A short history of Bovingdon CC
Cricket has been played on Bovingdon Green for well over a hundred years. The Club was founded in 1884 and Mr Dix, the village schoolmaster at the time, is thought to have been one of the founder members. In the early days, the problem of player availabilities was particularly acute and a report in the Gazette in 1901 noted that:
‘Judging by the past it would seem that it is altogether impossible to run a good team throughout the season, and the idea of a club must therefore be abandoned. Notwithstanding this… there is every reason to believe that two or three matches with local teams could be arranged…. In August especially, when the sons of our local gentry are home, little or no difficulty ought to be experienced in getting together a fairly good eleven.’
The idea of the Club was revived and by 1918, the Club was sharing the Green
with the football club and also The Old Berkeley Hunt, who met on the Green
on Boxing Day. The Club’s activities were suspended for the duration
of WW II when the Green was used by USAAF personnel stationed at the airfield
for both baseball and cricket. Four members of the Club lost their lives during
the war and are commemorated on a memorial that hangs in the tearoom.
Until 1963, when a change in the local bylaws allowed cricket to be played
on the Green on Sundays, the Club only played on Saturdays. Between 1971 and
1980, the Club competed in the Herts League. A second XI was established in
1987 and in 1994, the Club joined the Mid-Bucks League.
The Club’s original pavilion was located where the practice net now stands. The current changing room block was opened by Mrs Cowley, wife of the then-president Jack Cowley, in 1949. The original pavilion continued in use as the tea room until the current tearoom building was erected in the 1970s with assistance from the NPFA. Showers were added to the changing room block in the 1970s and the exterior of this building was extensively refurbished during the 1990s.
Historically, Bovingdon Green was the property of the Lords of the Manor of Hemel Hempstead until Sir Walter Halsey transferred ownership to the rural district council in 1928. The transfer stipulated that the cricket club should continue to have use of the Green and the Club continues to pay a peppercorn rent for this privilege.
Club Honours
Gazette Cup joint winners 1965
Gazette Cup Runners-up 1967
First XI
Mid-Bucks League Division 2 Winners 1994
Mid-Bucks First XI Knockout Cup Runners-up 1995
Mid-Bucks League Division 1 Runners-up 1999
Mid-Bucks League Division 2 Runners-up 2002
Second XI
Mid-Bucks League Division 3 Runners-up 1998, 2001
Mid-Bucks Second XI Knockout Cup Winners 1999
Bovingdon Cricket Club is sponsored by:
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