As you’ll know, Chiddingfold Cricket Club has grown enormously over recent years. This is mainly due to the growth in junior cricket, with over 300 boys and girls now proudly wearing the Chiddingfold colours. But we’ve also seen the introduction of a very successful women’s section and the men’s playing numbers are starting to edge up again. It’s a great problem to have, but the popularity of cricket in the village has created its own issues in terms of our capacity to host matches and training sessions. We’re very lucky to have such great partners at Follies Farm, Lurgashall, Barrow Hills School and King Edwards School for hosting our training and matches.

We’ve been working hard to progress a project to develop a new ground on a site adjacent to Chiddingfold Golf Club to provide high quality cricket facilities in the village for generations to come. But this is longer-term potential solution and will not fix some of the more pressing issues.

So we have some fantastic news!

We have entered into an agreement with Witley Parish Council to secure our use of the former Witley Cricket Club ground. Initially, this will be primarily for junior and women’s matches. We’ve already made a substantial investment in the facility with the planned installation of a state-of-the-art artificial pitch. We’re grateful to the ECB (English Cricket Board) for its grant towards some of the cost. As you drive-by, you should see works starting before Christmas with the pitch being ready for play at the start of the 2025 season. We were really sorry to see the demise of our neighbours at Witley Cricket Club, so we’re pleased to have the double positive of being able to provide high quality facilities for our own members (many of whom come from Witley) whilst securing the continuation of cricket at this historic ground.

Many thanks are due to our Treasurer, Matthew Wright, who has worked hard to bring the project to such a great outcome.