Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. It was founded in 1782[1] and they play their home matches at the Nevill Ground. As of 2019 they play in the Kent Cricket League Premier Division.[2]
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| City | Royal Tunbridge Wells |
| Founded | 1782 |
| Home ground | Nevill Ground |
| History | |
| Kent Cricket League wins | 3 |
| National Club T20 wins | 1 |
History
editTunbridge Wells Cricket Club was founded in 1782. They first started playing cricket on the Higher Common Ground in Tunbridge Wells.[3] In 1882, to commemorate their centenary, they played a match against Marylebone Cricket Club.[4]
In 1895, Tunbridge Wells CC purchased a lease alongside Bluemantle's Cricket Club from William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny to establish a cricket ground. As a result, the Nevill Ground was established on a 99-year lease and named after the Marquess.[5] In 1902, Kent County Cricket Club started playing annually at the Nevill Ground, which became Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week.[6]
1913 fire
editIn 1913 the pavilion, including the club's archives, were destroyed in an arson attack by suffragettes, as part of a wider campaign to gain respect and votes for women.[7] The choice of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club as a target may have been provoked by a comment from a Kent official who was reported to have said prior to the attack: "It is not true that women are banned from the pavilion. Who do you think makes the teas?"[8]
The arsonists left campaign literature and a photograph of activist Emmeline Pankhurst, to draw attention to her incarceration in Holloway Prison, and the practice of force-feeding her and others, when on hunger strikes. Cricket-loving Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle reacted angrily to the fire in a meeting of The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage, dubbing the arsonists “female hooligans” and comparing the attack to “blowing up a blind man and his dog.” The pavilion was rebuilt within nine weeks, in time for the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week, helped by a series of fund-raising concerts at Royal Tunbridge Wells' Opera House.[9]
Recent history
editIn 1970 Tunbridge Wells CC were one of the founder members of the Kent Cricket League.[10] Tunbridge Wells CC hosted a 1983 Cricket World Cup match between India and Zimbabwe where India's Kapil Dev scored 175 not out.[11] They have won the Kent Cricket League three times, most recently in 1988.[12] In 2004 Tunbridge Wells CC were granted by the England and Wales Cricket Board the ECB Clubmark.[13] In 2016 Tunbridge Wells made it to the semi-final of the ECB National Club Twenty20.[14] In 2021, they won the ECB National Club Twenty20 and as the T20 club champions of England, were invited to take part in the 2022 European Cricket League where they finished as runners-up.[15][16]
References
edit- ^ "Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club". Kentishtowns.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Louis Sealey. "Kent Cricket League round-up: Hartley storm ahead while Blackheath and Bexley slip up". News Shopper. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ Turcan, Robert (2013). "Higher Common Ground". Tunbridge Wells Through Time. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445631790.
- ^ "Tunbridge Wells v Marylebone Cricket Club". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "A brief history of the Nevill Ground". ESPN Cricinfo. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Festival fun at Wells". Kent and Sussex Courier. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Militancy and a Cricket Pavilion". The Times. No. 40184. London. 12 April 1913. p. 10.
- ^ Scott, Les (2011). "48: Kent". Bats, Balls & Bails: The Essential Cricket Book. Random House. ISBN 978-1446423165.
- ^ Williamson, Martin (12 April 2008). "Blowing up a blind man and his dog". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Bowen, Peter. "Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club". SAA. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Suffragettes burned down pavilion of Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells". Cricket Country. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Kent Cricket League 2015 Handbook
- ^ "Clubmark Accredited Clubs". ECB. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Tunbridge Wells reach National Club T20 Finals Day". Kent CCC. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "DRAW: Teams for European Cricket League finals at Spain's Cartama Oval". 9 November 2021.
- ^ "European Cricket League: Tunbridge Wells runners-up after Championship final defeat". BBC Sport. 19 March 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.