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History of Chelford Cricket
Club
Chelford as a village has had
associations with cricket for almost 150 years.
The present
club is celebrating its 60th anniversary this
year, but earlier cricket in Chelford involved
the Cheshire County Cricket Club, which played
here from 1861 on a ground behind the
old Dixon Arms on land now
occupied by James Irlam and Son.
 An early celebrity of the County
Club was Thomas Nixon, born in Nottingham in
1815,
who came to Chelford from Oxford in 1857 and set up a
cricketing outfitter's business,
having already developed leg guards, cane handled bats and one of the
first ever
bowling machines. He died in 1877
and is buried in Chelford. When the County Club moved out in
1882, the ground was used by the Gentlemen of
Cheshire until the Ministry of Food took over the site in
World War II.
Chelford
Cricket Club as we know it today was set up in 1948 on the present ground
which was
developed by local enthusiasts from a wilderness
of long dank grass with thistles and
docks, a mound at one side and a long ridge
running towards the brook.
The club has been fortunate to have had a
succession of excellent and loyal groundsmen
including
Mike Shenton, who had acted as groundsman for
over 20 years before his recent death. The new
pavilion was built in 1965 (for
£1188!), and the score box was added in 1990.
 A feature which has given Chelford the feel of a
family club was the influence of the Potts
family, Stan Potts being the first captain in
1948. Also involved were Stan's brother Fred and
his wife Dorothy, their son David, an
outstanding opening batsman and wicketkeeper,
and his three sons. Under David's guidance the
Junior team was set up and was
very successful, winning the Festival in 1991
and representing Cheshire in the National
U15 competition for County Club
sides.
Other notable names associated
with the club are Professor Sir Bernard Lovell,
who played
in
the early years and would try to introduce the
game of cricket to visitors to Jodrell
Bank, and another early player, John Oliver, who
continues to provide enthusiastic
support as club President.
One of the great successes in the
Clubs' history, has been the Junior Festival
which was inaugurated in
1983 by three members, Mike Shenton, Derek
Higgins
and Paul Heath, and quickly became an important
competition for junior cricketers from
throughout Cheshire. It is still as popular as ever
and continues to this day.
At present the
Club plays in the Cheshire Cricket Alliance, and
fields two sides on Saturdays. On Sundays the
social team play friendlies against local
opposition. Nets take place on Thursday
evenings with all welcome. |
