From Grace Road to Glory: Chris Balderston | Chris Balderstone and the Ultimate Double Act

By Tim Murray

This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable achievements in sport. Chris Balderstone's exploits centred on Queen's Park on September 15 and 16, 1975 are without parallel and, if anything is certain in this world, they will never be repeated. 

In the modern age the basic details are almost unbelievable. Balderstone scored 116 in Leicestershire's second innings of a County Championship match against Derbyshire and, during the knock, he played a Football League match. Yes, you did read that correctly. 

Balderstone was a gifted all-round sportsman who, along with several others at that time, spent his summers engaged in first-class cricket and his winters plying his trade in League football. But his experiences in 1975 are unmatched. As a foretaste of what was to come, he was in the Carlisle United line-up for the final game of the old Division One season on Saturday, April 26 at the Baseball Ground. The match was a goalless draw although the result was in some ways irrelevant. Carlisle were already booked for relegation at the end of their only season in the top flight and Derby County, managed by Dave Mackay, had already made sure of the League title. 

Four days after that game Balderstone was in the Leicestershire side for their first Championship match of the season at Bristol. As a cricketer, Balderstone was an elegant right-handed batsman and the slowest of slow left-arm spinners who flighted the ball generously. He made his debut for his native Yorkshire in 1961 but his career blossomed when he joined Leicestershire in 1971.  

Four years later the Foxes were in a force in the land. Balderstone established himself at No.3 and was one of quartet of spinners in the attack. Leicestershire won the Benson & Hedges Cup, beat the Australians in a three-day tour match and, going into the final game of the season at Queen's Park, were top of the County Championship table.  

The match began on Saturday, September 13 and Lancashire, who were playing Sussex at Hove, were the only side who could overhaul Leicestershire. However, there was a complication. On the footballing front Balderstone, a midfielder, had been transferred to Doncaster Rovers and on the Monday evening, the second day of the Chesterfield match, they had a home fixture against Brentford in Division Four. Leicestershire captain Ray Illingworth agreed that Balderstone could play for Doncaster provided that the cricketers had made sure of the title by then. Leicestershire were all out for 226 on the Saturday but on the Monday they dismissed Derbyshire for 211, gaining maximum bowling points to clinch their first Championship pennant. That meant Balderstone would be able to play for Doncaster, if he could get there for the 7.30 kick-off.  

Alan Ward dismissed the visitors' openers cheaply in the second innings, so out marched Balderstone at No.3. He played himself in and settled in for the long haul. After tea a car was parked on the cycle track between the pavilion and the scoreboard. This was to take him to Doncaster as soon as he was out. But Balderstone continued to defy Derbyshire's attack as the minutes ticked away. Close of play was at 6.30 whereupon Balderstone, who was still there on 51 not out, ran from the crease to the waiting car. He changed from cricket to football kit on the 30-mile dash to the Belle Vue ground.

Striker Peter Kitchen was among his team-mates in the Doncaster line-up that evening and he recalled the unusual build-up to the kick-off. He said: "We knew he was playing cricket but we didn't realise he was on such a tight schedule and it got to the stage of thinking: 'He's not here yet.' The rest of us went out for the warm-up, the captains were shaking hands and there was a general trying to delay things and then he ran out on to the pitch." 
The match was a 1-1 draw and Balderstone had become the first to play county cricket and league football on the same day.  

The following morning he resumed his innings at Queen's Park and went on to make 116 before being run out. Leicestershire declared, setting the hosts 276 to win but bowled them out for140 with Balderstone taking 3-28, including the final wicket with five minutes left to play.  

The following year Balderstone won two England caps against the fearsome West Indies pace attack and he went on to be a Test umpire. His Leicestershire team-mate Jack Birkenshaw said: "He was a terrific footballer. I saw him a few times, he wasn't quick but he was a superb passer of the ball. He had a good sports brain. He was a single-figure golfer and he was a good table-tennis and snooker player."  

Kitchen echoes that view of Balderstone's talents, saying: "He was a very good player. To play in the First Division was the ultimate for a footballer - he was very special. He was an elegant player, he was good in midfield and had football intelligence. He had the ability to pick out a pass and you don't get many players like that in the lower divisions. 

"When Stan Anderson came in as manager, we started playing football on the ground. It suited my style of play. He brought in Chris and other good players like Joe Laidlaw. My career really blossomed and I was really appreciative of that talent in midfield." 

Kitchen, also a Yorkshireman, also speaks highly of Balderstone's character, saying: "He was a lovely man, he was a very quiet, unassuming and understated type of guy. In a football dressing-room you get a lot of strong characters. But Chris was not like that at all, he was thoughtful. There was no dirty play or retaliation, he would try to calm things down. I'm really sad that I didn't meet him again after I left Doncaster in '77 and moved down south. I didn't go back north and I wasn't a strong cricket follower and didn't go to watch games." 

There was a rich tradition of players doubling up in cricket and football. A few, with Arthur Milton the last in the 1950s, won England caps in both sports. Denis Compton was probably the most famous of the cricketer-footballers with his exploits for Middlesex, England and Arsenal and Ian Botham played 11 games for Scunthorpe United. Jim Standen was in goal for West Ham when they won the FA Cup in 1964 and that summer he topped the national bowling averages as his medium-pace claimed 52 wickets to help Worcestershire win the County Championship. His Hammers' team-mate Geoff Hurst played one Championship match for Essex in 1962, four years before he gained sporting immortality by scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final.  

Two decades later, Chesterfield's Chris Marples was one of the last to play both sports professionally. He thinks there is no chance of anyone doing it again, saying: "The seasons overlap too much. We didn't report back for cricket until April 1. The cricket season finished in the first week of September and football didn't start until the end of August. It's a shame. Youngsters should be encouraged to play as many sports as they can."