Fladbury Cricket Club History

Fladbury Cricket Club – A Brief History

The earliest mention of a Fladbury Cricket Club was in an 1883 edition of the Evesham Journal. A match against Toddington is reported on.

The existing playing field (4.628 acres) was purchased by Fladbury Parish Council for £600 in November 1951.

Records show that the first formal fixture season to be played on the present ground was 1954. Some friendly matches had been played a year earlier when the club was formed by a breakaway faction from the Moor Club led by Sid Levett, Bob Philpotts and Reg Brimmell. Reg Brimmell was the clubs first Secretary and he skippered the side until 1966. The first ever game for the re-formed club was on May 9th 1954 against Badsey, changing was at the Chequers Inn and teas cost the princely sum of 1s 9d. Annual subscriptions were set at 5/-. The first home game was against Comberton on June 6th.

Reg Brimmell once took 115 wickets in a season. Best bowling performance in a weekend must be Reg’s 7-3 on a Saturday and 7-2 on the Sunday.

Tom Mansell was the first President, appointed in 1960 until his death in 1988. There have been just three Presidents since – Brian Broadbent 1988 to 2002, Eric Quantrill 2003 to 2004 and Richard Martin, the current President. Only two Fixture Secretaries have served in 54 years (Reg Brimmell and Simon Purfield).

In the 1956 Fixture Card, the oldest one the club possess, Fladbury played teams such as Defford, Powick, Buckland & Laverton and Bourton-on-the-Hill. All matches in the early days of the club started at 3pm! The earliest date Fladbury have ever played on is April 16th and the latest finish was October 7th. In 1975, match fees were 15p, teas 20p and subscriptions £1.50 a year.

In 1985 Fladbury Cricket Club joined a league for the first time – the Morganite Villages Cricket League, until 1994 when the club joined the Philip, Laney and Jolly League. This league was merged with others to create the Worcestershire County League in 1999. Fladbury were accepted into the Cotswold Hills League in 2004 which it is still part of today. After starting in the bottom Division 6, Fladbury enjoyed a promotion in 2004 and then became Champions of Division 5 in 2005 and Champions of Division 4 in 2006. The club have been in Division 3 for two seasons.

A youth section started in 1991, culminating in 6 teams being run from 1997 to 1999. Success came here too with the Under 12s winning the Cotswold Hills League in 1996 and 1998. Sadly despite the efforts of Ian Driver and John Martin, many youngsters then went to the bigger clubs in the area for coaching and the Junior Section folded. However a successful partnership with Drakes Broughton Juniors developed, using the ground and facilities for their matches and practice. Happily and probably the most important news for years was the formal amalgamation of the two clubs in early 2008. Some good young cricketers are already turning out for Fladbury and the club now has high hopes for the future. The club in 2008 is running an Under 14s team in the Cotswold Hills League and runs coaching sessions for all other age groups. An Under 11s side is developing with friendlies arranged for 2008.

Due to the increasing number of younger players, a second eleven was created for the first time having its first game in 1994 against Vine. For five seasons, from 1998 to 2002, the club had two sides on Saturdays in the Worcestershire County League. The club still has a second eleven playing a handful of Saturday and Sunday friendlies to help develop the older junior players.

In recent years the ground at Fladbury has seen many new developments. The new pavilion was opened by Tom Graveney in 1999 thanks in the main to a National Lottery grant of £100,000 and the hard work of the Fladbury Pavilion Appeal Committee. As well as the new pavilion, a new scoreboard, sightscreens and a mobile net practice cage have been added. Under the control of Pete Sudlow, the square and outfield have developed into one of the highest rated in the Cotswold Hills League. Fladbury has been selected to host County and District junior matches, which is testament to Pete’s hard work.

The club has hosted two benefit games for Worcestershire County Cricket Club players. In 1989, a 20 over evening match for the benefit of Paul Pridgeon took place in front of a crowd estimated at 500. In 1994 for Tim Curtis a 40 over match took place against the county, which Fladbury won (it contained some good “ringers”, two having represented England!). The club also hosted an International Police Cricket Festival match between West Mercia and Western Australia during the club’s Golden Jubilee Cricket Week in 2004.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of scorebooks from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and the following fixture cards – 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1967 and 1968, the Secretary would be very grateful to receive them.

A Brief History

Playing Record 1980 - 2009

Various Club Records (Since 1980)

Award winners since 2005

1st Team 100's

2nd Team 100's

1st Team Best Bowling Performances

2nd Team Best Bowling Performances

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All images and content copyright © Jonathan Edwards