Sutton Cricket Club History.

In 1865, having survived the first few seasons without a pavilion, the Club bought the old waiting room at Sutton Station from the Brighton Railway Company. Embellished with a thatched roof and white paint, it was erected in the corner of the ground, where it remains today. These days it has a tiled roof and is used as the groundsman’s storeroom. In those early days the ground was smaller and nearly triangular in shape with the wicket east to west. There was a diagonal fence extending between where the flagpole and the near end of the tennis courts are situated today, and on the other side of the fence was a deep chalk pit.

During 1892 a bowling green was laid where the tennis courts are today, but it remains unclear when the tennis section arrived at Sutton. In 1906, a large wooden pavilion was built in the same position as the current club-house. On Saturday August 1st 1914, after Sutton’s 1st X1 had played Epsom, the players packed their cricket gear – and went to war, some of them not to return. During this period, Sutton’s cricket ceased to function, and the ground became a field again. Ten years after the war ended – in 1928, the local Railway Company constructed a new line from London to Croydon, via Wimbledon and Sutton. Much to the disappointment of the members, this went directly past the east end of the ground and in addition to the noise and smoke, it also became a constant hazard for lost balls. To compensate, the chalk pit was filled in and the ground was expanded to the present day size. During the Second World War, a Sunday X1 managed to continue to play regularly, but in 1940, during the Battle of Britain, the magnificent pavilion was totally destroyed. A Nissen hut was used as an emergency measure, while attempts were made to obtain compensation and to finance new premises – but this proved to be a slow and painful task.

It was not until 1955 that a new pavilion was opened. In 1950, with the assistance of the Oval groundstaff, a new square was laid, but tragically, in early 1974, was sabotaged by the outgoing groundsman. After much technical advice and deliberation, it was decided that a new square should be built with the wickets laid north/south and this was completed in time for the 1975 season. It was after lengthy negotiations that also in 1975, that an arrangement with All Weather Sports Ltd., for part of the ground be leased to enable them to build a squash club on the side of the existing pavilion. New facilities were to be shared with the club-house, including an additional changing and showering area for cricketers.

After using a marquee for the summer months, the new club was opened in late 1976 and has continued to provide excellent facilities, that have been the envy of other clubs ever since. With its new secure financial status, in 1986, Sutton CC were able to purchase its second ground at Homewood Close, Cheam from Gleesons. After extensive renovation and construction of a new pavilion, the first match was played there in 1989, some 131 years after the first game at Cheam Road. Currently, the freehold of the Cheam Road ground is held privately in trust, thereby guaranteeing the playing of cricket on the site.

Cheam Road.

Holmwood Close.

The standard of cricket played at Sutton CC has always been of the highest level – even from the early days of the club. Many of the players have progressed into 1st Class County sides and a significant number have also played for England X1s. Despite the fact that there was no officially competitive cricket played at club level until the late 1960s, many traditional and keen rivalries were developed long before and there have been many outstanding achievements, by both individuals and teams. In 1885, before the time of declarations, the Sutton team, eight of whom were either varsity blues or County players, won all but one of their 22 matches, culminating in a one-sided contest against Hampstead Nondescripts, when Sutton scored 540 runs in the afternoon.

During the 1890s the club started fielding a second team and in 1900 fixtures were commenced against a newly formed club, London County, who were managed by W G Grace, a regular guest player for Sutton during what is now know as Cricket Week.

1901 featured the first ever cricket tour, with a visit to Sussex, and this continued until 1922 when Sutton visited Devon and the “Dumplings”, a team that remained regular rivals until recently. After the Great War there followed a period when strength of the club reached a peak and included several remarkable individual performances.

The credit for these heady days must go to Ernest Henderson who had joined Sutton in 1904 and dedicated his life to the club, from his early years of pulverising the opposition, to his final years in the 1970s as President. In 1919, the schoolboy Donald Knight, who later played for Surrey and England, scored 201 not out, out of a total 289 against the MCC who were then dismissed for 39!

Caryl Thain, in 1938, took 9 for 21 against Epsom, to win the match by 5 runs, after they had been cruising at 122 for 0 at tea. Between 1891 and 1947, Dick Bell took over 2000 wickets, including 8 hat tricks and 10 wickets in an innings, 3 times. In 1913, against Eastbourne, after Maurice Jewell, who later captained Worcestershire, had taken 4 wickets with the last 4 balls of an over, Dick Bell then performed a hat-trick with the first 3 balls of the next over.

During the 1950s, the club was occasionally blessed with the skills of Colin Cowdrey while he was at Oxford University.

The Surrey Club Championships began in 1968, when Sutton managed a win against Guildford, to become the first ever winners. The following year the club only finished in sixth place, despite some epic batting displays by Graeme Pollock, the South African Test star.

In 1982, Sutton reached the Oval final of the Warwick Wright Knockout Tournament, but it was not until more recently that the Club again met with success, winning the 3rd X1 Championship in 1988 and 1990, the 1st X1 in 1991 and the 2nd X1 in 1993, enabling it to maintain its record of being one of the most successful clubs in Surrey.

John Fry - run machine!

Well done, John. Here's to many more!

In 1995, during a career that had taken him via Dulwich and Mitcham, John Fry, a recent Sutton captain, consolidated his record of being the first player to score more than 10,000 runs in the Surrey Championship, with nearly half of them scored for Sutton CC.

2007 UP-DATE!!!

With 58 runs during the 1^st team match against Sunbury at Cheam Rd, on May 26th 2007, John passed 10,000 championship runs for Sutton CC!