Ralph Osborne - An Appreciation

Ralph Osborne: 1940 - 2023

From Nick Gordon (Hightown)

It's difficult to put into words how much of an impact Ralph Osborne had on Hightown Cricket Club. We have seen the stats, almost 20,000 runs across a 38 year club career with Sefton CC (15 seasons) and then Hightown, for 23 years. But it was much more than this. I had the great pleasure of watching him play a number of times in the late 1980s and early 90s, when I was 1st XI scorer. Ralph had an amazing presence on the field - he was tall and well built of course, but his body language and demeanour made him appear even bigger. Stood at first slip like a crouching colossus, or with bat in hand at the crease, he seemed in total control, unflappable, determined. And of course he played correctly, and straight. The ball was never walloped or slogged or smashed. It was punched, caressed or eased to the boundary with exquisite timing. By this stage he was in his early 50s and the 'Gaffer', as he was almost universally known, was winding down his club career. He wouldn't play every week, but when he did you knew it would be worth watching. A cricketing education from the relative comforts of the drafty Sandy Lane scorebox.

I seem to remember he always dressed smartly for matches and had an enormous 'coffin' style cricket bag - the old fashioned hard, black cases. He smoked the odd cigar. I want to say he wore a cravat. I'm not sure if he ever did, but it seems to fit the narrative. I only lived round the corner from him in Hightown, but it seemed like he was on a different planet. I guess I was in awe of him a bit.

Of course I only shared the field with him on very few occasions - the odd Sunday friendly or a President's Day match. So I have to bow to older ex 1st XI colleagues to really understand the great man from a playing perspective. One former captain, Chris Williams, now an MCUA umpire and the man responsible for bestowing the 'Gaffer' nickname, gave us this account of an away game at New Brighton:

"He was so disillusioned with the standard of our out fielding (and probably the captaincy too!!) the Gaffer took himself out of first slip and positioned himself on the cover boundary. Not long after the ball flew out in his direction. Instead of letting it go for four, he ran round the boundary, picked it up and threw it in over the top of the stumps, then glared at me!! After that, for some time he was known as ‘Rampragaff’! He could always impose himself on any game without saying a word, the mark of a great man!"

Another ex-skipper, Ian Cropper, shared his memories of a magnificent ton against his former club:

"Very sad news indeed. Ralph was a great cricketer, fierce competitor and top man. I played with him for many years and always enjoyed his company. I batted with him as an 18 year old boy at Sefton in 1982, with the ground surrounded by spectators. Needing 120 off the last 20 overs we won easily without further loss, the great man amassing an imperious century."