HISTORY OF FALKLAND CRICKET CLUB

 

The League Cricket Era 1973 to the present

Club Development

The Club had prior to 1973 suffered from the lack of any adequate buildings.

A Fundraising and Development Committee was formed in 1973 and this led to the building of a new Clubhouse in 1975, the majority of the work being done voluntarily by Club Members. With the new Clubhouse being granted a Bar licence, the Club’s fundraising capacity now increased considerably.

With the improved changing facilities the Club was able to expand.

Social Membership was introduced and facilities for Skittles and Darts were created in the Clubhouse with Evening Leagues being organised.

A large Function Room was developed within the Club capable of even hosting wedding receptions.

In 1999 the entire bar and social facilities were extensively refurbished to enable the Club to attract more people to make use of the facilities, thereby providing a better revenue stream for the further development of the Club. A full Justices On-Licence was obtained and in April 1999 the Club Bar was given the title " The Bowlers Arms".  This has proved to be extremely popular with local people, and in the process has enhanced the already strong ties between the Club and the local community.

Sharing with the Community

Newbury Ladies Hockey club used the outfield in the late 1970s and early 1980s but this use ceased when they amalgamated with Newbury Men’s Hockey Club and Newbury cricket club and began to play on the pitch at  Northcroft owned by Newbury District Council.

During the same period football teams using Blossoms Field football pitch on the corner of Enborne Street and Essex Street made use of the Falkland Cricket Club facilities for changing and after match socialising. Subsequently Blossoms Field, then owned by Berkshire County Council, fell into disuse, despite efforts by Falkland Cricket Club to support its use. This included offers to maintain the pitch free of charge. The Blossoms Field pitch still remains unused to this day for no discernible reason other than lack of interest by the owning authority (now West Berkshire Council)

Local organisations such as Newbury Yacht Club, Newbury Football Referees Association and Newbury Caged Bird Society began to use the Clubhouse as their regular meeting venue.

In 1980 the Club further extended its involvement with the local community by instigating an annual Summer Fete where local charities and organisations were invited to participate. Large crowds, mostly from the local community attended every year.

In 1982 a Bonfire and Firework display was first held and this has become a regular feature on 5th November and is well supported by the local community.

Over the last 25 years the Falkland Cricket Club has consistently pursued an "open door" policy in respect of its main ground. Notices erected on the ground confirm that the local community are welcome in the grounds at all times, always provided that their presence there is at their own risk and that they respect the facilities. To date this has proved to be an outstandingly successful partnership with the community, with a very low incidence of vandalism.

From 1992 to 1998 the Clubhouse was the venue on weekday afternoons for children’s dancing classes.

During the rebuilding of St George’s Church Hall in 1995/96 the Club was used by the local playgroup who would otherwise have been homeless. Despite the problems with storage of playgroup equipment, mutual co-operation ensured that disruption to both the playgroup and the cricket club was minimal.

Since 1996 the Ground has been regularly used by Park House School for some House cricket matches to relieve congestion on the use of their own facilities.

 

Ground and Facility Improvements

Money was spent on the ground which led to an outstanding honour to the Club in 1979 when the Hampshire and Southern Leagues voted Falkland the "Ground of the Year" in recognition of the superb condition of the square and outfield.

Practice nets were constructed in 1980 and this enabled a junior cricket section to be started.

In 1981 an agreement was reached between the Club and the neighbouring Enborne Lodge School whereby the Club created a cricket ground for use by the school and the Club. Because of the other uses of the area by the school, the number of Club fixtures on this ground was initially set to 12 per year. Changing for the additional pitch was provided in the main Clubhouse by converting two of the social areas to multipurpose use.

In 1989 the Club with the encouragement of the Enborne Lodge School erected a small wooden summerhouse type building on the East side of the 3rd XI ground. This building provided alternative rudimentary changing  and shelter during matches as well as storage for spectator seating and some items of equipment.

In 1993 the Club replaced the boundary fence to the Main Ground and at the same time took the opportunity to extend the ground to the north and west. This considerably enhanced the scope and character of the ground.

In 1998 following the closure of Enborne Lodge School by its new controlling authority, Lambeth Council, the school and grounds were sold to a developer.

and as part of the planning consent, the club was able to negotiate with the developer the purchase of the cricket ground ensuring that it had a permanent second ground to cater for its expanding junior section and increased 3rd and 4th XI fixtures..

In 1999 the club also negotiated the purchase of the 50% share of the ownership of the main Enborne Lodge Ground from Mrs Susan Neate, the widow of Joe Neate.

In 2004 the Club was successful in obtaining grant assistance from ECB through the Community Club Development Fund. This led to the construction of a new pavilion with changing, shower and toilet facilities, opened in time for the 2005 season and also a new two bay net facility on the second ground, this being opened in time for the 2006 season.

In 2007 the 49 % of the Neate brothers'  ownership of the main ground freehold passed to the newly formed Berkshire Cricket Trust the remaining 1% being retained by Francis Neate. This now meant that the share ownership of the grounds was as follows

Main Enborne Lodge ground: Trustees of falkland Cricket Club 50%,  Berkshire Cricket Trust 49%, Francis Neate 1%

Second Enborne lodge Ground: Trustees of falkland Cricket Club 100%

In the autumn of 2006 a start was made on work to re-level the square on the second ground with a view to also changing the East-West direction of play to North -South

Work was hampered by the wet late autumn and lack of drainage on the ground and problems were exacerbated during the unusually wet 2007 summer. The work was completed during the autumn of 2007.

At the same time in the autumn of 2007, perimeter drainage was constructed to the squares on both grounds.

 

Cricket Developments

The advent of League cricket led to a rapid expansion of the Club’s horizons. The 1st XI won North Hants Div1 in 1977, and went on to win Hampshire County Division III the next season.

The 2nd XI entered the League in 1976 and also went on to win North Hants Div 1 in 1983.

Regular 3rd XI matches commenced in 1982.

In 1985 Falkland were admitted to the Three Counties League, covering Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, of which Newbury C C had been a founder member.

In its first season the 2nd XI won its division and the 1st XI won honours in 1987.This period probably marked the emergence of Falkland as a rising force in Berkshire Cricket.

In 1987 the Club entered its 3rd XI in the Three Counties League and they won the 3rd XI Championship in 1990 with the Enborne Lodge School ground now being acclaimed as one of the best 3rd XI grounds in the League.

Further recognition of the Club’s standing came in 1986 with the establishment of Falkland as a regular home venue for Berkshire County Cricket Club in the Minor Counties Championship. The Club’s association with the County has since gone from strength with several club players being selected to represent Berkshire and the then Club Chairman Wilson Carlisle becoming the Secretary of the Berkshire County Cricket Club from 1994 to 1999.

The Junior Cricket Section expanded to encompass age groups from U -11 through to U-17. In recent years all the junior sides have achieved success in county competitions and a substantial number of young players have been selected for Berkshire.

In 1993 the Club entered all three Saturday teams in the Thames Valley League as a result of the amalgamation of the Three Counties League with the Thames Valley League.

The 1st XI won promotion to Division 2 of the Thames Valley League in 1995. The 1st XI then won promotion to the Premier Division in 1997 and an outstandingly successful season was crowned by the second XI also winning their division.

After two seasons in the top flight of the Thames Valley League, Falkland CC  1st XI was invited to join the Western Division of the newly formed Home Counties Premier League in the 2000 season.

The club achieved promotion to Division One by winning Division 2 West in 2004.

The 2nd and 3rd XIs  and the 4th XI (started in 2002) play in the Thames Valley League.

In 2007 Falkland Cricket Club achieved full Clubmark Accreditation.

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