Club Life: Anniversaries, cup success and New Zealand internationals

The Cricketer takes a look at a selection of stories from around the club cricket scene

Staten Island CC celebrate 150th anniversary

The oldest cricket club in USA is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

Staten Island CC was founded on March 22, 1872, and played its first match just under four months later.

The club relocated to Walker Park in 1886 and still calls the ground home 136 years later.

Don Bradman and Garry Sobers are among the international players to take their guard at Walker Park, the former featuring for Australia against New York in 1932 and the latter leading an International XI as part of the ground’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

Staten Island CC are marking their latest anniversary on July 16 & 17, with a weekend of celebrations, matches and more.

On July 16-17, @SICC will celebrate our 150* with games against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia and SICC Old Timers at Walker Park. Please drop by! Maybe the legendary Habib Rehman and @JosephONeillx will open the batting like in the old days...! pic.twitter.com/m85PacrlgV

— StatenIslandCricket (@SICricketClub) July 3, 2022

Double cup success for Harrogate CC

Harrogate CC may soon need a new trophy cabinet following their two cup successes at the Nidderdale Junior Cricket League Coad Cup finals.

In the Under-9s tournament, Harrogate beat Beckwithshaw by 79 runs, with Rory Mountain top-scoring with 28.

In the Under-7s tournament, meanwhile, they defeated Knaresborough Forest by 29 runs.

Yorkshire bowler Ben Coad was on hand for the trophy presentations.

New indoor centre to open in Yorkshire

A new cricket centre is set to open near Sheffield this autumn to continue the strong production line of cricketing talent from the area.

The brainchild of Jimmy Pearson (Holmesfield CC), S20 The Boundary will feature eight cricket lanes as well as a café, viewing area and changing facilities. The nets can also be removed to create two indoor cricket pitches.

It will be open seven days a week and available for use by local clubs all year round.

Pearson said: "Since the pandemic it has become increasingly difficult for clubs to plan their winter training programme with limited access to cricket nets combined with high demand from cricket clubs across Sheffield and the surrounding area.

"This centre aims to provide first class facilities, similar standards to other county cricket indoor cricket centres, but available to club players and junior cricket teams in the local area."

^{Harrogate CC Under-9s with the Coad Cup [Harrogate CC, with thanks]}

250 not out for Great Bentley

Essex club Great Bentley are celebrating their 250th anniversary in style this weekend with a fixture against Marylebone Cricket Club on July 17.

The first recorded match on the village green actually took place in 1771 – between Gentlemen of Essex and Tendring Hundred - but due to Covid-19, the festivities had to be put on hold.

Perhaps the most notable match to take place in the club’s 250-year history was against Bures. Great Bentley scored 301 for 9 in 1845 but didn’t give their opponents the chance to reply, joking that they could do so in 100 years. It actually took 112 years – Bures scored 302 for 8 to win the match – and the two sides enjoy a healthy rivalry to this day.

Club chairman, Peter Giles, said: "There are not many cricket grounds in the very heart of a village, let alone on a village green as large as ours and we are very lucky indeed to have this.

"Cricket has gone through numerous changes since our birth in 1771 but in the last few years serious changes have happened within the sport resulting in the demise of some village cricket clubs. Great Bentley has come close to going the same way but, thanks to considerable help from mainly local people, we have come through these difficult times. We have now turned the corner thanks to our forward-thinking committee."

Black Caps on the club circuit

If New Zealand felt sore about their 3-0 Test blanking by Brendon McCullum’s England, they quickly brushed it off.

The evening after their Headingley defeat, Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Tim Southee dropped in to East Molesey CC in Surrey for a hit with the club's girls' Under-14s team. The Black Caps had connections with 'the Moles' from Henry Nicholls' spell there in 2012 and 2013.

And Nicholls' older brother, Willy Nicholls, the Black Caps' media manager, guested alongside head coach Gary Stead for Elstow CC against Sharnbrook & Bromham CC in the Bedford Midweek League the following night, courtesy of a Kiwi friend in the home team.

Nicholls struck 54 off 30 balls before retiring out, while Stead – who played five Tests as a batsman in 1999 – managed 14 before being dismissed by left-arm seamer Andrew Jackson. Stead took two wickets with his leggies, and Nicholls one, as Elstow won the 16-over match by 44 runs.

Willy said of his own international chances: "I never really thought I could be a Blackcap. I got to about age 15 and couldn't really get it off the block. I was only scoring runs behind point."

DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THEN THIS?!

Incredible surprise for our girls this evening! Absolute gents of the game and incredible role models.

Massive thanks to @BLACKCAPS Devon Conway, Tim Southee and Kane Williamson who couldn’t say no to one more hit! #moles https://t.co/DlR7RIKzL0 pic.twitter.com/hJy01pl3fX

— East Molesey Cricket Club 🏆🏆🏆 (@EastMoleseyCC) June 28, 2022

Whitehaven CC raising money for cancer patients at West Cumberland Hospital

On August 28, Whitehaven CC will stage their seventh annual charity tournament in memory of Ged Blaney who passed away with cancer in 2015.

The event, which has already attracted 24 seven-a-side teams for 2022 (plus three on the reserve list), has raised over £30,000 for the palliative care and cancer treatment wards at West Cumberland Hospital.

Cumbrian sports stars, including Liam Livingstone, Dean Henderson, Scott Carson and Ben Stokes, have previously donated items for auction to support the club's cause, with goalkeeper Henderson a former junior player at the club.

If anyone would like to donate towards the event or has any sporting memorabilia for the auction, please contact Phil McCormick at philmarnia@hotmail.com.