes being ‘forced into it’ by his dad, who once played for the first team. This got Tom interested in cricket, and led to him turning up at coaching courses. He first played for the Under-13s at the age of ten and then represented the Under-15s and Under-17s, when he captained the side. The season prior to this was his most successful campaign at youth level, when his club progressed into the semi-finals of the Walker Cup.

As a youth team player, Tom was a better bowler than batter. He had a trial for Yorkshire Schools at the age of 16 but wasn’t picked. He then went to play for Scholes. At Chapelgate he suffered the yips and didn’t bowl again. This turned out to be the lowlight of his career, but it did mean there were other opportunities. Tom’s batting improved greatly - he had no choice but to work on it, otherwise he wouldn’t have made the team. He was a 1st Xl player by the age of 18, and has more or less held down his place since then. He did have a spell in the 2nd Xl due to unhappiness at batting so low down the order for the firsts. As well as getting a trial for Yorkshire Schools, Tom represented Huddersfield at Under-18 and Under-21 level.

Broak Oak aren’t the only team that Tom has played for. On top of playing for Scholes, he went Down Under for four months with Steve Crook and John Bishop. Crook was playing for the club as a pro at the time, and currently plays for Northamptonshire. Tom batted and bowled well in Australia but lost the bowling shortly after.

Tom describes Broad Oak as having the best youth structure in the league, and proudly boasts about their ‘great facilities’. His immediate hopes are to help get Broad Oak promoted.