Time can’t bowl him out as Bishopthorpe cricketer is still playing at 80 years old

On a warm August Saturday afternoon, Bishopthorpe Cricket Club 1st XI are about to bowl after setting York 4th XI a challenging chase.

A familiar figure emerges slowly but purposefully from the changing rooms, whites neatly pressed, wide brimmed sunhat pulled down low, ball in hand like an old friend. His steps are measured, his smile relaxed.

“Which end do you want John,” captain Ben Smith mutters confidently knowing what’s about to happen. 

The man cradling the new ball is John Latimer, retired chartered accountant and Bishopthorpe Cricket Club stalwart, who last week turned 80 years of age. 

But for now, those birthday celebrations are on hold. He’s focused on opening the bowling as he marks his run up with the same deliberate precision he’s used for seven decades.

“If the number of runs I concede is less than my age I’m happy” he later jokes, sipping on his much deserved and well earned pint of beer after Bishopthorpe’s convincing win. 

With ball in hand, he brings a calmness that only comes with time. No wild deliveries, just a laser like focus to hit the top of off stump, ball after ball. 

This weekend, Latimer finished his latest league outing with one wicket for 13 runs in an opening 5 over spell. His wicket coming when the opposition opener was stumped chasing an out swinger that looked to be hitting the top of off once more. This came as no shock to his team mates, it was expected. 

Alongside his weekend league commitments at Bishopthorpe, he finds time to play social cricket for Scarborough based ‘Bitter n Twisted’ and Shepherds who are captained by his son, David.

To mark John becoming an octogenarian, Shepherds hosted a friendly fixture in his honour. The team sheet featured four Latimer’s including both of his sons David and Peter, the later playing his first cricket match in over three decades, as well as grandson, Nathan. 

There won’t be many cricket clubs fielding four members of the same family across three generations in one fixture.

In the summer of 1954, Latimer first played red ball cricket aged nine years old in a school team captained by the late great Christopher Martin-Jenkins, a future cricket journalist and commentator on the BBC's Test Match Special radio programme. 

In those early days, helmets were something only ever worn by Formula One drivers, and all teas were baked by hand. Since then, he’s worn every hat imaginable over his long cricket career as a player, chairman, treasurer and umpire, sometimes all in one afternoon.

Now, some 71 years later, Latimer continues to play regular competitive cricket and is more than just a player, he’s an institution. He is the first to acknowledge that Father Time has limited his desire to field in the covers but his instincts are sharp. “He doesn’t dive,” Smith adds. “he doesn’t have to. He’s usually already there.”

Bishopthorpe captain Ben Smith was quick to further praise Latimer “When John is selected in the 1st XI it’s on merit and does a great job for us as an opening bowler. He still bounds in off a run up as long as any of our other quick bowlers, and nibbles it about off the seam often picking up the wicket of an opening batter or two.

“He’s as fit as a fiddle and regularly will bowl a 7 over spell when required. He’s a true gentleman and plays the game of cricket how it should be played. He’s a real competitor, loves taking wickets and winning games of cricket for whoever he is representing”

The majority of John’s career achievements are sadly unrecorded but like all good cricketers he knows the ones that matter like his highest score with the bat of 73 and his best bowling figures of 6 for 22, but these aren't what define him now. It’s his presence, his experience, and his quiet mentorship of others that really matter most.

So why at 80 when many have long retired does he keep playing? “Simple,” he grins. “I still love it, I’ve got something to offer, and the team always makes me feel at home. Also… they haven’t found a reason to kick me out yet.”

So, what comes next? There’s no farewell tour planned, no final innings in sight. John Latimer insists he’ll know when it’s time.

“I don’t want to alarm my wife by being at home on Saturday afternoons, it’s something she’s not used to after all these years. If I stop contributing for the team, then I’ll think about packing it in” he says. “Until then, I’ll keep turning up like I have done at Bishopthorpe for the last 30 years." 

As long as he does, Bishopthorpe CC will feel like home for John and any player for that matter who walk into their changing room for the first time.

In a world that’s constantly evolving, John Latimer is proof that some things are better left unchanged.