Summer Sports - Cricket
T
he rich colour of rhododendrons and azaleas in early summer; the spectacular autumn hues of native trees in autumn are what bring tens of thousands of visitors year after
year to Sheffield Park in East Sussex. Tucked away within the extensive estate there too is a sedate and delightful cricket ground that has a regal past and a very English revival. The Park, one of the country’s most popular garden, parkland and arboretum attractions, has been in the care of the National Trust for over sixty years. It surrounds a striking late eighteenth century Gothic country house that remains in private hands. It was the latter Victorian years when the third Earl of Sheffield was in residence that cricket and the Sheffield Park Ground became an established part of the landscape.
His name, was not long after, to take cricketing roots down‐under.
Cricket had been played on the Sheffield Park estate as far back as 1845, but it was a venue only for local Sussex teams. When the third Earl took over from the second, the passion was greater; the ambition higher. A serious Sheffield Park Ground, fit for a higher level of the game, was laid in 1876. Andy Jesson is the Park and Gardens Manager at Sheffield Park. He takes me to the site where a Lord Sheffield XI took on the Australians in the first match of their first Test tour of England in 1884. They were heavily defeated by an innings and six runs, but it was the start of an enduring relationship. This was the golden age of cricket. WG Grace, CB Fry and other big names were ‘like that’ with the Earl, as was the Prince of Wales
(later Edward VII). Sheffield Park hosted many a big match. In cricketing circles it was a social pinnacle.
In May 1896, the opening game of the Australian tour here at Sheffield Park attracted 25,000, which is not far short of a full Lords today. The Prince of Wales was top guest and no expense was spared. Lavish cast iron pavilions were filled to the gunnels. Sign of the times, there was even a ladies’ pavilion. Banners lined the route from Sheffield Park station. This was a big sporting event. The Earl was a passionate patron of the game and was very much associated with early England tours to Australia. In 1891, he went there as promoter of the England Test team, led by WG Grace. At the conclusion of the tour, he donated £150 to the New South
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