17/08/2026
In July we held our annual Presidents' Match and Evening. Below is the speech Jonathon de Maid, President, made at that event:
Good evening everyone, welcome to Presidents’ Day and thank you all for coming. It is particularly good to welcome Elaine Battarbee, Dave Coram, Joanna Friel of The Chislehurst Society, and our Chislehurst Matters councillors, Mike Jack, Mark Smith and Alison Stammers. A warm welcome also to our new Vice Presidents. Before I begin, can we remember David Rhys Tyler, a loyal member of the club who sadly passed away.
I am going to speak about the pavilion, but first and foremost this is a cricket club. We may call ourselves a small club, but we field seven senior teams and eight junior teams, as well as taking part in other competitions. Our First XI, including our overseas player Riley Endersbee, is currently third in the league with a game in hand. We have seen centuries from Charan Lochan, Jay Kakkad, Ed Thorpe, Charlie O’Hara, Jon Child, Sai Daggubati, Rohan Shetty, Louis Peto, Avinash Banerjee and Tom Mitchell. We have also had several five wicket hauls and an outstanding seven wicket haul from Ross Thompson for the Fifth XI. There have been many other excellent performances. My thanks go to all our captains, team managers, coaches and parents who make this possible.
While the cricket thrives, our historic home needs urgent attention
The pavilion was built in 1899. For more than 120 years, people have come here, played cricket, perhaps had a beer afterwards and gone home. Until recently, little attention was paid to the building itself. Lisa Honan’s research has shown that it was built in the Victorian Anglo Indian bungalow style. It is distinctive, much loved and now in poor condition.
That is why we are raising funds. We need to restore and improve the pavilion, while creating facilities that can generate income to maintain it in the future. The cost is likely to be just short of £1 million. That is a huge amount for a village cricket club, but we have accepted the challenge. We felt that, while applying for grants and asking others for support, we first had to show that we were helping ourselves. So we’ve raised approximately £60,000 through heritage walks, afternoon teas, darts evenings, our first summer ball and other events.
Our next major event is the The Cockpit - Chislehurst Beer Festival on 12 September. A new Chislehurst resident, has offered to make a significant financial contribution. That has given us a great boost, although we still have a long way to go. We have also received support from Manak Solicitors, Manak Homes, Stanmore Construction, Evans Turner/Paul McEntire and jdm Estate Agents. Chislehurst Rotary Club has recently donated £1,000.
To our Vice Presidents, I would say this. You join us as custodians of an historic club, and I hope you will become its ambassadors. I am not asking you to take on more work or ask people directly for money. I simply ask you to talk positively about the club and help spread the word about what we are trying to achieve.
Cricket has been played here since at least 1738. Our history includes Napoleon III, Grace, Colin Cowdrey and William Willett, who lived opposite at The Cedars. Legend has it that Willett wanted longer summer evenings so that he could pop across the road and watch a bit more cricket.
The survey shows that much of the original pavilion can be saved. That strengthens our application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, recently submitted by Lisa. Thank you for that, Lisa. Other grant applications will follow. We have appointed Suzanne Brewer, who designed the Eltham College College Meadow Pavilion, as our architect, and a Planning consultant. Both have recognised the community nature of the project and have been generous in their approach to fees.
We expect to see preliminary drawings in August. The intention is to retain the character of the pavilion, rebuild where necessary and extend it to provide better accommodation, storage and changing facilities for boys and girls, men and women. The building will be more accessible and better able to serve both the club and the wider community. Our ambition is not to overpower the Common, but to preserve and sensitively extend a period building worthy of this setting. I have set an ambitious timetable. I know there are doubters, but a project of this size needs a goal. Without one, it can drift.
None of what the club achieves would be possible without its volunteers. I particularly want to thank Paul and Carina McEntire, Jamie Barnett, Nick Howard, Piers Hurn Torr, Ricky Patel, Claire and David White. Altaf Jilani, who previously had no connection with the club, is working with Carina on our new website.
Pia Burbidge, Helen Baylis, Madeline Clarke, together with our Carina and Lisa, organised and delivered a superb summer ball.
I also thank all our captains, team managers and grounds staff, particularly Andy, Ché and Riley, who somehow keep our wickets green through increasingly hot and dry summers.
So, to our Vice Presidents, I ask only that you keep the club in mind. You may know a former player, a local family, a business, a trust or a philanthropist who would be interested in our story. Any introduction or conversation could be invaluable. I also want your honest views, whether advice, constructive criticism or ideas. Your experience makes you valuable advisers, and we will listen.
Our aim is simple. We want to leave the club stronger, better organised and more financially sustainable for future generations. Cricket has been played here since at least 1738. Our responsibility is to preserve that heritage while preparing the club for another century. This is a huge undertaking, but surely one of the most exciting opportunities ever to come our way.
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