When Ernie Taylor signed Brad McNamara as Haslingden professional for the 1994 season little could he have known that he had signed a player who would go on to acquire true legendary Haslingden Cricket Club status. Little known outside his beloved New South Wales, Brad (nicknamed Buzzard for his bird of prey like hooked nose) proved to be a genuine all-rounder and above all a fierce competitor. He went on to complete 4 seasons as pro in 1996, 1997 & 1999 during which time we won the league and Worsley Cup. Brad was a tailor-made, top quality league pro, who instinctively knew that being a good pro can sometimes be as much about how you conduct yourself off the field as on it.

So it was that after an absence of over a decade, news quickly circulated of his impending visit to Bentgate. He now works in the world of media for Australia's Channel 9 and, being only at Headingley for the test match against Pakistan, he was too close to pass up an opportunity to meet some old friends.

Sure he enough he duly arrived during a first eleven fixture looking fit but with the last remnants of his hair having long since waved goodbye to his head. The lads turned up in their droves to meet him and the club house soon sounded like it had been transported back to the mid/late 90's.

Buzzard had barely taken his coat off when those long forgotten drinking games began to re-emerge. Playing a few rounds of a game called 'Spoof' where the winner chooses a round of drinks, the loser pays for it and all the other participants drink it can get very messy. Sensible drinking is promptly thrown out of the window as 6 games of 'Spoof' invariably means 6 different drinks, usually shorts, knocked-back in a short space of time. Big Roger was the first to feel the pace; staggering out of the toilet after a concoction of Jack Daniels, Vodka, Gin on an already belly-full of ale he proclaimed in a somewhat under-stated way that he was 'bombed' and was duly packed off to bed.

Being a second team stalwart I never had the pleasure of playing with Brad. My lasting memories of him are therefore not his match winning innings, his quick bouncer (some say delivered with a bent arm) or his spats with the umpire, but his capacity to tell tall-stories. I recall one evening part-way through the season after training Brad told me, whilst stone-cold sober, that he had been made the captain of New South Wales and was required to fly home for a week during the season and sign the deal. I promptly shook his hand and we then held a ten minute conversation on the subject. It was of course a complete fabrication. He did return home for a week and I never did find out why. He told others that a tin-pot band he was a member of had signed a lucrative record deal or that he had bought a water company.

Brad's work hard, play hard character made him a perfect match for Haslingden and he rightly takes his place in our hall of fame.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that also visiting the club that night was our professional of 1988 Geoff Lawson. Reputed to have only bowled 4 bad balls all season, Geoff was a model professional in a league winning season. He spent most of the night with us and was excellent company. To have these great players making a special effort to come and see you, in Geoff's case over two decades after he last played for us, speaks volumes for the affection these people hold for the club and the club for them. I somehow can't see there being much call for a Jerry Cassell re-union party.