Rare Billy Bates Egg on display to the public
One of the rarest and most unusual cricketing trophies created in the past 125 years has been presented to the Yorkshire County Cricket Club Archives for posterity.
The trophy, which has the appearance of an ostrich egg mounted onto a silver and black plinth, will now be available to the public following a generous loan by the family of a famous Yorkshire cricketer named Billy Bates who kept it safe for generations.
It was presented to him at Melbourne in 1883, following England’s great win over Australia by an innings for which Mr Bates was largely responsible.
The Huddersfield-born cricketer - also known as ‘The Duke’ - created a new record for England in the 11th Test Match, and took his country’s first hat-trick in the first innings.
He toured Australia on a total of five occasions and North America once, holding a Test record of 656 runs at 27.33 and 50 wickets at 16.42.
He first made his debut for Yorkshire in 1877 and became a popular player with the crowds ever since.
David Allan, Chair of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s Archives Committee, was present to receive the generous loan from Billy Bates’ great-great nephew, Trevor.
He said: “This is one of the most sought after items of memorabilia in the game and for the Bates family to loan it to the Club is a fabulous gesture.
“We receive lots of bats, mounted balls but this is something very special and it is a great honour for our fledgling museum to have ‘Billy Bates’ Egg’ on permanent display. Members will now get the chance to see the trophy in its full glory throughout the summer.”
The trophy will be on permanent display at the Yorkshire Cricket Museum located in the Headingley Cricket Ground.
