It is a trifle unfortunate, and very misleading, that a player of Mike Bore’s dedication and enthusiasm should be remembered in Nottinghamshire for his batting at Taunton in 1984, especially since until that fateful match his highest score in Notts first-class cricket was 24.
The fate of the Championship title in that ultimate game of the summer rested on Bore’s shoulders. Somerset set Notts 297 runs to score off what turned out to be 60 overs. Out of the recognised batsmen, only the determined captain Clive Rice, with 98, reached a half century. Bore faced the final over with 14 required, he already had made 17. Off the first four balls of the final over Bore scored 10. Four were needed with two balls remaining. He struck the fifth ball over the bowler’s head. It was caught close to the boundary by the sub fielder Ollis. The Championship had gone to Essex, Notts had to be content with second place. As Bore related in an interview 20 years later "We were stunned. We got in the car and I don't think we spoke a word until we were well past Gloucester. No matter how many times I lie in bed and replay that ball I never score those four runs". Bore finished with a Notts best of 27 in that innings and scored 393 first-class runs at 8.02 for Notts.
Born in Hull, where he was educated at Maybury High School, Bore began his competitive cricket with Hull Town; success with his left-arm fast bowling in the Yorkshire Federation led to selection for Yorkshire Seconds. He moved to Leeds CC and a return of nine for 27 v Doncaster in 1968, plus 40 wickets in the Minor Counties Competition, meant that Bore made his Yorkshire First-Class debut the following summer.
Bore had varied his bowling and was just as effective with slower deliveries as with the faster type. Although Yorkshire had always been keen on left-armers, Bore had to compete with ‘Rocker’ Robinson as a faster bowler and Don Wilson, then Phil Carrick in the slower range. Bore’s best seasons with Yorkshire were 1971 (44 wickets at 26.90) and 1973 (41 at 30.36). When not in the senior side, Bore turned out for Bradford Cricket Club. In 1978, despite taking 43 wickets for Yorks Seconds, he appeared in just one first team game for Yorkshire and in ten seasons with that county, Bore played only 74 First-Class matches.
He signed for Notts in 1979 and went immediately into the Championship side, playing in most of the One-Day cricket as well. Bore took 61 First-Class wickets in his first season at Trent Bridge and was capped the following season. He took 32 championship wickets in 14 games at 31.25 when Notts won the championship in the memorable 1981 season. In the crucial fixture in mid August, Bore came in as last man wearing his distinctive white grilled helmet. In partnership with spin partner Eddie Hemmings, they saw off the fearsome pace of Sussex pair Imran Khan and Garth Le Roux as Notts avoided defeat under cloud leaden skies.
After five years in the 1st XI, Bore was appointed captain of the Notts Colts side in the Bassetlaw League and from 1985 led the Seconds. The team won the Second Eleven Championship title in 1985, with Bore taking 35 wickets. In l989 Bore left Notts and joined Lincolnshire, becoming their leading bowler that year. He later took the post of Indoor School coach with Yorkshire in 1990, at the same time joining East Bierley Cricket Club, taking that side to Priestley Cup success. In 1992 he was appointed Director of the Yorkshire Academy and in 1995, Cricket Development Officer for the county.
For Notts he took 210 wickets in First-Class matches at 30.36. In all First-Class cricket he took 372 wickets in 159 matches. Bore was very economical in limited overs cricket, taking 89 wickets at 28.95 in 92 List-A games for Notts at an economy rate of 3.44. His best performance of six for 22 won him the Gold Award in a Benson and Hedges Cup match at Grace Road in 1980. His best First-Class innings bowling figures were 8-89 on a wet wicket v Kent at Folkestone in 1979 in a match where another left-arm spinner, Derek Underwood, also caused havoc. Bore would often open the bowling in List-A fixtures for Notts with a bowling action very similar to Underwood, before reverting to conventional slow left-arm later in the match.
Michael Kenneth Bore died in Knaresborough on 2 May 2017, having suffered from Parkinson’s Disease for some years. He was one of cricket’s great ambassadors.
March 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 485