Original Stumpz owner interview

Over the past month I have been having a great correspondence with Mr T Dyke, who connected with me via this site.

It turns out his brother bought a copy of my favourite cricket board game, Stumpz, in 1938 when he was just 10. Now, 81, said brother is busily teaching his 10 year old grandson to play the game, along the way introducing him to the wonders of cricket.

It seemed, however, there were a few pieces missing, including the rules, so in exchange for an interview, I sent those along to complete Mr A.L. Dyke’s game.

A.L. Dyke today, game at the ready.

Here follows the interview:

Where did you buy the game and when? 1938 or 39 in Bournemouth – Beale’s or Bealesons.

Why did you buy it? I had enjoyed this game at school, Epworth College in Rhyl, N.Wales, where it was available in the library

Were there other cricket games around at the time that you can recall. What were their names? Can you describe anything about them? Yes, forgotten the name, but thought it was a single word – and I would have guessed at “Wicketz” – could that name have been used before the game of the same name produced later, as on your website ? Tactile game with spring loaded bowling device, which projected a rather large ball bearing against a batting device consisting of a rubber band which you could angle, to drive to the off or on sides, and if you lifted it up too far, you could be bowled!

Can you remember any memorable games of Stumpz? Too many to remember, many against my friend next door.

Who were your favourite real life players at the time? Len Hutton – I had a Gradidge Len Hutton autograph bat, before he made his record test match score of 364. My next bat was after his 364, and recorded that fact on the face. Following on from Hutton, Yorkshire players, such as Hedley Verity, Maurice Leyland, and the lesser known wicketkeeper, Arthur Wood, who kept wicket on the occasion of the record score at the Oval, although Les Ames kept him out of the test team most of the time, in that era.

Did you get to see much cricket at the time you bought the game? No professional cricket seen at that time, but I played a lot for the school team, at Epworth.

What are you doing with the game these days? It lay many decades in the attic. Recently re-discovered and grandson loves it, cottoning on very quickly !

A final tidbit regarding the excellent photograph comes from brother, Tim: An interesting extra bit of info is that “Billy” Nelson in the picture came fron Nelson, in Lancashire, and was coached in the holidays by the great Learie Constantine, who was then playing as a pro in the Lancashire league.

Tim has also received an email from the De La Rue archivist, as he was trying to find the correct age for the game. While the archivist could divulge little, as the company’s HQ was bombed during The Blitz, it seems the game is definitely from the early 1930s and possibly as early as the 1920s.

School boy graffiti from the 30s