In the early 1900’s there are many reports in the newspapers of a cricket team in Ilton and, as with most village teams back then they seemed to stop and start over the years. In 1905 a report tells us that they were sat down to their annual dinner and their guest speaker commented that ‘he was not aware of a more flourishing club than the Ilton Cricket Club and he hoped that it would continue’ yet just 4 years later it was announced that the club was to re-start.
This photo was taken in 1906 but the earliest records suggest that the first Ilton Cricket team was formed in 1896. They moved to their ‘new ground’ in 1912 and some names mentioned in that report were Mr Harry Beavan (captain), Mr Goodland (vice captain), Mr J. Jouxson (fast bowler), Mr Hopkins (cutting and driving is excellent), Mr Grainger (is improving at bowling!), & Mr Hooper (safe wicket keeper).
Matches to be played in July that year were
1st – Stoke & Thurlbear,
8th – Creech,
15th – Shepton Beauchamp
and 22nd – Chard Grammar School.
Maybe from those names in 1912, some of those men were featured in the 1910 photo.
Not much is recorded for the next 20 years or so but during this time the village teamed up with Ashill and the club became known as the Ashill & Ilton Cricket Club playing on fields owned by the Speke family, particularly around Rapps. In the 1960’s Mr Brian Childs-Clarke moved into Ilton Court with a field attached to his garden. Being an avid Cricket fan, he offered the field for Cricket matching and slowly the old agricultural field, over the next two decades was lovingly transformed into a superb cricket field.
In the 1990’s, due to there being no one from Ashill now playing in the team, Ilton dropped the Ashill name continued to play under Ilton only. Somerset professional, Graham Rose, played his testimonial match on the ground here in 1997. Today, it is a thriving club and goes from strength to strength and has recently welcomed the Somerset Disabled Teams to their ground and a summer only outdoor Walking Cricket group.
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