William Reckitt set the property and grounds in Trust providing Sport was always played on the grounds.Ī cricket team functioned throughout the Second World War of 1939-1945 and the cricket field was kept properly cut and the actual playing pitch of the hockey field was not allowed to grow wild. The Club now provided facilities for cricket, bowls, lawn tennis and hockey and when the club house was officially opened on 2 February 1924, it then assumed the title of the Rickmansworth Cricket and Sports Club. Of course there were few cars in those days so no need for a car park. The hard courts were where the car park is today and you can still see the brick built surrounds. He then had a modern club house erected as now, a hockey field laid out on what is now the 3rd team pitches, replacing the bowling greens, and hard and grass lawn tennis courts constructed. It was then that Mr Francis William Reckitt, who was a grandson of the founders of the Reckitt & Sons business, an artist, who had lived in the town since 1904, stepped in and bought the whole property. The old wooden pavilion, situated where the Cricket nets are now, had a small lawn in front of it, enclosed by an iron fence and only males were allowed to enter.Īfter the Great War the cricket field was again put into condition for play to be resumed, In early 1920 Salters Brewery was taken over by one of the large Brewery firms, and the threat of the Club losing the ground it had used for such a long time was very real. Access to the field was by a road where the Roman Catholic Church now stands and continuing on the left of the old Malt House, now known as St Augustine's Hall. The cricket ground was actually the property of Salters Brewery, which was situated on both sides of the road near where the Joan of Arc Roman Catholic School now stands. In this article it is stated that the Rickmansworth Club played an England team at the Lords ground in 1807 – that is before the Battle of Waterloo. The same Ashes which are so keenly contested to this day.Ī local guide circulated in Rickmansworth about 1912 contained an article by Mr Tom Bevan, the headmaster of the Boys Elementary School from about 1890, giving details of some of his researches at Lords. Rickmansworth (fielding 18 players against the England Eleven) were defeated by 128 runs, but the England team went on to lose the most famous of matches, the original ‘ Ashes’, at the Oval just over a week later. In 1882 Rickmansworth again hosted an All England team of professional players preparing to face the touring Australians 9 days later. In 1881 they played an England XI and won by 9 wickets, despite the England team containing Billy Midwinter, famous as being the only player to represent England and Australia in Test matches. The overs were 4 ball overs at the time, and teams rarely scored more than 100 and often batted twice in a day.įrom this time onwards Rickmansworth were one of the top club sides in the South of England. A score book dated 1881–1883, has been preserved, and in this score book there are details of a match with an England team. In the middle of the 19th century, the club moved to its present ground at Park Road and functioned from a wooden pavilion which provided accommodation only for serving refreshments and for teams to change their attire. The Captain of one team was William CapelĪ few years later the club relocated to Rickmansworth Park, opposite the Met Station, which is now the grounds of the Royal Masonic School for Girls. Beauclerk was the second president of the MCC in 1826. His under-arm bowling was very slow, but extremely accurate - and he could get the ball to rise abruptly off a length. The primary player in the game was Lord Frederick Beauclerk, one of the best single-wicket cricketers of his time. It is unclear where the Clifford's Park ground was situated in Rickmansworth. In 1803, Rickmansworth hosted its only 1st class game to date. In the early days the club was based at the south end of Rickmansworth near where the White Bear Pub is today. The local Paper, the Watford Observer, noted that this was due, in no small part, to 'an excess of Beef and Beer prior to the match'. It is known there was a match between Rickmansworth and Pinner in 1790 in which 7 Rickmansworth Batsmen were run out. The badge denotes a founding date of 1787, however there are records of games prior to this, one in particular between the club and Pinner in 1760. Rickmansworth Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England.
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