History of our Club

The first record of Rowledge Cricket Club appears in 1886 with a match recorded against Tilford. The Club’s official start date is in 1887. Until 1914 the club played its home matches at Holt Pound on ground behind the Millers Forest Inn. This ground is believed to be one of the oldest cricket grounds in England and is often referred to as the ‘original Oval’. Since that time there have been a number of initiatives to resurrect the ground but it has never taken happened. Since 1914 the club has played at Rowledge Recreation Ground which has changed little since then. Contrary to popular belief the current pavilion is not a survivor from that period, although it was built in 1924!
Over the years Rowledge Cricket Club has played a prominent part in local cricket but it was in the 1980s that it became probably the leading club in the area. In the seasons 1980-85 the club won the I’Anson competition every season. Captained by Alan Prior ( our recent groundsman and reputed to be the best skipper ever to play in the local leagues) the club reigned supreme. In the 1985 season  these achievements culminated with an appearance at Lords in the National Village Cup final. It is pleasing to see that 22 years Chris Yates( snr) is still playing Premier League and National Village Cup cricket. Amid some controversy, Rowledge, seeking higher standard, moved to the lowest level in the Hampshire League and gradually progressed through the Leagues culminating in 1999 when they gained promotion to Division 3 of the Southern Premier League by becoming runners-up in the Hampshire County League Division 1. Over a ten year period from 1995, the Club first captained by Paul Tanner and then David Booton gradually began to introduce players brought up through the Club’s successful Youth system, a system which really began to develop in the Mid 90s.  This stood the Club in good stead for playing at the higher Premier League level.  Players like the experienced Chris Yates Snr and David Lloyd were joined by Chris Yates Jnr and a number of other youngsters who came through the Club’s Youth system in the late 90s.  This culminated the Club’s 1st XI achieving its highest League position in 2007 by becoming runners-up in the Southern Premier League Division 2.                                                                                                                                            
The National Village Cup Competition still remains a major event in the Club’s season and the Club still features strongly in the competition each year.  The closest the Club has come to achieving the 1985 feat was in 2002 when the Club reached the semi-finals but failed to make the final for a second time.

The Club runs four mens Saturday teams with our 4th XI playing in the local I’Anson league, the others teams are either in the Southern Premier League or Hampshire County Leagues.  In 2005 the Club entered into agreement with the Binsted Parish Council to use the Binsted Recreation ground as a second pitch.  The club continues to introduce youth players to senior cricket and during the past few seasons on some weekends at least 50% of our players have developed via junior section. Formed in 1997 the Club’s Ladies team has gradually developed and is now playing in the National league Div 2. The Club plans to start Girls cricket within the Youth section in order to develop players for the Ladies section. This current season we will also be entering 8 youth teams in the Hampshire Youth Leagues. The total membership is about 600 people. Our junior / youth section now enjoys huge support from local families and on a busy Friday evening one can find nearly 200 young people from 4 years and upwards learning cricket at the Recreation Ground. The size of the Club’s Membership has meant that the Club has had to keep up with the demands of that Membership and in turn improve the Club’s facilities on an ongoing basis. Over the years 2004-07 with the support of the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’, Waverley Borough Council, Southern Premier League Development Fund and a number of club benefactors the Club has refurbished the Pavilion and built a new electronic scoreboard.

In the Autumn of 2007 the Club achieved its National Clubmark Accreditation.

Like every successful club we rely totally on volunteers to run all the activities at Rowledge. We are blessed with a large number of people who give us their most valuable contribution—their time. It would be wrong to single out any specific people but no history could be complete without expressing sincere thanks to all those people who, over the years, have given their time to ensure our club remains the best club in the world!