Hedley Verity - League Professional

League Professional

Verity was unsuccessful during the 1927 season, his only one with Accrington. His bowling was less effective than the club had hoped; he endured spells where he took few wickets and was unable to implement the tactics or bowl in the style that the club expected. His batting average for the season was 5.25. The team, containing players far more experienced than Verity, were unimpressed by his performances and unsympathetic to his difficulties, offering him little support in the field. Even so, the club were prepared to offer an improved contract for 1928, but he declined as Accrington had previously refused to release their players for county cricket. Verity signed a contract with Middleton, a club in the Central Lancashire Cricket League. Limited in resources, the club paid him less than Accrington, but guaranteed his release to play for Yorkshire if he were selected. Playing with young team-mates, Verity worked hard to coach the players and develop team spirit. He made a modest start in his first season, and was initially rated as a useful but unimpressive all-rounder. A visit to the Yorkshire nets around this time prompted Verity to alter his bowling style. Wilfred Rhodes, Yorkshire's main spinner since 1898, was considering retirement; he and Hirst suggested that, as there were fewer spinners than medium-pace bowlers, Verity was more likely to achieve selection if he switched to spin bowling. With the support of the Middleton team and committee, Verity started bowling spin at the beginning of the 1929 season and immediately began to attract attention from counties, culminating in an unsuccessful nets trial for Warwickshire. Later in the season, when Verity went to Headingley to watch Yorkshire play, he was asked to fill a vacancy in the Yorkshire Colts team. In the match, he took five wickets for seven runs in the second innings. By the end of the season, he had taken 100 wickets for Middleton and topped the Central Lancashire League bowling averages.

For the 1930 season, Verity received lucrative contract offers from several Lancashire League clubs, worth more than three times his Middleton salary. Although recently married and receiving little encouragement from the Yorkshire committee, he eventually rejected the offers. In the event, Middleton allowed Verity to play for Yorkshire during 1930 and later released him from his contract. Cricket historian Derek Hodgson notes that Verity's years in the Lancashire Leagues "meant that he reached Yorkshire ... as a hardened and experienced performer".