HorspathCricket

Club History & Philosophy

Cricket has been played at Horspath since at least the mid 1890s when it is known that a match was played against Garsington – possibly in 1894. The original ground was to the north east of the existing pitch roughly in the area now occupied by the new parish cemetery.

The Village Recreation Ground was acquired by the Parish Council in 1924 and the field was used for cricket almost immediately. The grandfather of our Club, former President, Bob Walker, levelled the square and fenced off the field. A wooden army hut was purchased by the Parish Council in 1926 and brought to Horspath on a horse and cart to become the Village Hall and Cricket Pavilion. It was replaced by the current Village Hall in the 1960s. The hall was extended to add modern changing rooms with the assistance of Sport England lottery funding in 1996. All weather nets were added in 2000 and small improvements to the pitch and facilities have taken place every winter since.

In the late summer of 2009 a second pitch was installed to the north east of the Village Hall to allow our 3rd XI (and new in 2010, 4th XI) to play their home matches at Horspath and open the way for an expansion of our Youth cricket. During the winter of 2013/14 a major re-development of the Clubroom and bar area was undertaken. This was an important project for the Club as the expanding membership had clearly outgrown the old facilities. In 2019 the Club formed a Ladies team for the first time.

We are a busy, all volunteer, amateur cricket club with a level to match every standard. In 2020 our 1st XI will play in Division 2 of the Home Counties Premier League and our 2nd XI, 3rd XI & 4th XI will play in Cherwell League Divisions 2, 4 & 8. We also play Sunday and occasional mid-week friendly matches.

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