Selby Club

Selby Cricket Club History 1867-2017

In the late 1860’s three important events in the history of cricket took place. CC was founded in 1863, WG Grace made his debut in 1865 and Selby Londesborough CC was formed in 1867.

Playing on a field owned by the clubs first president, the Earl of Londesborough and sited a short distance from the town’s famous landmark the Benedictine Abbey.

The club moved to the present ground at Sandhill Lane in 1936, being members of the now defunct West Riding League.

In 1965 the 1st XI looked to expand the membership and joined the York and District League and in 1968 the 2 nd XI were also accepted. By the mid 1980’s with a further increase in membership a 3 rd XI and 4 th XI were formed to play in the York Vale League. To accommodate the extra fixtures a 2 nd playing area on an adjacent field was created but more importantly in 1983 a new brick pavilion able to accommodate the requirements of playing 2 matches simultaneously was built. In 1998 the members decided to remove Londesborough from the club title.

Since the 1970’s Selby cricket club has played host to many well- known cricket XI’s, the MCC, Yorkshire Gentlemen and a Yorkshire/Derbyshire XI through the avenue of benefit matches. The following being a selection of Test Players who entertained at Sandhill Lane :- John Hampshire, Richard Lumb, Geoff Cope, , Devon Malcolm, Ian Bishop, Dominic Cork, , David Bairstow, Chris Old, Kim Barnett - not a bad team!

Following the demise of cricket in schools the club has over the years placed much emphasis on Junior Coaching and the promotion of

junior cricket culminating in the club achieving 4 awards for our work in this field.

In 1999 the Yorkshire Schools Cricket Association honoured the club with an inscribed certificate commemorating 25 years of consecutive staging of inter-county junior matches and they still continue to this day.

Outstanding club players from the last 50 years, some of whom went on to the play the game at a higher level include:- Ron Tyson, Geoff Renton, Brian Durkin, Paul Harrand, Derek Lane, Ian Lake, Steve Whisker, Matthew Hoyle and John McHale. John McHale being the first Selebian to a winning side at the home of cricket – Lords.

Recent 1 st XIs under the guidance of Chris Dye, Matthew Hoyle and Gareth Roberts have achieved considerable success for which all players can feel rightly proud. To maintain this high standard requires commitment from everyone in the club.

Please support the club during this Summer, your attendance will enhance the family atmosphere whilst enjoying a cooling drink, watching the cricket and meeting old friends.

Peter Rickaby May 2017