the latter outside school. He became disillusioned with cricket and developed a preference for tennis as a summer sport. Statham left school in 1946, aged sixteen, and went to work as a clerk for an accountancy firm. He was playing football for Denton West F.C. as a left winger. He was offered trials by both Liverpool and Manchester City but these were vetoed by his father who was opposed to any of his sons pursuing a career in football. Statham's football team was managed by Eric Taylor who was also involved with Reddish & Gorton Cricket Club (R&G). In the spring of 1947, wanting to keep his players together through the summer, Taylor invited them to join the R&G and that revived Statham's interest in cricket. R&G were members of the Saddleworth & District League. In October 1947, after Statham's first season there, they renamed themselves Denton West Cricket Club in response to local boundary changes and joined the North Western League for the 1948 season. Statham continued to play for them in 1948. National service Statham turned eighteen in June 1948 and became eligible for national service. He received his call-up in October and served eighteen months in the RAF until 1 May 1950. He was based at RAF Stafford and did clerical work for one of the aircraft maintenance units. He was able to travel home each weekend in the summer of 1948 to play for Denton West and he topped the North Western League's bowling averages for the season. He was invited to join Stockport Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League but initially turned it down because he was happy at Denton West. He later recalled earning his first money from cricket when a crowd collection was done on his behalf after one match in which he took eight for 15. He played for RAF Stafford's station team through the 1949 season and took a total of 96 wickets at an average of three. He recalled that the pitches were so lively that even a good length ball would rise above the stumps. Statham responded to this by adding the yorker to his repertoire and that accounted for a high percentage of his victims from then on. Despite his success, Statham did not play for the full Royal Air Force cricket team. Had he done so, he would have encountered Peter May and Frank Tyson who