Kidmore End Cricket Club – Club History

A gifted teacher, he taught his two sons, Lionel and Richard in the art of batsmanship from an early age to the  benefit of Somerset for whom they played from 1891-1909. 

Ed-Note: the club was inaugurated in June 1863 with ‘four bats, two balls and two stumps to its name’, presented by the vicar, the Revd, J. Cobb., the first meeting being held in the Schoolroom in July 1863.

Lionel, capped twice by England against Australia in 1902, was a stylish opening batsman, who scored 13,851 runs (average 35.79) for Somerset and hit 27 centuries including his top score of 292, not exceeded until Harold Gimblett scored 310 against Sussex in 1948.

Ed-Note: in 1901, the club joined the 2nd Division of the Reading and District League.

Cricket matches continued to be played every year except for the war years until 1939. a public recreation ground had been secured for the parish at Gallows Tree Common in 1946, on which the Cricket Club decided to make its permanent headquarters in the re-formation of the club in 1948, with twenty matches being played in 1949.

But 1953 sufficient funds had been raised to re-lay the wicket. It’s subsequent performance and the class of fixture that it was able to stage would not have been possible without the unsparing devotion and skill of Len Carter, a former captain who voluntarily acted first as assistant groundsman in then, later in 1956, as head groundsman for another 18 years.

Until 1954, the Club had a small summer house and the loan of the Football Club’s hut for changing room accommodation. However in 1953, the Coronation Committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. Fred Paddick, resolved to build a pavilion as a memorial of that occasion with the Football and Cricket Clubs adding a west and east wing respectively. The east wing was built in five weeks in time for the 1954 season and the pavilion in its entirety was completed by the end of 1955. This is the pavilion, that, with further improvements in the intervening years, now graces the ground.

In 1962, the Committee decided that by far the most appropriate way of celebrating its Centenary the next year would be to honour its founder and two sons by inviting Somerset County Cricket Club to play a match on the Club Ground. To their great joy (and surprise), acceptance was given and a full county XI visited Kidmore End on Saturday June 22nd 1963 to play against the local side. The match was extensively covered by both Press and the BBC sound  and television networks. This memorable occasion was so successful that £50 was donated to the fund for Peter Wight who had been granted a benefit in that year.

So began a tradition in which the Somerset beneficiary of the year brought a side to Kidmore End, usually on its way to play against one of the Home Counties. In 1964, Harold Stephenson brought the full Somerset side (see photos) and received £80 for his benefit fund. 

The complete list of matches played thereafter and the donations received by the beneficiaries are detailed below:-

1965 £85 to Brian Langford

1968 £80 to Ken Palmer

1973 £150 to Mervyn Kitchen

1975 £250 to Tom Cartwright

1977 £315 to Graham Burgess

1978 £500 to Derek Taylor

1979 £675 to Hallam Mosley

1983 £1300 to Brian Rose

1987 £1186 to Colin Dredge

1988 £1400 to Dennis Breakwell and Trevor Gard

1990 £1750 to Peter Roebuck

1991/92 £2500 to Somerset Youth Cricket Development 

In 1965 and 1993 matches were played for the benefit of Kidmore End Cricket Club.

This fine record of generosity towards Somerset County Cricket Club and its cricketers is greatly appreciated by the West Country club. It would not have been accomplished without the dedication of the hard working committee and members of the efficiently run club. Although it would be invidious to single out individuals, mention must be made of Bill Townsend, the Honorary Secretary. First elected in 1948 at the re-formation of the club in 1949, Bill’s enthusiasm and motivation was undimmed after 45 years in office.

Kidmore End has continued to thrive and expand since 1963. Entering league cricket in 1976 the First XI were runners up of the Berkshire County League – Premier Division in 1979 and champions in 1982. The following year, 1983, the Second and Third XIs were champions of their divisions and again in 1984 and 1986.

In 1990 admittance was gained  to the Three Counties League and in 1999 to the Thames Valley League. As well as three senior teams, Kidmore End has three youth teams thus providing for the future of the club.

Expansion is also reflected in the Club’s greater awareness of its part in cricket generally. Kidmore End is affiliated to both Somerset and Berkshire County Cricket Clubs, to the Club Cricket Conference and to the Berkshire Cricket Association. 

Expert assistance each winter in the upkeep of its wicket was recruited in 1972. This plus devoted and skilled work on the wicket and ground by John Sheldon, chairman since 1971, has resulted in the staging of two day Minor (now National) Counties matches since 1981. Indeed, Somerset Second XI played there against Berkshire in 1984 and 1986 and Kent and Cornwall in 1994.

Mention must also be made of the Ladies who have been responsible for the catering which is of the highest standard as I can confirm from personal experience.

What better way to spend a summer afternoon in a rural setting in 1994, than to attend Neil Mallender’s benefit match at Kidmore End (Wednesday August 24th 1994).

Michael Hill (Somerset County Cricket Club) – January 1994.

Full details of the Kidmore End Club History can been read in the booklet One Hundred and Fifty Not Out – Kidmore End Cricket Club 1863-2013. (Or via this link)