I loved coming out of retirement to play for Lancs over-70s, admits DAVID ‘BUMBLE’ LLOYD, I just wish I’d remembered my box!

After 15 years away from playing cricket, there was a lot to remember when I agreed to retire from Lancashire Over 70s this week.

Unfortunately, the only thing yours truly forgot to pack was a protective box.

It meant getting myself ready to play at No. 3 against the Staffordshire Seventies at Leyland Cricket Club, just outside Preston, with a bat, sanitary towels and gloves supplied by New Balance and wearing two pairs of underpants, with a spare pair of socks stopped in between for the family’s valuables.

Fortunately, there wasn’t the kind of danger that Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson posed in late 1974, when he shattered my Litesome protector into about 1,974 pieces.

In fact, no one on either side of Thursday’s 40-over match possessed enough pace to take the bails off – unlike the previous evening’s pre-match net at Sheriff Hutton Bridge, my local club in North Yorkshire, three hours away beyond. .

I banned a 13-year-old red-headed fast bowler named Reuben from bowling against me and told Sam, two years older than him and already six feet tall, that the same applied to him. The pair follow in the footsteps of Matt Fisher, who started at the club before playing for Yorkshire and England.

The all-rounder turned out for the over-70s from Lancashire in their match with Staffordshire

I hit the side net when I tried to bowl my left-arm spin that evening and things did not improve when I was asked to turn my arm the next day in the match itself as my stock ball was the half-tracker. I got clattered all over the place and returned numbers of 2-0-22-0. But my batting was the reason that David Makinson, a Lancashire player in the 1980s and now a member of the Over 60s team, contacted my son Graham and asked if I wanted to play.

They say it’s like riding a bike, but even after a few pre-match throws, it felt like mine was still chained up until I got a fourth ball on the leg side and pulled it away for four.

Unfortunately I had about twenty when I was called for a quick single and my hamstring hurt. So most of my 89 not out was made with dismissed opening batsman Ian Caunce as my runner.

In such a situation you expect accidents. But the other guys were so much better at judging singles than I was. As I hit the ball to the fielders and said ‘no’, expecting the fielder to pick up the ball and throw down the stumps, they ran away every time.

The only problem we had was when our captain Geoff Allen, who is not a great player, went out for a single and then realized there was a chance of a two.

At our age you don’t get many twos and the opportunity was fleeting as his pants fell down when he turned around. There was a lot of laughter.

As we were getting ready to go out after tea, one of the men politely asked if anyone had embrocation cream. I hadn’t heard that one in a long time.

Although batting wasn’t exactly the same as cycling, he ended up scoring an impressive 89 ‘not out’

Running turned out to be a completely different challenge after a hamstring injury

The camaraderie of being with teammates again is something that never changes

The locker room doesn’t change, no matter how old you are. It’s a place where there’s a lot of camaraderie and I loved being there with all the stories going around.

It was said that I’ve had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra, but I love this particular encore.

Staffordshire were simply too good for us, earning eight-wicket winners as they chased their 183-run target with 26 unused deliveries.

For us it’s three defeats from three, but the only way is up and a sign of my enjoyment level is that I will do everything I can to be fit for the big one next Thursday when Cheshire come to Formby.

An unbeaten 89 is a very good start and even better for the average. I’m not sure if it counts towards my first-class record, but don’t worry, I’ll check.