BRADFORD League legend Murphy Walwyn has been inducted into the Wisden Club Cricket Hall of Fame - and his career shows no sign of coming to an end yet, even after 50 years.

He moved to East Bierley from the Caribbean at the age of 14 in 1970 and soon began playing for the village cricket team. His long Bradford League career saw him amass nearly 15,000 runs and almost 600 wickets in the competition.

The big-hitting all-rounder won the league's fastest fifty award eight times and is one of only two bowlers to take two ten-wicket hauls in the top flight - the other being Test bowler SF Barnes.

He is the second Bradford League stalwart to enter the amateur Hall of Fame list started by Wisden - often referred to as the 'bible of cricket' - in 2018, with Hanging Heaton's John Carruthers also being included last year.

Due to Yorkshire's homegrown rule at the time, Walwyn never turned out for the White Rose, but he is making up for lost time now, playing an integral role in both the Yorkshire and England Over-60s teams.

Discussing his early life and cricketing influences, he told the T&A: "I'd read magazines and listen to the radio, as we had no TV in the Caribbean.

"I used to love listening to John Arlott's commentary as he brought it home and made it feel like you were there.

"I used to read a lot about the 3 W's (Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell) too, and I even got the chance to meet Everton in Manchester a few years ago as he used to play for Bacup."

Asked about his first decade or so in England, Walwyn - whose brother Keith was a prolific striker for York City - said: "I think the pinnacle was when East Bierley won at Lord's in 1979 (in the National Village Knockout Final).

"I came over to England in 1970 and East Bierley were relegated in 1971.

"I started in 1972 and we finished bottom of the Second Division for a couple of years but then we brought in Phil Taylor as captain.

"We got a few players in and gradually a lot of people started getting attracted to our village games on Sundays. We got promotion in 1976 and that helped build the club up too.

"Many people were coming along to watch us and I remember how when I came to East Bierley for the first time, we had a really small clubhouse, but those fans and then our run to Lord's helped pay for a new one."

Walwyn, who has lived in East Bierley since his arrival from St Kitts and Nevis, recalled: "I was introduced to the team by the West Indian professional at the time, and I worked very close to the ground too.

"(Batsman) Freddie Jones and his wife really looked after me, and so did the late Albert Smith, who was chairman of the league, and his son Andrew, who I played cricket with. They lived near me too."

Walwyn's talents with bat and ball soon got him noticed, but he was magnanimous at being denied the chance of ever representing Yorkshire.

When asked whether he should have been given an opportunity, he laughed: "You're not the first person to say that.

"But I just got on with things and enjoyed my cricket. I played with them all anyway, the likes of David Bairstow and Chris Old. A lot of my friends now have come through Yorkshire cricket."

Asked about who impressed him most in his time playing Bradford League cricket, Walwyn - a multiple title winner with Woodlands as well as East Bierley - said: "The latest one I remember was Anthony McGrath coming through. I remember seeing him at 17.

"But the Bradford League has had a lot of, and so many good, county players in the league. There's been Australian Test players come over and play here, then there was Craig White, who was at Farsley and went on to play at Yorkshire and England."

Walwyn does that himself still, admittedly at a more senior level. Asked why he isn't slowing down, he said: "I've played for Yorkshire Over-60s and England Over-60s for the last four years.

"It's in my blood. I was born in the Caribbean and I just love my cricket. I'm not playing as much now as my body can't take it. I'm still working too, so my body needs time to recover.

"I'm hoping to play a bit more this summer though, and turn out a few times for East Bierley."

Finally, asked how he would like to be remembered by others, as a cricketer and a person, Walwyn mused: "I'd like to think I entertained them and always made people welcome.

"It's a little bit harder nowadays, but I'd always go into the bar after the game to speak to the spectators. I've just always enjoyed meeting people."