The Parish Magazine March 2021

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28 The Parish Magazine - March 2021 around the villages — 3 Since 1750 Sonning Cricket Club's sport By Alastair Driver I recently embarked on the fascinating task of writing the history of Sonning Cricket Club (SCC) for the club’s website based on the excellent trio of books entitled 'A Thames Parish Magazine' by Gordon Nutbrown. These books contain extracts from 'The Parish Magazine' stretching back to 1869 and I thought readers would be interested to hear some of the highlights from the roller-coaster history of the club from c1750. The date SCC was founded is buried in the mists of time, but the first, rather inauspicious mention, is in It’s Not Cricket – Skulduggery, Sharp Practice and Downright Cheating in the Noble Game by Simon Rae. It quotes a Reading Mercury correspondent who, in 1767, denounced Sonning Cricket Club for cynically preventing Reading winning a game by wasting the last hour 'throwing the ball about, out of the way'. Thus we say our founding date was c1750, but hasten to add that our sportsmanship has improved dramatically since then! 1869 This is the year that The Parish Magazine was first published and in the September issue, Sonning cricket gets its first mention with two matches won by Sonning against Swallowfield and Tilehurst. 1887 In June, The Parish Magazine announced that 'agreement had been reached to found a cricket club in Sonning' with the first game being played on 7 May, although no result was published. We assume that the SCC mentioned in the Reading Mercury in 1767 and playing in 1869, must have previously ceased to exist or perhaps was a more informal gathering of cricket enthusiasts rather than a formal club. The Parish Magazine summarised the club rules, which included annual subscriptions of 2/6d for over 18's and 1/- for under 18's. All parishioners were eligible to become members, but non-residents could be proposed and seconded by Sonning parishioners. No cricket was to be played on Sundays or Good Fridays and no alcoholic drink was to be sold on the ground at any time — something we might struggle with these days! 1893 SCC achieved its first major success by winning the Reading & District Challenge Cup. The Parish Magazine (December) records that the trophy 'was accorded quite a joyous welcome on its arrival in the village on Friday evening 27 October' and that 'it was met at the lower gates of Holme Park by a procession of the members of the club and the villagers, nearly all of whom carried Chinese lanterns. The houses were decorated, and the street in many places was festooned with lanterns'. 1919 Until 1919, the village cricket ground was probably to the south of South Hill in South Meadow Cottage, a property adjoining the Berkshire County Sports field — a document dated 8 September 1919 show the land marked as a cricket ground. 1921 Not for the first, nor indeed the last time, SCC rose phoenix-like from the ashes, with The Parish Magazine reporting that 'The Working Men’s Club have cast their mantle over cricket in Sonning which has been in abeyance in the village since the beginning of the war. Under their auspices the 'Village Cricket Club' has been started again — to the satisfaction of all concerned'. It is likely that the re-formed club was established in what is now called King George’s Field. 1923 The oversight of SCC by the Working Men’s Club turned out to be fairly short-lived. A rather curt entry from the latter in The Parish Magazine (November) states: 'At a special general meeting of the Club, held on 25 October, the resolution was that the Club would no longer be responsible for running the Cricket Club'. 1924 The above was quickly resolved. The Parish Magazine (January) reported that after a public meeting in Pearson Hall considered resuscitating the club as a separate organisation, 'it was unanimously agreed to revive the Sonning Cricket Club with its pre-war constitution'. 1936 Village archives reveal that the land including the cricket ground, now known as King George’s Field, was purchased for £500 by Sonning Parish Council and conveyancing documents show the presence of the pavilion. Although made of wood and by now probably 100 years old, it remains the core of today's pavilion. 1938 On 16 July the land including the cricket ground was declared a King George V Playing Field. This requires the Trustees — nowadays, the Fields in Trust charity — and Sonning Parish Council to ensure that the area is 'preserved in perpetuity for the purpose of outdoor games, sports and pastimes'. This year was also considered to be the 50th anniversary of the founding of the 'modern day' SCC and it is also coincidentally the first year for which the club has a team photograph. 1946 Having been in abeyance during WW2 and, for at least the fourth time, the club underwent a revival. The Parish Magazine (August) reports that 'some of the old players are back again and there is a welcome infusion of new blood. As a batting side the club is strong, but there is a definite need for a good slow bowler'. 1959 The Parish Magazine (March) hints at difficult times that 'last year the club was, unfortunately, short of playing members and it is therefore anxiously seeking to obtain new members for the coming season.' 1976 Under the chairmanship of former Notts professional Peter Kay, recruited by the Sonning benefactor and former club president, Sidney Paddick, SCC thrived. The Parish Magazine (February) describes SCC as having a strong membership, and a second XI and a colts XI, with fixtures on Saturdays, Sundays and midweek. King George V Playing Field 1938: The first known photograp 2008: SCC - TVL Divn 4b Cham Cameron Gannon's divisional bo 2011: Andrew Flintoff at Sonnin 2016: (left to right) Azhar Mah Vaughan with Sonning CC Pres If you or your children a Sonning Crick https://www.s
