Summer Sports - Cricket


Tom James soaks up some cricketing heritage in the West Sussex village of Henfield, one of the game’s earliest adopters


Nick Blake In the


he West Sussex village of Henfield is a surprisingly bustling hub, sandwiched between cosmopolitan Brighton and the historic market town of Horsham, recently voted the second most pleasant place to live in the country.


An affluent setting, Henfield hit the


news recently with the passing of its most famous recent resident, horror fiction writer James Herbert, author of bestselling titles The Rats, The Fog and The Survivor, who spent a lifetime in the village penning these and other universally popular works. Millions enjoyed Herbert’s 2006 supernatural


88 PC APRIL/MAY 2013


Cradle of Cricket T


thriller ‘The Secret of Crickley Hall’, dramatised in three parts for BBC television late last year.


Despite its modest size and single-


street shopping, Henfield boasts other notable claims to fame - the popular TV presenter Holly Willoughby was born and bred in the village, whilst ’60s singing heart-throb turned actor, Adam Faith, lived just beyond the High Street. Less well known perhaps is the village’s sporting heritage, which has as many twists, turns and unexpected events as the best Herbert tale.


When leaving the village, en route to Brighton, one would likely pay little


attention to the recreation grounds on your left - nothing out of the ordinary. The rather unassuming little cricket pavilion would offer no clue that organised sport is commonplace here, and has been for many generations. In fact, the inconspicuous wickets amidst the puddle-pocked outfield (the weather was particularly miserable when I visited), sitting on what is an unusually undulating profile, is in fact the site of one of the world’s oldest cricket grounds, founded in 1771, and still bowling along today.


As its rich history alludes to, the work and effort of a legion of enthusiastic


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