Sawley Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England. The club has a history dating back to the early 19th century.[1]

Sawley Cricket Club
Sawley Cricket Club
Team information
Colors  Green   Yellow
Founded1870
Home groundWest Park, Long Eaton, Derbyshire
History
Div 1 wins2
Div 2 wins4
Official websiteSawley Cricket Club
A historical lineage of Sawley Cricket Club.
A historical lineage of Sawley Cricket Club.

Ground edit

The home ground is located on West Park, Long Eaton, Derbyshire and has access to three pitches.[2] The 1st and 2nd XI teams use the Bill Camm pitch, rated by the Derbyshire County Cricket League as a Grade A+ ground, and the 3rd and 4th XI use the Graham Draycott pitch, rated as a Grade B ground.[3]

 
The Bill Camm pavilion for Sawley Cricket Club
 
The Graham Draycott pavilion and pitch no.6
 
The Graham Draycott pavilion

History edit

The earliest known record of cricket associated with the village of Sawley is the announcement of a fixture in the Nottingham Review dated 15 August 1834 stating "A Cricket Match between the first eleven of Sawley and Shardlow...", but the earliest known match report is of a match between Ockbrook and 'Sawley Club', printed in the Derby and Chesterfield Reporter on the 27th October 1843.[2] Evidence stating when Sawley Cricket Club was formally established is found in the Derbyshire County Cricket League archives, listing Sawley Cricket Club as founded in 1870.[4] The ground at this time, called the ‘Trent Bridge Ground’, was situated behind the 'Harrington Arms' adjacent to the Harrington Bridge on the main road to Birmingham on the River Trent in Sawley.[5] Cricket was played at the ground until the early 1960s,[2] when it was eventually abandoned due to frequent flooding by the nearby River Trent and poor ground conditions.[6]

In 1962, Parkside CC was formed and an amalgamation with Sawley CC took place in 1969.[2] Sawley Park, in Sawley, became the new venue in 1965. In 1971, Sawley CC joined the Derbyshire Border League and continued to strive to improve playing standards and win trophies. October 1979 saw the amalgamation with Sawley Nomads CC.[2] The new ground now being used was on West Park, Long Eaton.

Sawley Nomads CC had a history, being formed in 1950 as the Long Eaton County Billiard Hall CC. This name was subsequently changed to Long Eaton Nomads CC and in 1964 to Sawley Nomads CC.[2]

One of Sawley's most successful decades in recent times was during the 1990s, when the club won many cup titles and ultimately became Derbyshire County Cricket League Champions in 1997.[1] Two years later, when the top flight division of the Derbyshire County League became an ECB Premier Division, Sawley CC amalgamated with its smaller neighbour Long Eaton Park CC, to become one of the largest clubs in the district. Sawley & Long Eaton Park CC, as it became known, was one of only two clubs in the Derbyshire County Cricket League to field five senior XI teams.[1]

Long Eaton Park CC started life as Bourne Primitive Methodist CC in 1890, amalgamating with Bethel CC in 1934. Following on from the Second World War, the name was changed to Long Eaton Methodist CC. In the early 1980s, the building of the Graham Draycott pavilion on West Park caused constitutional problems with the Church connection. The club was renamed Long Eaton Park CC to allow the establishment of a bar and to play Sunday cricket.[2] It was during the 1980s that Long Eaton Park CC achieved a Division 7 championship win in 1985, 2 Division 5 wins (1986, 1989) and won the Wright Cup in 1987.[7] As a result of the amalgamation, the club added Long Eaton Park to the club name and acquired the Graham Draycott pavilion.[8] The Sawley CC pavilion (named after Bill Camm, a Sawley councillor, prominent local politician and former president of the club) was refurbished and a scorebox added in 2007.[2][9] The Graham Draycott Pavilion was extended to provide more changing rooms, for both male and female players.

In 2021, after two successful decades of cricket as Sawley & Long Eaton Park CC, the club changed the club name back to Sawley Cricket Club to help reduce confusion with its other neighbour Long Eaton Cricket Club, also based on West Park. As part of the re-brand, the club colours were formally changed from the historical Blue and White[1] to Green and Yellow, in line with the club training kit colours that had been informally adopted by the club for the best part of 30 years.

