Paul Antcliffe 1957-2023 A Cricketing Obituary

Hailing from the Midlands Paul's first cricketing port of call up north was the long gone Morecambe Old Grammarians Cricket Club who played in South Lakeland Division 1 in the 1970s. In 1984 Paul moved to Heysham CC. Apart from brief spells at Trimpell and Bare, the Carr Lane Ground was to be his summer home from home for nigh on the next 40 years.

As a batting all-rounder Paul was one of those committed players who fused as the backbone of the team. For 10 years, the Heysham club had endured a barren period, but in 1985 they won the Division 2 Cup and in 1992 and 2003 he collected Division 2 Championship winners medals as a pivotal member of the team.

Not out scores were a feature of Paul's game. His career highest 129 against Burneside 2nds in 1988 was not out, as was his 108 against Ibis in 2006. The former was in Division 2, the latter in Division 1 where Paul's runs and wickets helped re-establish Heysham in Division 1. In that season, Paul was sixth in the Division 1 batting averages making 533 runs at 38.07. He was the only Heysham player in the averages that season, his runs vital to Heysham maintaining their Division 1 status.

In 2005 with his accurate slow medium pace, he had narrowly missed out on a 50 wicket haul. The term "useful cricketer" massively underplays his worth to the seaside club. Paul loved the game for the game's sake and for more than a decade played alongside his son, Jamie with his wife, Lynda, calling out "come on Heysham" from her devotions to the scorebook.

it would be a fitting tribute to Paul's memory should Heysham win the WCL Championship this summer for the first time since 1961.