“Mad” King George III was on the throne licking his wounds from the loss of the American colonies. But with an eye to expanding his empire elsewhere, he dispatched a fleet of 11 ships of convicts and settlers to establish the first settlement in Australia. And in London, less than a mile from George’s official residence at St James’s Palace, the world’s most famous cricket club, the M.C.C., was established in Dorset Square.
The year was 1787.
Life in Pirbright that year was rural and tranquil. And the game of cricket was proving popular with the men of the village.
Thanks to forensic work by cricket researchers Ian Maun and Graham Collyer, former secretary of the I’Anson Cricket League and editor of the Surrey Advertiser, we have been able to pinpoint the dawn of the game in Pirbright.
The earliest confirmed report comes from an October 1787 article in the Reading Mercury, although it is highly likely that cricket had been played on the village green for some years previously.
The report describes two games of cricket between a Farnham team and a 13-strong side drawn from the villages of Pirbright, Ripley, Woking and Cobham, an area apparently known as “for long a hotbed area of cricket”. Although Farnham was up against two extra players, they were asked to exclude their best bowler, whose name we unfortunately don’t know.
The first match on October 9, 1787, ran to two days and ended in a 7-wicket victory for Farnham. In the October 24 return at Ripley Green, though, Pirbright and their fellow villagers achieved a notable victory by 101 runs.
Cricket in Pirbright at that time was played on the section of the green that is today marked by the duckpond to the east, White Hart Corner to the south-west and Lord Pirbright’s Hall to the north-west. To the trained eye, the original cricket square is still visible.
However, as that area of the green is prone to flooding, the cricketers of the early 20th century decided to carve out a new ground in the section of the green where today’s teams play.
Facilities were basic with a small changing hut on the site of what is today the Avenue de Cagny car park, which was constructed while the cricket club was out of the village on tour to Cornwall. A controversial decision, it placed vehicles directly in the line of a well-hit boundary.
Regular fixtures were interrupted by the two world wars of 1914-18 and 1939-45. Almost all records up to 1945 were lost. But the club survived and started up again in 1946 under the captaincy of local resident Major Wynne with Henry Lawson of Church Lane as Club President. The club then built its own pavilion in 1957 thanks to the generosity of a local donor.
As the 1990s began, it became increasingly difficult to secure the weekend “friendly” fixtures that had been at the heart of the club for 200 years. After much careful deliberation, the club took the bold decision in 1997 to seek entry to the I’Anson Cricket League, the oldest continuous cricket league in the country, and started the 1998 season in Div 4.
Pirbright quickly proved to be worthy league competitors, rising within two seasons to Div 3. The strength of the league side continued to grow with promotion to Div 2 in 2012 and ultimately to Div 1 in 2015, which remains the highest level at which the club has competed.
Cricket tours became an important part of club life with regular fixtures in Cornwall and the New Forest. In 1993, the club ventured overseas for the first of six tours to clubs on Spain’s Costa Blanca. Tours to Malta and Corfu have followed.
Today Pirbright Cricket Club has never been in a stronger position with more than 250 members and a variety of teams for men, women, youths, and even walking cricket for the more seasoned players.
The Youth Section started in July 2020 and very quickly grew to have a boys, girls and reception group. The first full year in 2021 saw the U18 section grow to just over 100 players, participating in seven different leagues. By 2023 there were 11 sides from U5 – U14 with over 135 players and the U8 Parrots team won their league.
The Women’s section launched in 2021 with a group of mothers from the youth section. This quickly grew into a thriving softball group of nearly 20 players, who are keen competitors winning the area Surrey Softball Smash It league and ending 2nd in the play-offs in 2022 and 2023. They joined the I’Anson Softball Women’s League Div 2 in 2024 which they immediately won and gained promotion to Div 1.
The busy year of 2021 also saw the launch of Walking Cricket, a slower paced, low impact format of the game we all love. Starting with just eight players, this section has grown to about 20 players aged 65-84 years. Pirbright played Stoke D’Abernon in Surrey’s first inter-club match, and two Pirbright players represented Surrey in a walking cricket match against Essex. Now called the Pirbright Penguins, they play in the CCL Surrey Walking Cricket League.
Thanks to a close partnership with Pirbright Parish Council, all of the club teams now enjoy the most up-to-date facilities. After 65 years of sterling service, the old cricket pavilion was torn down and replaced in 2023 with a modern building that meets the needs of a growing club.
Pirbright Cricket Club is built on the shoulders of many village greats and club stalwarts from the past 240 years. It is in the heart of the village and represents the heart of the village. It is a village cricket club for everyone.