Chesham Cricket Club

Chesham

Union	English Cricket Board, Buckinghamshire Cricket Board
Founded	1848
Location	Chesham, United Kingdom
Ground(s)	The Meadow, Chesham
Chairman	Jonathan Royals
President	Rod Dowle
Captain(s)	Oliver Turner
League(s)	Thames Valley Cricket League, Chess Valley Cricket League
Official website
www.cheshamcc.co.uk

Chesham Cricket Club is a cricket club, based in Chesham, which plays in the Thames Valley Cricket League. The club enters 4 sides in the Thames Valley League, with the first team playing in Division 2B, the 2nds in 4A, the 3rds in 6A and the 4th team in 8B. Chesham also runs a women's side, who play in the Bucks Women's League, and two Sunday teams, who participate in the Chess Valley Cricket League, both sides were promoted in 2009, while the first team were again promoted in 2010, to Division 1, and the seconds consolidated their position in Division 6. The club also has a thriving junior section with hundreds of players, who were this season coached by Kenyan international Peter Ongondo.

History

1848 is widely regarded as the year in which Chesham Cricket Club was established. However, there is conflicting evidence that a team from the Town played before this such as the Tring Park Cricket Club 150 year handbook which writes that the two clubs first met in the 1830’s.

However, 1848 is widely regarded as the Club’s first year and in 1854 Chesham were reported to have played Amersham and won by 7 wickets. This came from a report in the Bucks Advertiser on 8 July 1854 which suggests that “Chesham Cricket Club is to be revived after many years”.

The club enjoyed a golden era through the 1950s and 60s, as the fearsome opening attack of John Mills and Fred Harris proved too much for many opposition teams. However, through the 70s, 80s and particularly the 90s, the club declined, effectively stopped playing Sunday cricket, closed the junior section and while the 1st team remained strong with players such as Steve Ayers, Graham Rance, Martin Wheeler, Peter Clifford and others playing a strong standard, but the 2nd team, now the only other team run by the club, fell to Division 6 of the Thames Valley League, and the club was in a dire state. Chairman Jonathan Royals and Steve Ayers refounded the junior section of the club in 1997, signalling the beginning of a turn-around for the club. In 2005, the 3rd XI was refounded under the captaincy of Jonathan Royals, while in 2007 a 4th XI was established under Peter Gibbins. Meanwhile, the junior section overtook those of Beaconsfield and High Wycombe and became recognised as the premier club for junior coaching, particularly due to the excellent work of Rob Maier.

2010 Season

2010 was a mixed season for the club. Under club stalwart Dave Porter, the 1st team attempted to win promotion back to Division 1, however occasional erratic form and an excellent Henley side ended Chesham's hopes, and were forced to settle for 2nd place, despite stellar bowling performances from Dave Porter and Peter Ongondo. However, signs of future promise were there as 8 of the team are under 21, and all came through the Chesham junior section.

The 2nd XI fell agonisingly close to promotion yet again as they finished 3rd in Division 4. For the 3rd year running, the side were in a position to go up in the final games of the season, but yet again failed to cross the final hurdle. Captain Mo Asuaf led the side with the bat, scoring over 500 runs.

The newly promoted 3rd XI consolidated their place in Division 6, finishing 3rd bottom, which was a reflection of poor early season form, which was countered with an excellent 8 games towards the end of the season, as Tanvir Butt took 38 wickets and scored over 600 runs, leaving no side immune to his excellent play. However, he found little support with the bat, and only Chris Royals, with 28, took over 10 wickets out of all the other bowlers.

The 4th XI put in some good performances, but failed to put teams away as they faced many teams who simply batted out for draws. Captained well by Paul Hughes-D'aeth, who handled the large amount of youngsters extremely well, and star performances came from his sons Mark and David.

The Sunday teams had more success. The 1st XI was promoted for the 4th straight year, this time to Division 1. Captain Ollie Turner led a very young side, who only lost one game all season, led with the bat by Andy Goddard who batted fantastically and was ably supported by batting and bowling performances by Matt Rance and Peter Ongondo. The Sunday 2nd XI took time to adjust to the higher standard of division 6 after being promoted in 2009, looking odds on for relegation at the half way stage. However, captain Chris Royals and other players such as Lakshman Nagarajan, Guy Fowler and David Hughes-D'aeth stepped up their game and led the team on a remarkable end of season run which saw the team pushing for promotion at the end of the season, giving unbeaten champions Hampstead a fright in the last game.

2011 Season

With only a month and a half until the beginning of the season, Chesham hold high hopes for the season ahead. The club is aiming to see the 1st and 2nd teams promoted, which on the basis of the previous years performance is perfectly achievable. The 3rd XI will be expecting to consolidate their place in Division 6, while the 4th team aim to keep blooding youngsters to mens cricket. The Sunday 1st XI will be attempting to launch an assault on the Chess Valley League title, while the Sunday 2nd XI are aiming for promotion.

The first games of the season are the traditional friendlies against Amersham for the 1st and 2nd XIs on April 24, and the next day a club XI will take on the club's new partners at Coleshill. The 3rd XI will be in action the following Saturday, against The Lee, while the Sunday 2nd XI will have their first friendly of the season against Buckingham Town. League action starts on May 7, as the 1st XI take on Burnham 2nd XI, the 2nds play Farnham Common 1st XI, the 3rds play Farnham Royal 3rd XI and the 4ths will take Slough 5th XI in what is always an interesting match.

After what has been roughly a 15-year gap, Chesham will return to playing reasonable amounts of Sunday friendlies in addition to Chess Valley League matches. This means that the club will be playing 107 games of senior cricket this summer, a number unsurpassed in living memory.

Club Officials

Chairman: Jonathan Royals

President: Rod Dowle

Secretary: Steve Ayres

Treasurer: Graham Rance

Fixture Secretary: Christopher Royals

1st Team Captain: Ollie Turner

2nd Team Captain: Mohammad Asuaf

3rd Team Captain: Jonathan Royals

4th Team Captain: James Misseldine

Sunday 1st Team Captain: Ollie Turner

Sunday 2nd Team Captain: Christopher Royals

Pictures

A 1st XI match in progress, from the 2008 season

External links

• http://www.cheshamcc.co.uk/
• http://chessvalley.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp
• http://chesham.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp
• http://www.tvlcricket.com/