Rushwick Cricket Club

A huge thank you to Barnards Green cc for hosting such a brilliant mixed cricket festival today! 🏏

It was fantastic to get the lads and ladies together, enjoying some great cricket and having plenty of fun along the way!

A special mention to Daisy who won the award for most wickets taken! 🙌🏏

Thank you Barnards Green, we look forward to the next one!💙🩷

Making Memories at Rushwick Cricket Club

Let’s make more wonderful memories together at the forthcoming Rushwick Cricket Club Summer Fayre on Sunday 30th August 2026! 🎉🏏

Here are a few more photographs from the much-loved Rushwick Cricket Club Gala Days of the 1970s and 1980s — wonderful occasions that brought together families, friends, sports teams and the wider Rushwick community.

Our Gala Days, traditionally held in June, were always a major attraction and drew football and skittle teams from across the local area. The Club’s famous 5-a-side Football and 6-a-side Skittles Competitions provided plenty of sporting rivalry, excitement and, no doubt, a fair share of friendly banter!

To ensure the football competition was properly officiated, the Club’s Committee invited an official referee from the Worcester Referees’ Society to take charge of the matches. One referee who gave so generously of his time to Rushwick Cricket Club over many years was Tim O’Grady.

Tim not only officiated at our Gala Days but became a familiar and much-valued friend of the Club. He also went on to become Rushwick Cricket Club’s official photographer, capturing many Team photographs.

Looking back at these photographs, it is wonderful to see just how much the Gala Days meant to the Club and the local community. They were about far more than sport — they were about bringing people together, enjoying each other’s company and creating memories that have lasted for generations.

📸 We hope these photographs bring back some happy memories for those who were there — and perhaps introduce a new generation to a little piece of Rushwick Cricket Club history.

And now, after all those wonderful Gala Days of the past, it’s time to make some new memories!

🏏 Rushwick Cricket Club Summer Fayre
📅 Sunday 30th August 2026

We look forward to seeing you there! ❤️

More Memories of Rushwick Cricket Club Fetes/Gala’s.

No one escaped helping at Rushwick Cricket Club Fetes — everyone got involved! Alf, even found jobs for his mother ‘Lou’ and mother-in-law ‘May’, proving just how all-in the Club and families were.

Over the years, different Members took charge of key attractions. John Ridlinton (Chairman) ran the popular Six-a-Side Skittles Competition, always a big draw for teams and spectators.

From 1965–1973, Geoff Hutchinson (Chairman) and Dave Stone ran the Bingo. From 1974–1989, Bingo was called by Harry Rock (President)with Dave (Club Captain) continuing to assist, before becoming Chief Cashier and Finance Officer for the main event; because Alf past away in the winter of 1982, and Dave took over as Club Treasurer. Later, Wally Baylis stepped in to support Harry — all doing a fantastic job.

The Ladies’ Committee also played a huge part, taking over the Tombola in the mid-1970s and transforming it with bigger and better prizes — far beyond the old bottles of beer or pop!

These were true Club Fetes, with everyone mucking in — running stalls, organising games, calling Bingo, and keeping everything going behind the scenes. It was this incredible team spirit that made the Fetes such a success for so many years.

A real reminder of what community and Club spirit is all about. 🏏

Rushwick Cricket Club Fetes & Gala Days – A Wonderful Piece of Club History

As we get nearer to the Club’s Summer Fayre on Sunday 30th August, at the Alf Tolley Memorial Ground, from 2pm to 9pm, I thought it would be a lovely time to share a little of the history of Rushwick Cricket Club’s Fetes and Gala Days of years gone by — along with a few photographs.

The first Fete held at Rushwick Cricket Ground was in 1965. At the time, the Club was in desperate need of funds to help finance the new wooden pavilion and purchase much-needed ground machinery.

During the early 1960s, Alf Tolley had managed to source a number of second- and third-hand items, including mowers, a roller, a tractor and a gang mower. The only question was: how were they going to be paid for?

Alf had the answer — “Fetes!”

He had it all planned out and got every Club member, along with their wives, girlfriends and families, involved.

What made the Rushwick Cricket Club Fetes and Gala Days so different from other local fetes were the Six-a-Side Skittles and Five-a-Side Football Competitions, together with the ever-popular large Beer Tent!

The Club’s Fetes and Gala Days became its biggest source of fundraising. They provided vital funds to keep the Club solvent through the winter months and into the following season, while also helping to develop Rushwick Cricket Club into the Club it is today.

Initially, the Fetes were held in May, but in later years they were usually held around the third Saturday in June. Towards the late 1970s, it was decided to move the Gala Day from Saturday to Sunday. This avoided clashes with local school fetes and, in those days, also had the added advantage that the shops were closed on Sundays!

Rushwick Cricket Club’s Annual Fetes and Gala Days continued from 1965 right through to 1989.

So, as we look forward to this year’s Summer Fayre, it’s worth remembering that these events have a very special place in the history of our Club. What started with Alf Tolley’s simple answer of “Fetes!” played a huge part in helping to build and sustain Rushwick Cricket Club for generations.

Here’s to the memories, the people who made them, and many more Summer Fayres to come! 🏏🍺🎪