Yorkshire member, Howard Clayton, who dedicated his life to cricket scoring from junior right up to Test level, died in Leeds General Infirmary on December 1 last year, aged 72.
His funeral will be held on Wednesday January 22, 1pm, at Lawnswood Crematorium in Leeds with a wake following it in the Hawke Suite at Headingley Cricket Ground.
A former schoolteacher at Morley Grammar School, specialising in French, Middlesbrough-born Howard had a passion for Yorkshire county cricket and he will, perhaps, best be remembered for the six years he served as full-time scorer for the Second X1 before handing over to John Virr ahead of the 2018 season.
He courageously battled against long-term ill-health and continued to supply – along with Virr – Second XI information, statistics and records for the Yorkshire CCC Yearbook, for which he also provided similar information from the Academy. He supplied statistics for this edition prior to his passing.
Howard was so keen on the development of Yorkshire cricketers that he presented The Howard Clayton Second X1 Performance of the Season Trophy to the county club, its winners including Fin Bean for his record-breaking 441 against Nottinghamshire in 2022, a remarkable feat which led to him breaking into the first team and establishing himself as Adam Lyth’s regular opening partner. They have become one of the most successful first wicket pairs in the County Championship.
When Yorkshire’s senior scorer, John Potter, was covering England’s Test and one-day internationals, Howard would deputise as first-team scorer in John’s absence, but at various times he was also scorer for England Under 19s; media scorer for the ECB and the longest serving scorer for the ECB at the National Cricket Centre at Loughborough.
For 15 years up to December 2009, he was secretary of the Aire-Wharfe League, a position he vacated because of the demands his many scoring roles were imposing on his time.
He also had a near 40-year association with the Yorkshire Cricket Board, undertaking various roles, including as assistant secretary.
Howard also edited the First-Class Counties’ Second X1 Annual, a publication which was extremely popular with county statisticians and historians.
WORDS: David Warner.
PHOTO: Howard Clayton/LinkedIn.
