RETIREMENT may be uppermost in the minds of most men when they reach the 65-year milestone, but for Clifford Gill, the 78-year-old president of Sutton Cricket Club, hanging up his boots is not on the agenda.

As a player, he did that during his fifties, having turned out with the club since first being picked as a 13-year-old in 1937 at a time when youngsters would hang around the ground hoping for a chance to play in the then adult-only team.

The rest is history - although in Mr Gill's case, that history is packed with memories and hours of fun during a long and unbroken association with the game and the club.

He has been there throughout the trials and tribulations experienced by every sporting organisation.

He played initially in the West Bradford League, but in the 1930s Sutton moved to the Craven League and in doing so provided him with his finest hour - being a member of the only Sutton side to carry off the Wynn Cup against Jimmy Nelson's in 1947.

The Lancashire side also featured in his most memorable personal achievement as a player, a 5-29 bowling return which he recalls helped to inflict "a fair thrashing" on the luckless Nelson team.

Such a long association with any village team has given Mr Gill a rare insight into the evolution of the club.

He recalls the rustic nature of some of the grounds in the early days, when efforts were made to prepare a top-quality square, but some of the outfield mowing left something to be desired.

Then the accent was not on a quick pick-up and return to the wicket-keeper, but first finding the ball!

Ironically, those days of 'coarse cricket' were arguably the halcyon days of the game, with youngsters keen to play and sport the primary source of leisure enjoyment for young people.

"The game is essentially the same, but there are a lot more runs scored now there used to be because of the better field. I don't think there is the same interest there was - there's that much else to do and lots of younger people have cars now," he said.

That apathy among young people, however, has not dampened Mr Gill's enthusiasm.

He still recalls with deep affection the Whit Sunday friendlies around the Lake District and his hectic Saturday schedule during the times when he tried to marry cricket with his talents as a pub pianist.

Getting back to Sutton, where he was born and bred, in time for a bath and a quick dash to a local hostelry, involved some serious haste, especially when some of the games didn't finish until 8pm at some of the more distant parishes of the Craven League.

Those occasions are only fond recollections now, but Mr Gill's involvement remains as loyal and practical as ever.

When his playing career ended, he joined the band of workers on the committee, graduating to club president five years ago and also joining the trustees for the ground and, on a more practical note, the selection committee.

Apart from his four-year spell in the RAF, he has been a fixture at the ground every week for the past six decades.

Sporting trends have not passed Mr Gill by - he is the only member of the family to be still involved with the game but that has not eroded his fascination with the sport.

"It is the uncertainty," Mr Gill said. "In cricket you can get a big score one week and the other week get none. You can go to some matches and think you can hammer them and you come away and don't."

While the club is rightly proud of Mr Gill's long association and his tremendous service during that time, he has no intention yet of retiring to a deckchair on the boundary edge.

There's a centenary celebration in 2004 to think about - and probably a few words to write for a souvenir brochure of some sort - while the pavilion has been in use since before the time when Mr Gill's cricketing odyssey was launched.

For a club president, even one of such longevity, there's no time to dwell on the past. President Gill has things to do, people to see...even 65 years down the line, there's no sign of a declaration.