When considering the many brothers who have played first class cricket together down the years, you would probably put Steve and Mark Waugh at the top of the list. Of the others who have represented their countries, probably the Chapels, the Pollock’s, the Bedsers and the Hollyhocks would rate highly.

Brothers though have been more prevalent at Mottram and there have been some wonderful examples throughout our history.

At the top of the tree we have the leg spinning duo of Harry and Irvine Peel who were not only great exponents of a now almost redundant bowling art but highly proficient batsmen. Irvine, the elder of the two had played under Joe Barber in the 1936 Championship winning side and then Bill Huyton in the 1947 equivalent before he led our magnificent teams of the late fifties and early sixties to their many successes in league and cup competitions.

He was an extremely unselfish captain who would regularly bat down the order to give preference to any up and coming youngster in the team and would similarly not bowl as much as he could have, to accommodate others. For Mottram to have two leg spinners of such skill and guile bowling in unison was too much for any side to deal with and proved the case on countless occasions.

Harry captained the teams of the early seventies when the club was going through a difficult period both on and off the field. However, he typically helped us overcome our shortcomings and led us to a Rhodes Bowl final in 1975 where we narrowly lost in a low scoring match against Broadbottom at North Road, Glossop. 

In a league fixture this year and also against Broady we were under the cosh and staring down the barrel of a pounding with Margrave and Miles hitting an opening partnership of just over 100. Harry introduced himself to the attack and Broadbottom were dismissed for 113 with the masterly leg spinner taking an incredible 6 for 5 with David Braddock stumping four of the batsmen who had committed “Harry carry”.

Harry’s son Neville, who for a number of years was secretary of the Glossop League, has donated a magnificent trophy to our club in his father’s memory, and the proud recipients will be Mottram’s team of the year annually.

The Bailey brothers Peter and Phillip were two of the finest post war cricketers this club has produced. Both were products of our fine junior system, which grounded so many boys for our successful senior sides. Peter the elder was primarily a bowler and on deciding to join Glossop, went on to become one of the top amateurs in the Lancashire & Cheshire League for over 20 years. Philip was a quality all rounder who made everything he did seem so effortless and he captained the 1^st XI with the same laid back approach in the late sixties. I am delighted that Phil’s grandsons are playing in our under 13’s this year and are carrying on where he left off.

Derek and Arnold Willerton need no introduction and have already been remembered for their deeds elsewhere in this brochure, but Derek’s boys Andrew and David made a huge contribution before their premature retirement. Andrew was bowling out of the back of his hand from the moment he first picked a ball up and in his early youth became the most prolific spinner in the league.

A devastating spell against Broadbottom (what is it about Mottram leggers and Broady batsmen?) must rate as his best moment, when he recorded the amazing return of 6 for 11 in a Rhodes Bowl tussle at Hill End. As Willy grew older he lost confidence with the ball and inexplicably acquired the spinners nightmare, “the yips” which left him to concentrate more on his superb batting. He had a fine technique, the result of good coaching, and went on to become one of the league’s top batsmen, skippering the league side as well as Mottram to Championship and Rhodes Bowl success.

Younger brother David would be the first to admit that he wasn’t as naturally gifted as his brother but nonetheless he was the proud scorer of a scorching 2nd XI ton at Mottram and captained the side with some aplomb.  Dave’s energetic fielding earned him many 1^st team appearances probably to the detriment of his development as a batsman in his own right.

Manchester Grammar School has produced many fine cricketers down the years, Atherton and Crawley, arguably, the best in recent times. This famous institution spawned, in Mottram’s case, two brothers who had class written all over them.

Martin and Roger Sabine were born in the village and gained entrance to M.G.S. where they had access to first class coaching enabling them to easily blend into Mottram junior and senior cricket. Martin was playing 1^ST XI whilst still at school forcing his way into a formidable Mottram side on merit. He was clearly destined for great things academically and so it proved, when he left these shores to become a merchant banker in Hong Kong.

Roger was a later addition to the 1^st XI ranks and played in our less successful sides of the seventies, becoming captain in 1976. He shared in a memorable opening stand of 167 against Broadbottom with the classy David Trim who had joined us from Ashton.

One other highlight was the century opening partnership with John Birch against Macclesfield in the Cheshire Cup.

For a few years during this period Sabine was amongst the top ten batsmen in the league.

Incredibly, this year we have five sets of brothers playing in our junior sides.

Liam and Bradley Wright are two young spinners who we have great expectations of.

The Montgomery brothers Alex and Philip, grandsons of Phil Bailey are looking good with bat and ball. Chris and Andrew Metcalfe continue to progress, whilst the Fielding boys, Ayrton and Stefan, are catching the eye, as are the Nixon brothers Matthew & Ryan.

The Fielding brothers, are the sons of our former club captain Bill Fielding whose father, Bill senior also captained Mottram during his career. Both were fine goalkeepers in their time with Bill senior having been a former Manchester United reserve.

So there we have it, a list of brotherly achievement throughout the years and family ties, which have been the backbone of our club for generations, a tradition that we hope will continue in the future.