History
The Littlehampton, Clapham and Patching Cricket Club is a cricket club in Littlehampton, West Sussex, England.
The earliest record of cricket in Littlehampton was of a game on 2 July 1802 on the Littlehampton Green when a match between the Gentlemen of Sussex and the Storrington Club was played. On 3 June 1813 a team from Littlehampton played a team from Lancing and in 1816 the residents played a visitors’ side. By the end of the 1860s an occasional cricket ground was on the Common immediately south of the Roman Catholic Church, where there was ‘a level plateau of perfectly natural formation’, known locally as “The Cow Ground”.
General
The Littlehampton, Clapham & Patching Cricket Club is a member of the Sussex Cricket League, which administers the Sussex Premier League. After being relegated in 2012 they spent four years in the West Sussex Invitation League. In 2017 the 1st XI won Division 1 on the last day of the season against rivals Arundel CC to gain promotion back into the Sussex Cricket League. There are Sunday XI’s that play friendly cricket.
Recently after a period of consolidation LC&PCC has begun gain success. In 2016 the 1st XI won the West Sussex Invitation Cricket League T20 Competition. Also in 2016 the 3rd XI won division 7 on last day of the season backing up their title of division 8 in 2014, while the 2nd XI won the West Sussex Invitation League Division 6 in 2015. Off the field the club were awarded a grant in 2015, to redevelop the Old Pavilion which has now been renamed The Somerset Pavilion.
The Club also entertain a number of mid-week touring sides.
The former Littlehampton Cricket Club won the Sussex Championship League in 1975 and 1977 and was the runner-up in 1976. After this success the Club was accepted into the Sussex Cricket League in 1978. The Club won the Sussex League Cup in 1989 and was the runner-up in 1984. The 1st XI was the League runner-up in 1991 and the 2nd XI achieved this distinction in 1977. In 2003 the 2nd XI won the Division 1 of 2nd XIs and secured promotion. The 1st XI was promoted at the end of the 2004 season.
The former Clapham and Patching Cricket Club was the runner-up in Division 2 of the Sussex Championship League in 1993 and was also the runner-up in the Sussex Championship League Cup in the same year.
In addition, the Club plays in the Worthing and District Knock Out Cup – an evening competition and has been the winner of this Cup on several occasions. The Club has also entered six-a-side teams in the Worthing and Bognor Regis indoor cricket competitions. The Club is the most successful local side by far in these indoor contests and has numerous trophy wins over the past thirty years.
During the 2005 season the club secured the services of Chris Cooke as their overseas player who later signed a contract with Glamorgan CCC.
Formation of the Club
The first record of the formation of a Littlehampton Cricket Club came from the West Sussex Gazette of 29 September 1859 when it was reported – “This is the first season of the Littlehamptonites forming a cricket club, they have played eight matches.” However, there were few reports of subsequent matches, which indicated that the Club had ceased to exist by 1866.
Reformation of the Club
On 15 December 1870 the same paper reported that cricket enthusiasts had got together to form a cricket club for 1871 under the presidency of the Reverend W. B. Philpott. His Grace the Duke of Norfolk favourably received an application for the cricket ground on the Common to be permanently established.In 1873 notice was received from the Duke of Norfolk’s Arundel Estate Office that the cricket pitch on the Common would no longer be available. Arrangements were made in 1875, with the Duke, to rent a field of six acres (2.4 hectares) at the rear of Selborne Road.
Cricket at the Sportsfield
Cricket in Clapham and Patching
The first reference relating to cricket being played by Patching was reported in the Sussex Weekly Advertiser on 22 July 1771 when Hurst played Patching and Portslade at Hurstpierpoint. Clapham and Patching were the runners-up in the Nind Challenge Trophy in 1897. The trophy had been presented by Mr. P.W.Nind for the East Preston Cricket League. Clapham and Patching Cricket Club remained a difficult side to beat into the early 1900s. In 1914 the Club played in the six-a-side Blauw Tournament at East Preston when the performances of Arthur William Fitzroy Somerset and Arthur Plantaganet Francis Cecil Somerset brought about a win for Clapham and Patching. The organisers took exception to this and the Competition was not repeated again for over half a Century.
In the 1930s the Club, which was then known as Patching and Clapham Cricket Club, was linked with the former Durrington Cricket Club and played on a pitch behind the Coach and Horses and used a Southdown Coach as a pavilion. During the course of the Second World War the pitch at Frog’s Hole, Clapham deteriorated into an overgrown field and it took two weeks to relocate the cricket square. The Club constructed a hut to use as a pavilion and this existed until 1978 when the Village Hall was constructed. The freehold of the Ground was owned by the Duke of Norfolk’s Estate and when offered to the Club for £11,000 in 1974 the Chairman rejected the offer without consulting the Club Committee. The Village Hall Management Committee purchased the ground with a covenant that safeguarded the future of cricket at Frog’s Hole in perpetuity.
The village pitch name, Frog's Hole, relates to the large number of frogs that inhabited the wet surroundings. Some romantics have erroneously suggested that the name derives from a nearby prisoner of war camp that existed for the French soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars.
Clubs Merging
In 1999, the Clapham and Patching Cricket Club merged with the Littlehampton Club which not only secured the future of the village Club but also enabled the new Club to field a 4th XI on Saturdays and consistently to field two Sunday XIs.
