“An ambassador for cricket,” “a real gentleman,” “one of Penrith’s true characters”, “a grand fella” and “well respected by all who knew him”.
These were just a few of the words of tribute used to describe former Penrith sportsman, businessman and friend to many Dickie Spruce, who has died at the age of 77.
Dickie will be remembered with fondness by the many cricketers who bought gear in his shop in Middlegate, Penrith — ranging from very average village players to Test stars, all of whom he was ready to advise in his friendly and humorous way.
The only son of the late Frances and Roy Spruce, he was born and raised in Penrith and had one sister, Sylvia. Although christened David Michael Spruce, he was invariably called Dickie after the nickname was bestowed on him at school.
He attended Penrith’s Brunswick Road School, the old County Boys’ School and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. It was at the latter that he started to acquire his passion for cricket, being coached by Indian Test player and Penrith club professional Ramnath Kenny.
After leaving school, Dickie studied for an HND in business studies at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and went on to work in Cheadle Hulme for a firm called Simon Calves so he could train as an accountant.
However, he hated working in an office and came home to Penrith to take over E. C. and F. M. Spruce, the grocery business previously run by his parents, which was based in the town’s old Market Hall — now the Devonshire Arcade.
Dickie also started selling cricket gear to fellow players from the back of a van and then opened his Sportscraft shop in the Market Hall to give him a more formal base of operations. He offered a wide range of sporting goods at the shop, but with his main focus being on cricket clothing and equipment.
However, he soon needed to expand and so took on additional premises on Burrowgate, next to what at that time was the Burtons menswear shop.
Around 1985 he acquired the larger Middlegate property across the road which is now occupied by the Herald, from which he traded until his retirement in 2013.
Dickie’s detailed knowledge of cricket equipment, coaching expertise and many contacts in the game meant he knew exactly what players wanted and gave him the ability to get hold of the latest gear — often before it was available elsewhere.
As a result, his customers included many professional players, with visitors to the Middlegate shop including Derbyshire and England wicketkeeper Bob Taylor, England all-rounder Jonathan Trott, locally raised wicketkeeper-batsman Paul Nixon and West Indies star Brian Lara.
The shop was often a busy place, particularly on summer Saturday mornings prior to local cricket matches. At such hectic times Dickie would employ young cricketers he knew who were keen to earn a bit of money — much of which they then spent on cricket gear!
As the internet grew in importance, Dickie gained many customers around the world, including in Australia and South Africa, with his knack of getting the latest gear before other retailers being a major reason for this success.
In its later years, the shop was part of the Intersport buying group and Dickie designed some equipment for cricket brands which were part of this business.
He also ran other shops in Penrith at various times, namely Trendcraft and a kitchenware outlet called Fairbuy.
As a keen and talented cricketer, Dickie played as a wicketkeeper-batsman, since this meant he was always in the action. He played for the Penrith club in his teens and early twenties, but was often unable to turn out for his hometown team because his business was so busy on Saturdays.
As a result, much of his playing career was spent at Kendal, in a higher league, which gave him greater scope to play on Sundays.
He played minor counties cricket for Cumberland between 1967 and 1983, although his business commitments again meant he could only turn out on an infrequent basis. He was also offered trials with first class counties Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire, but preferred to foster his own business in Penrith.
The highlight of his time with Cumberland came not as a player but as team manager from the 1980s to the early 90s, with the side long starved of success, winning the minor counties championship in 1986 and the MCCA Knockout Trophy — known as the Holt Cup — in 1989.
Other teams he played for included Keswick and Threlkeld. He also entered many teams in the old Penrith Medals competition, played on weekday nights, which drew large crowds to the town’s Tynefield Park, especially when his Sportscaft Sloggers included first class county and even Test players.
However, it was probably as a coach that he made his greatest contribution to cricket. He coached for more than a quarter of a century from the mid-1970s and helped bring out the talents of hundreds of players, including some who rose to the highest levels of the game.
These included Paul Nixon, from Langwathby, who originally wanted to be a fast bowler but was persuaded by Dickie to become a wicketkeeper-batsman and went on to play for Cumberland, Leicestershire, Kent, Delhi Giants and England. Others were Dean Hodgson, who played for Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, and Dale Iniff, who played for Northamptonshire.
As one of the original England and Wales Cricket Board’s Advanced Staff Coaches, his most lasting legacy was the development and mentoring of an army of cricket coaches based in clubs across the county to encourage and develop Cumbria’s home-grown talent.
Dickie was passionate about fostering the talents of Cumbrian players and, whenever possible, included county-based youngsters in the Cumberland team rather than bringing in outside professionals.
Away from cricket, Dickie’s other interests included gastronomy and he was a talented amateur chef and lover of fine dining. He always enjoyed a good curry and ate many in the company of fellow cricketers, including former Penrith professional Raj Hans.
He also enjoyed watching plays by William Shakespeare and doing cryptic crosswords and other problem solving games. He loved travelling around the world, either with his family or fellow cricketers and lovers of the game.
He made numerous trips to destinations including America, Australia, South Africa and the West Indies.
He met his future wife Sue when both were in the same year at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and they were married in 1972. They went on to have two children, David and Jenny.
He is survived by his wife Sue, of Penrith; son David, who lives in Great Salkeld; and daughter Jenny Murray, also of Penrith. He had five grandchildren, Sam, Rosie, Annabelle, Tom and Freya.
The funeral service is to be held at St Andrew’s Church, Penrith, on Wednesday, 28th August, at 11am. Arrangements are in the hands of Richardson Funeral Directors, Penrith.
