Monday 16 May 2016

Exhibit A




One of the displays at the recent Dulwich Hamlet Pop-Up Museum showed some items relating to cricket. Some might have found this a bit unusual as the main emphasis was on the football club.

However, the Dulwich Hamlet Cricket Club was hardly a separate entity, as it was made up of players from the football team ...in a different set of togs. The DHCC, which eventually folded in the 1990s after a century, had always maintained a fixture list against clubs of highest reputation. And that quite was understandable when one realised the calibre of player in the Hamlet sides. 

Among those who wore the pink and blue of the football club and the ‘whites’ of the cricket club were Laurie Fishlock and  Geoff Whittaker (both seen above), Arthur McIntyre, Leslie Todd and Arthur Phebey – all of them more famous as county cricketers than footballers.

If selected for the Hamlet team, whether cricket or football, the player received a postcard or telegram instructing him where to meet. The 1950s ephemera we included belonged to Berard 'Bunny' Bullock. On display was a Football programme from Saturday 6 September 1952 and a Cricket programme from the following day Sunday 7 September 1952. Some players partook in both matches. 

One of the most popular items on display at the one day exhibition was the blazer that belonged to Sid Simpson. Simpson played in the inside right position for Dulwich Hamlet FC just prior to the Second World War and during wartime. More than one or two visitors said that if the blazers were available to purchase today they would seriously think about getting one.Jack McInroy


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