In the first of several 'champagne years', SCC became the inaugural Premier Division champions of the Berkshire Cricket League and the 2nd XI run by club stalwart DG Phillips, the U17's led by Richard Anderson and the U15's all won their respective competitions. The 1st XI went on to win the Premier Division in the following two seasons and again in 1984, establishing SCC as a formidable force in Berkshire village cricket. Following tours to the South West in the 70's and early 80's, this year saw the first of many memorable tours to Cardiff and surrounding area with regular fixtures against Whitchurch Heath, Penarth, Cowbridge and Malpas. The touring sides may not have won all their matches, but performed consistently well in the socialising! SCC had three teams in the Berkshire League, with the 3rd XI playing their home matches at the Adwest Sports Ground adjacent to Reading Rugby Club, Sonning Lane. Following slightly more challenging times in the 90's, SCC was once again on the rise. Under the shrewd captaincy of Gary Phillips and armed with former first-class pace bowler Ghulam Abbas and belligerent Cornish batsman Mark Richards, SCC put team after team to the sword and won the Premier Division once again. In the next 5 years SCC won it three more times and it steadily became apparent that they were 'outgrowing' the sadly weakening Berkshire Cricket League. 2001 also saw SCC’s first 15 minutes of fame on national television when the club was chosen to feature in a BBC Food and Drink programme tasting summer beers with Oz Clarke and Anthony Worrall-Thompson. It was filmed in April and had to be switched due to flooding at the last minute from the lawn of The Great House to that of The Olde Bell in Hurley. The Hurley Cricket Club were probably not best pleased when they saw SCC on prime time TV, masquerading as the 'local cricket club' in their village! Under a new chairman, Alastair Driver, this season saw the resurrection of a Saturday 3rd XI after a gap of many years, and with it the establishment of a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship with Reading Blue Coat School on whose 1st XI pitch the home games were played — a rare treat for visiting teams at that level! Having won the Premier Division of the Berkshire League on a record eight occasions in the previous 30 seasons, the club took another major stride forward by moving the 1st and 2nd XIs into the Thames Valley League. Bolstered by the presence of Queensland quickie Cameron Gannon, the first of many overseas players recruited by the chairman, the 1st XI cruised to the TVL Div 4 title undefeated in their first season. It was also a milestone year with the establishment of multi-age group junior cricket at SCC, thanks to the determination and leadership of Nick and Tracy Ray. The Parish Magazine - March 2021 29 smanship has improved dramatically! h Sonning Cricket Club team pions with Henry Olonga and wling award g Cricket Club Peter Rennie mood, Phil Tufnell and Michael ident Max McNeill. re interested in joining et Club visit: onningcc.com 1978 1987 2001 2006 2008 2011 SCC’s second 15 minutes of fame came after a memorable day spent with Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff filming an item on the science of swing bowling for The Weather Programme. The sight of Freddie talking to a NASA scientist about atmospheric moisture conditions via a laptop in one of our rather basic changing rooms, was one of several stand-out memories of that day! In July, SCC won its first match of what has become a biennial fixture against the MCC. SCC rapidly expanded from four to 10 sides in four seasons. with three league sides on a Saturday, a Sunday 2nd XI and five junior sides: U15s, 2 x U13s, U11s & U9s. 2012 The weather was dreadful with 30 senior and junior matches cancelled, but it was another milestone year for SCC as it achieved England Cricket Board Clubmark status. This opened up significant Sport England funding opportunities which were quickly followed up, and resulted in aquiring major equipment including an electronic scoreboard, portable covers, practice nets and grounds maintenance machinery. The Sonning Fire Brigade Trust and the Sonning Scarecrows Fund were also key contributors to these acquisitions which helped to put SCC firmly on the map as a major force in Thames Valley cricket, both on and off the field. 2014 Club stalwart Jamie Travers took over as chairman from Alastair Driver and he, and Gary Phillips, his successor in 2017, supported by a thriving junior section that continued to ensure that the club went from strength to strength on and off the field. 2019 Gary Phillips took another major step forward for SCC by recruiting professional player-coach Andrew Niblett, who with the support of vice-chair Tim Murphy, Mary Keenan, John & Elinor Longridge and Michael Marsden created an excellent cricket development set-up for the juniors to enable them to move up to the senior sides and thus establish the self-sustaining model that all clubs strive for. 2020 Although decimated by Covid-19 restrictions on sporting activity, another key moment in SCC’s long and distinguished history was the establishment of the Sonning Stingers Ladies Softball Cricket team under the captaincy of newly appointed club secretary Sharon Fleming, who is ably supported by Elinor Longridge. 2021 SCC has a long and distinguished history with many ups — and a few downs— as the archives show. It has died and been reborn on several occasions, but there is no doubt that thanks to the sustained hard work and commitment of many individuals it is well placed for very successful times ahead. Fund-raising is well underway for a new pavilion, the playing facilities are being maintained to a high level, and once we emerge from the Covid crisis, the future of our playing sides at all ages and levels is looking bright.
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Page 3 and 4: Serving the communities of Charvil,
Page 5 and 6: The associate vicar's letter The Pa
Page 7 and 8: the parish noticeboard — 1 The Pa
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Page 25 and 26: around the villages — 1 The Paris
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Page 31 and 32: around the villages — 4 Anniversa
Page 33 and 34: HEALTH The Parish Magazine - March
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS Behold the handmaid of the
Page 37 and 38: the sciences Learning from the youn
Page 39 and 40: PUZZLE PAGE CROSSWORD Across 1 Sugg
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
Page 43 and 44: Please mention The Parish Magazine

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