In loving memory of Allan Kettleborough, Head Groundsman, Cricket Professional and Cricket Coach.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of a long-standing former member of staff and well-known member of the Yorkshire sporting community, Allan Kettleborough.

"Allan was a huge part of this community as Head Groundsman from 1985 – 2002, going on to coach cricket at the college for many years after. His time, dedication, knowledge and humour were second to none and he will be sadly missed.

"Ketts" oversaw the transformation of the cricket grounds that we have today from simply school pitches to county standard grounds and the pupils who play on those brilliant surfaces today have him to thank. Worksop College's playing facilities are what they are today due in large part to the foundations laid by Al and the unwavering care and time that he put into them.

As a coach he was responsible for some of the great teams that have been produced by the College but also some of the great players. The technical and cricket understanding that he imprinted on young people allowed players to reach their ceiling and go into cricket after school fit to play at the highest level their ability would allow. This did not matter if it was club, university, minor counties, country or international cricket, he always used to say "my role is to make a player able to handle himself in club cricket when he leaves and if we can make a few county and pro players along the way, then we have done our job". And he certainly did, having spent influential time with the Root brothers, Brett Hutton, Samit Patel, Steve Clark, Richard Wilkinson and of course his own son, Richard, who all became professional cricketers.

As a coach now both to the boys and girls at our school and to Cuckney CC at 1st team level, I look back with great gratitude to what Ketts taught me about cricket. He was a great technician and strategist of the game, a lover of cricket and a talker, who would always share his knowledge, wisdom and ideas. Those hours in the bus together had a huge influence on me as a coach and I thank him wholeheartedly. As I always used to tell the lads in the dressing room, he has forgotten more about cricket than you will ever know."

Thanks to Ian Parkin for his words.