LOOKING Back is today winding the clock back more than 90 years, to field an array of cricketing talent which played in a charity match in East Lancashire in 1915.

Among the great names which got together for a patriotic cricket match' at Church that summer, were England's best-ever bowler Sydney Barnes (front row left) and Jack Hobbs (next to him) the first professional English player to be knighted in 1953.

Making his first and only appearance on a Lancashire League ground, the prolific batsman didn't manage many runs - he was run out for eight.

During his career, however, he scored a total of 61,237 runs, including 197 centuries.

Barnes was playing for Burnley when selected for his first Test against Australia in 1901 and the local club were paid £100 compensation by the MCC.

During his career, he also played in the Lancashire League for Rishton, Church and Rawtenstall where, between 1931 and 1933, he took 282 wickets at an average of 7.5 runs when he was in his late 50s.

The game was to raise funds for a convalescent home in Alexandria, where soldiers from all parts of East Lancashire were recuperating from injuries sustained in the Great War.

The ground became a fairground for the day, with bunting and flags and local folk raised £245 13s 7d.

Collections were taken by little girls wearing national colours, aided by wounded soldiers, including Jimmy Haworth, who later played for Church, like his father before him.

The two teams comprised the biggest array of talent ever to assemble in East Lancashire and comprised a John Tyldesley 12 (!) against Lancashire League professionals. Between them, the players had 144 Test caps, while umpire R G Barlow had also played in 17 himself.

Tyldesley, a Lancashire and England batsman, played in 31 Tests, and made 37,809 first class runs in his career, including 86 centuries.

His team comprised Barnes and Hobbs, alongside A Smith, of Ramsbottom/Gloucester-shire; A Ward, of Bacup; J Heap of Gloucester, L Cranfield, of Enfield and Gloucester; R Whitehead of Rishton; W Huddleston, Church and Lancashire; H Spencer, of Lowerhouse, W Brown and W Looker.

The Lancashire League team comprised A W Spring of Colne; P Mills of Enfield; V Norbury from East Lancashire; G B Llewellyn of Accrington; J Newstead of Rishton; G Leach of Accrington and Rawtenstall; W Cook of Burnley; W Shipman from Nelson, G Wilson, Lowerhouse; C H Parkin, Church, J W Carmicheal, East Lancashire and wicket keeper Worsley.

The Lancashire league made 121, while Tyldesley's XII were 163 for 5, as darkness fell.

On the back row of the photograph are Church CC committee men, including Ted Kelly, scorer Jimmy Clegg, club secretary Mr Pearson and G T Barnes, whose family owned Joseph Arnold, which made donations the club in the early years.