A FORMER Largs Cricket Club stalwart has looked back on his amazing career - and recalled how he honed his skills at the long-lost town's own venue.

Tom Black, who became an established player for Greenock Cricket Club and Scotland in future years, fondly looked back his time in the game in a chat with the News this week - including a horror car crash that almost ended his career.

Black made history for Greenock 1st XI, having taken 932 wickets and scored 19,182 runs in 979 matches, setting a record which is unlikely to ever be broken.

The black and white photo above shows Tom and sister Wilma taking part in a challenge match at Inverclyde Sports Centre in 1975 as the Largs Gents played the Lady Centurions.

He said: "It was my father Bill who persuaded me to take up cricket. My first choice had been as a footballer but my dad was keen for me to pick up a bat.

"When I was only 12 I won the Largs Players of the Year, and my dad suggested I look further afield and go to Greenock, where he used to play in the 1950s.

"It was my father and Ted Black (no relation) who set up the cricket club in Largs in the mid-1960s. My dad used to go to Largs Thistle matches and encourage footballers to give cricket a shot in the summer - he asked everybody!

"Largs played a lot of friendlies against teams from Greenock, where there used to be around 12 or 13 different clubs, including Scotts, Hillend, Phoenix and IBM sides, as well as Port Glasgow. Sadly now they only have two left."

Tom made eight appearances for Scotland but his career was curtailed after he broke his back in two places following a car accident in 1979.

It also put paid to a potential glamour move to Kent County Cricket Club, who had been scouting Tom in the late 70s. Another Largs man, Jack Clark, was also in the back seat with Tom when the accident happened but escaped with minor injuries.

However, Tom did get selected for Scotland again, becoming team-mates with former Rangers and Scotland goalkeeper Andy Goram. He continued playing with Greenock until the age of 53. Last year, before coranavirus hit, Tom was still coaching at Glenpark and schools in the Inverclyde district.

He said: "I often get asked why I didn't go and at complete the 20,000 runs. In my mind I could do still have done it, but my body said time was up. I had a great career and loved every minute of it."

Other esteemed players at Largs Cricket Club were George Grant, who also starred with Fairlie Bowling Club, Alistair McGregor, who worked at the Largs Printing Company and former local policeman David MacDonald. Wilma Rodger, sister of Tom, used to do the scorebooks for her hometown club and was also one of the top female players in the country in the 1970s.

David: "It was a great club. It wasn't that big, but I remember we used to go back to the Springfield Hotel for hospitality after the matches.

"The cricket matches were played at Inverclyde Sports Centre, on the football pitches behind Laverock Drive."

Meanwhile, an early cricket match report from the Glasgow Herald from Millport in 1855 has also recently surfaced.

The archive piece appeared in the edition of July 18 1855 and referenced a match between Garrison Club based in Millport and Glasgow Southern, showing the game was also once popular on the island.

There has been a resurgence in the popularity of the sport locally in recent years, with junior events taking place at Inverclyde Sports Centre, arranged by Largs man Ian Gibson, who is a secretary at Inverclyde Cricket Club based in Gourock.