Harold Larwood, a celebrated English cricketer, had a connection to Blackpool after his first-class cricket career with Nottinghamshire ended. He played for Blackpool Cricket Club in 1939. On the outbreak of war, Larwood left the game altogether, to work away from the public eye as a market gardener. In 1946 he used his savings to buy a sweet shop on Caunce Street in Blackpool. A park in Victory Road, Blackpool, was renamed in his honour.
Harold Larwood Park © Deeper Blue Marketing & Design
Harold Larwood Park © Deeper Blue Marketing & Design
Harold Larwood Park © Deeper Blue Marketing & Design
Although he generally kept away from organised cricket and avoided all personal publicity, he was persuaded to attend a farewell luncheon for Don Bradman at the end of the Australians’ 1948 tour. He and Bradman exchanged polite courtesies, though he was warmly welcomed by other members of the Australian team, including their premier fast bowler Ray Lindwall. The following year Larwood became one of 26 former professional Test cricketers awarded honorary membership of the MCC. This recognition, he said, went some way to help heal the hurt he had felt over his treatment by the game’s ruling body 15 years earlier.
In the economic austerity of post-war Britain, Larwood’s business made little money. He was persuaded, largely by his erstwhile opponent Jack Fingleton, that he would find better prospects and a warm welcome in Australia, and he decided to emigrate there with his family, which by then included five daughters. On 1 April 1950 the Larwoods sailed on SS Orontes, the ship that had carried Jardine’s party 18 years previously. On arrival in Australia the welcome was warm and immediate. During their initial weeks in a Sydney hotel, unbeknown to them half their bills were paid by the former prime minister Ben Chifley. Despite a housing shortage, the family was soon settled in a bungalow in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford, and Larwood found steady employment with a soft drinks firm. Fingleton later arranged a meeting between Larwood and Chifley; their respective broad Nottinghamshire and Australian accents meant that neither could understand the other, and Fingleton had to act as an interpreter.
This blue plaque hangs at the Blackpool Cricket Club’s clubhouse entrance. © Deeper Blue Marketing & Design Ltd
Behind the counter of his sweets and tobacco shop on Caunce Street, Blackpool, is Harold Larwood, the 44-year-old former England and Nottingham fast bowler. He had just accepted an offer to become an honorary member of the MCC. 2 August 1949. © Alamy
Bert Oldfield and Harold Larwood in Australia, 14 January 1954
Larwood on a 1932 cigarette card
Additional Images © Alamy
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