Elton Park Cricket Club

Come and cheer on the village team one last time before the summer ends. Bar and barbecue running, sunshine looking promising. See you there! 😎🌴🏏

Reminder that Elton are playing this afternoon from 5pm against The Strokers. Looks like a lovely evening. Bar and barbecue open - do come along and enjoy it with us. 🏏

We’re back on Friday, 5.30pm vs The Cuckoos XI. Bar and barbecue running. Come and enjoy the sunshine 😎 🏏

Wonderful memorial to Charlie Paton today, with drinks at the cricket club after a beautiful service in All Saints Church, Elton.

Dear Elton Park CC Followers. Many of you will know already, but if not I’m sorry to announce the death of our dear friend Charlie Paton, one of the Elton club captains, who finally lost his long battle with cancer.

Those of you who joined the club more recently may not know that the kernel of the idea of the cricket club we have today started with Charlie and Rory when they were next-door neighbours on Middle Street in Elton 5 years ago, and it grew over several years from there, with lots of hard work from many volunteers, in which Charlie was instrumental.

Charlie was as decent a human being as you could know: kind, gentle, funny, with a dry sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye; and his wife Charlotte the most wonderful, positive soul, who has been unbelievably strong in the past few years, since Charlie’s diagnosis with terminal non-smoker’s lung cancer. She always kept a smile on her face whilst supporting Charlie and bringing up their two wonderful little girls, living at the centre of the village in every way.
Charlie was a fine bowler, a stylish batter, and a good sportsman all round, having previously captained Burghley before he moved to Elton.

It was in our second season that he had to pull out of some matches with aches and pains, which at the time were undiagnosed as the dreadful cancer we now know it was.

Throughout his gruelling treatment, he kept on supporting the club despite being unable to play, and even a few weeks ago whilst going through experimental treatment in the US, he insisted he wanted to stay on all the club WhatsApps, as he loved hearing about what’s going on.

It is deeply tragic to lose anyone at such a young age, in the prime of their life, with a young family, but a light has truly gone out with the loss of Charlie. We mourn his loss terribly and I’m sure this news will hit many of you hard.
A Memorial Service will be held for Charlie on Tuesday 16th June at All Saints Church in Elton at 2pm, with a reception afterwards at Elton Park Cricket Ground. Black / dark attire. Parking as per the map above. Do come along if you can.

See you there for our first home match of the season. 🏏 🍻 🍷 🍖 🏏

A strong start to the season for the Elton Park team tonight. Despite the match going unfinished due to rain, Elton had already bashed 149 runs off their 20 overs, with three retirements at 30: Connor McNaughton, Matt Borley, and Matt Humphrey. All showing no sign of early season rustiness.
Some strong opening bowling from Harish and debutant Charlie Hopkins pinned the Badgers back initially, until they found their stride and showed they had some firepower in their batting ranks, ramping up to 53-2 off 6 overs, when the rain came down. A classic wicket from Harish’s bowling in the form of a casual one handed catch on the run from square leg by Bertie Troughton, made Elton look quite the stylish side (a near collision with Harish in the process needn’t be mentioned). And Stuart Elderkin’s hand received a whack from a hard hit ball which dollied up for a catch but unfortunately fell behind his back. Charlie Hopkins took his first Elton wicket with a neat LBW, and the match looked poised for a thrilling finale.
Duckworth and Lewis might ponder the whys and wherefores but the teams shook hands on a draw as it variously hailed and rained, and the teams got stuck into the generous Oundle School hospitality.
Some excellent promise for the season ahead, and a fun away fixture against a competitive team who play much in the same spirit as EPCC. Onwards to next week’s first home match against The Short Legs, Thursday 6pm.

We struggle to admit that any cricket ground is nicer than ours, but the Oundle School 1st XI pitch does look pretty lovely (and flat). We play there Thursday at 6pm, against The Badgers. Come and support if you can. 🏏

Fixtures list for the season is here - stick it in your diary, pin it on the fridge. Look forward to seeing you there. (Keep checking here for updates as dates sometimes change…) 🏏

Turns out there is one English cricketer excelling in Australia after all - Elton Park CC’s very own Charlotte Aylmore, playing the summer down under for Longford CC as an overseas player, bowling her superb off spinners, with her best haul of 3-1 (wickets-runs in case that’s not obvious). She is currently the lead wicket taker for Longford Women’s Team. Well done Charlotte! Hopefully you can inspire the other English players down under too… 🏏 🐨 🇦🇺