03/06/2026
Cartworth Moor CC was saddened to hear of the passing of Peter Holling, a former player and leading committee member for many years. He died peacefully at home on May 21st.
Peter joined the club in the mid-1970s and we gained a real cricket enthusiast who loved to play cricket, talk cricket over a pint of real ale and help run a cricket club.
Blessed with a quirky character, Peter could only have been a leg spinner and so he was, in the days when there weren’t many of them around and there were probably even fewer captains who knew when and when not to put the leg spinner on to bowl!
He was also a middle/lower middle order batsman, who for many years was the proud owner of a Warsop Stebbing bat, probably the only one in the Huddersfield Central League.
He played mainly in the second team but also in the first team when needed. On his day, he could bamboozle an entire batting line-up with accurate and varied deliveries. Batsmen would come in declaring spin bowling to be rubbish, shortly to depart shaking their heads, having fallen while trying to dispatch Peter into the next field.
As good as his on-field contribution was, his off-field work for the club was immense. On joining the club, he soon took on the role of Secretary and then League representative, positions he held with distinction for many years.
CMCC is a small club perched high (very high!) above Holmfirth, with a few houses, a couple of farms and quarries in the vicinity. It takes a particularly determined group of enthusiasts with a love of cricket and of CMCC to keep the club functioning, both in terms of playing strength and finances.
Peter was one such enthusiast and for over 30 years was fundamental to the club’s good health - organising committee and selection meetings, publishing team selections, timely reporting of results and player registrations and attending league meetings were the everday jobs.
On top of this, he organised the annual dinner and presentation evenings plus the famous annual “Harvest Home” - and, in 1987, the highly-successful Centenary Dinner.
For several years, Peter organised many friendly matches against a variety of teams both at home and away. He probably enjoyed these games more than league matches, as good cricket was played without the tensions ( mainly between the two teams but sometimes within the team!) of a league fixture and the captain didn’t mind if he fielded at square leg, chatting to the umpire most of the time.
There was generally a visit to a real ale pub after the match, as well. The annual visit of Cantley and Branton CC from Peter’s home town of Doncaster was always a highlight.
When Peter ended his playing career he took up umpiring. He was scrupulously impartial and as a former bowler he gave surprisingly few LBWs! His umpiring career was curtailed by hip problems, which prevented him standing for long spells.
The club has been blessed with many long-standing volunteers over its 139-year history - Peter is one of the foremost in that esteemed group.
We are a better club for his presence and a sadder one for his passing.
His funeral is at Huddersfield Crematorium on June 23rd at 11.15am, followed by refreshments at the Travellers Rest, Slaithwaite Road, Meltham. Janet requests that people don’t wear black at the funeral.