The club currently has four senior teams competing in the Derbyshire County Cricket League and a long established junior training section that play competitive cricket in the Erewash Young Cricketers League.[10]

Club Performance edit

The Derbyshire County Cricket League competition results showing the club's positions in the league (by Division) since 2002.[1][11]

Key
Gold Champions
Red Relegated
Grey League Suspended
Key (cont.)
P ECB Premier Div
1 Division 1
2 Division 2
3 Division 3
4 Division 4, etc.
Key (cont.)
N North
S South
E East
W West
C Central
Derbyshire County Cricket League
Team 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
1st XI P P P P 1 1 2S 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1S 1 1 1 P
2nd XI 3B 3S 3S 3S 2S 3S 4S 4S 4S 4S 5S 5S 5S 5S 5S 5S 4N 4N 4N 4N 5S 5S 5S
3rd XI 4D 5S 5S 5S 4S 5S 6C 7N 7N 7N 7N 7S 8S 8S 9S 9S 9S 9E 9CS 9CS 9CS 8S 8S
4th XI 7S 7S 7S 6S 6S 7S 8S 8S 8N 8N 9N 10N 9SW 10C 10E
5th XI 7C 7C 7E

The Newark Club Cricket Alliance Sunday League competition results showing the club's position (by Division) since 2015.[12]

Newark Club Cricket Alliance
Team 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Sunday 1st XI 7 7 6 5 5

Club Honours edit

Derbyshire County Cricket League Champions
Division Year(s)
Division 1 1997, 2001
Division 2 1988, 1990, 2010, 2019
Division 3 2005
Division 4 1988
Division 5 1986, 2005[a]
Division 6 2008[b]
Division 7 1982, 1984, 1985, 2005,[c] 2008[c]
Division 8 1983
Division 9 2020[d][e]
DCCL - Cup Competitions
Result Cup Year
Winners Silver Link Trophy 2001
Bayley Cup 1987
Captain Wright Cup 1982
Mayor of Derby Charity Cup Competitions
Result Cup Year
Winners Butterley Cup 1982, 2005
OJ Jackson Cup 1998
Trophy Competitions
Result Trophy Year
Winners Turton Trophy 1980, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994
Cruikshank Trophy 1990
M.T.A. Cup 1982, 1983
Pegg Trophy 1983
Gerhardt Trophy 1980, 1994, 1995
  1. ^ Division 5 (South).
  2. ^ Division 6 (Central).
  3. ^ a b Division 7 (South).
  4. ^ Division 9 (Central-South).
  5. ^ No relegation's or promotions due to league restrictions by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Events on film edit

Female Cricket edit

Cricket Force edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Derbyshire Marston's Pedigree County Cricket League Centenary Yearbook. Derbyshire: Derbyshire County Cricket League. 2019. p. 121 & 176.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Breakwell, Keith (1994). The History of Cricket in Long Eaton, Sandiacre & Sawley. Taylor Made. ISBN 978-0-9521-4371-0.
  3. ^ "DCCL 2020 League Handbook". derbyscountylge.play-cricket.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  4. ^ The Derbyshire County Cricket League: 2022 Season. Derbyshire: Derbyshire County Cricket League. 2022. p. 90.
  5. ^ Powell, Julia (2019). Memories of Breaston, Draycott, Long Eaton and Sawley. Julia Powell. ISBN 978-0-8607-1785-0.
  6. ^ Kingscott, Geoffrey (2009). The Sawley Trail and other walks around the village of Sawley in Derbyshire. Unknown Publisher. ISBN 978-0-9552-8781-7.
  7. ^ Derbyshire Marston's Pedigree County Cricket League Centenary Yearbook. Derbyshire: Derbyshire County Cricket League. 2019. p. 140,139 & 143.
  8. ^ Lacey, Simon; Higginbottom, Chris; Whittington, Tom (2004). Derbyshire Cricket Grounds A Post-War Survey. Derbyshire: Simon Lacey. p. 98. ISBN 0-9547056-0-2.
  9. ^ "Sawley Historical Society". sawleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  10. ^ "Erewash Young Cricketers League". eycl.play-cricket.com. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  11. ^ "DCCL Competition results". Derbyshire Cricket League. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  12. ^ "NCCA Competition results". Newark Club Cricket Alliance League. Retrieved 31 January 2021.

External links edit