Ian Folley - Lancashire's spin wizard

You might think I have something of a nerve given that some of these studies also appeared in my book, Summer Days Promise. My defence is that I’ll be writing heaps of fresh stuff for this site and also that I reckon Lanky Lanky is a fitting final home for this essay about Ian Folley, a left-arm spinner who is still fondly remembered, especially by who saw him play. They remember his skills and the fun he brought to a day’s cricket. I also remember those things.

On the 28th June, 1988 Lancashire’s manager, Alan Ormrod, was watching a second-team game at Elland CC when he received a phone-call from his England counterpart, Micky Stewart. There was a Test Match against the West Indies taking place at Old Trafford in two days’ time and Nick Cook had failed a fitness test. Ormrod was therefore asked whether he thought his left-arm spinner, Ian Folley, was ready to make his international debut. The Lancashire coach thought for a while but replied that while Folley was bowling very well and worth his place in a touring party, he was, perhaps, not quite at the level he had reached the previous summer. The selectors eventually plumped for John Childs, the 36-year-old Essex left-armer.

Folley never did receive that England call. Although he finished that season with 57 first-class wickets, he started the next virtually unable to bowl spin at all. His deliveries might bounce four times or sail over the wicketkeeper’s head without bouncing at all. The yips had claimed another victim and Folley’s first-class career was all but over.