CLUB CRICKET
Our feature on volunteer cricket groundsmen begins with Hagley Cricket Club, possibly the most beautiful setting for a cricket ground in England
HAGLEY HALL you need is love T
here’s no other word to describe the cricket ground at Hagley Hall, in Worcestershire, other than
‘beautiful’. The history of the Hall, the cricket club and its friendly, yet competitive nature, was enough for Sky Sports to include it as one of three clubs in their ‘Club Life’ series during this summer’s Ashes contest. This year Hagley Cricket Club celebrates its 175th Anniversary, making it one of the oldest clubs in the country. The Lyttleton family, who have resided in the Hall for the past 500 years, were the driving force behind the club and still play an important part today. The club was formed in 1834, two years before the first county cricket club. It was the year in which Britain had three
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Prime Ministers (Grey, Melbourne and Peel), the Tolpuddle Martyrs were deported and the trades union movement was effectively created in Dorchester. Westminster Bank, Harrods and Rimmel were founded and Charles Darwin sailed around the world in HMS Beagle. Queen Victoria ascended to the throne three years later! No local records exist from the early period but, at the time, the side would have been made up by members of the Lyttleton family, household staff and other local dignitaries. Large country houses would play games against other houses or travelling professional sides, and often large sums would be wagered on the results of these challenge matches.
The earliest written references to the club can be found in the Parish magazines of the 1860s reporting that “the club had 49 members” in 1862. During the four years of the First
World War, no cricket was played at Hagley and it took until 1920 for the square to be restored to an acceptable standard. From then on the square was regularly maintained by hand using a twelve inch push mower.
Mowing of the outfield was not allowed by the tenant farmer, so the condition of the outfield varied from season to season depending on the ‘grazing’ habits of the farmer’s cows. The square was protected by various types of fencing which had to be taken down before and replaced after each game.
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