Ladies Cricket
Kindly submitted By Hugh Milner
Reference was made recently of what might have been the first Ladies Cricket Match on the Sportsfield. In fact the first Ladies game was not in May 2008 but 90 years earlier. On the 15th July 1918 a letter, addressed to the Sportsfield Trustees, was received from the President of the Littlehampton and District Free Church Council. The letter said - "We have seen an advertisement of a Ladies Cricket Match to be played in the Sportsfield on Sunday next and have heard that for several Sundays such matches have been played. On behalf of the Non-Conformists of the Town, we respectfully protest against these desecrations of the Sabbath and the offence to the conscience of God-fearing people and further as having a demoralising effect on the young people of the Town". Things have gone downhill ever since !!!!
In 1931, a Ladies Cricket Club had been formed. The Littlehampton Gazette reported on the 6th February, 1931 - "It was announced at the inaugural meeting of the Littlehampton and District Ladies Cricket Club, which was held at Kentwood, North Lane, Rustington last week, , that Miss Rogers of Rossites, Rustington had consented to become the first President. Miss Chater of Rustington and Mr. Ashbery of Worthing head the list of Vice-Presidents. Mr. Jack Elton of Littlehampton has kindly undertaken to arrange a concert in connection with the Club early next month, and it is hoped to hold a social for members and prospective members at an early date. Miss Callaway presided over the meeting, which was attended by members from Worthing as well as from Littlehampton and Rustington. It is hoped to be able to arrange for the Club to have the use of a pitch in the Littlehampton Sportsfield next summer." Permission was then given for the ladies to use a pitch in the north east corner of the Sportsfield at a rent of £8 for the season. This rent was to cover rolling, cutting and marking for matches and the use of a shed for changing purposes. Their first game was a catastrophe. It was played in June, 1931 against the Women's Cricket Association at the Sportsfield. The visitirs batted first and scored 200 for 4. However, the home side din not reach double figures in their first innings but did a little better in the second, scoring 25. In june 1932, the Littlehampton Ladies Cricket Club played the Worthing Law Cricket Club and the West Sussex Gazette reported - "The women, most of whom played bare-legged, scored 19 and 37 and their opponents 46 and 35." On another occasion a Press report said - "The Littlehampton Women's Cricket Club had their first victory last week when, at the Sportsfield, they beat Warren School (Worthing) by 96 to 53. Miss B. Stiff took four wickets, including the hat-trick, for them and the Misses J. Last and M. Hayward made 21 each. On Saturday, the team lost to Bishop Otter College, 109 to 67." However, disappointingly the Ladies Cricket Club wound up in 1934.
Many of the older members will remember the late Alf Doble, a local football referee and cricket umpire who was a tireless worker at the Sportsfield and a friend to all local sports' people. What perhaps is not generally known is that Alf's wife, Iris, was a sportswoman in her own right. On the 21st May, 1948 the Littlehampton Gazette reported - "Mrs. Iris Doble, a former member of the Littlehampton Athletic Club and the Women's Cricket Club of fifteen years ago, will tomorrow take part in the final trial match from which will be selected the Sussex Women's cricket team. Mrs. Doble, whose association with cricket extends into her early school days, has been playing for a Chichester team, the Martlet Women's Cricket Club for the past two seasons against such teams as Bishop Otter College, Bedales College, the Horsham Ladies, the Worthing Ladies and the Hove Ladies. In the preliminary trials for the County Women's Team she took 4 wickets for 12 runs and later in a scratch game on the Sportsfield in which members of the Boys' Club and the Littlehampton Cricket Club took place, she took three wickets for sixteen runs." Iris was selected to play for the Sussex Women's Cricket Team against Buckinghamshire Ladies at Hastings, in June 1948 where she took 3 wickets for 34 runs and contributed a very useful 28 runs. The Littlehampton Gazette reported on 26th June, 1951 - "Mrs Iris Doble of Gloucester Road, Littlehampton, has been chosen to play for the South XI at the Hove County Ground tomorrow, Saturday, and against the Australians at Oxford on July 16th." She is reported as having umpired a game in 1953 at the Sportsfield and later that year she took 6 wickets for 13 runs when playing for Sussex Ladies against Kent Ladies. In September, 1955 the West Sussex Gazette said - "Mrs. Iris Doble, the Littlehampton woman cricketer, whi is this year 'skipper' of the Sussex Women's team has this week been to Colwell near Malvern, Worcestershire, where fourteen women's teams have been playing cricket every day on surrounding grounds, including that of Malvern College. The occasion was the annual week of the England Women's Cricket Association. Mrs, Doble was selected for Mrs. Molly Duggan's team and did very well." Irs was once again appointed as captain of the Sussex Women's team in 1956 and still played for the Chichester Martlets. In 1958, Iris Doble was re-elected as captain of the Sussex County Women's XI and of Chichester Martlets. On the 18th May, 1960 the Littlehampton Gazette said - "Although Mrs Iris Doble of Gloucester Road, Littlehampton is retiring as a cricketer - she plays for the Sussex Women's XI and the Martlets, a Chichester team - she is not giving up the game completely. She is going to be an umpire instead. Having played for Sussex since 1948, Mrs Doble told us that she was retiring because she was 'getting beyond it' and wanted to give up 'while I am still reasonably good'. Last year, she had her best ever season taking over 40 wickets for 400 runs and knocking up 700 runs herself. Mrs Doble said that the Martlets needed more women cricketers as at the moment only about fifteen turn out for practice.
The Littlehampton Ladies started again in 2008 but after two seasons did not continue. A great shame because they won the Wilostick Championship (8 a-side) competition in successive years. The side was comprised almost entirely from players of the Angmering Stoolball Club. It would be good to see a Ladies team playing for the Club once again.
Pictured below are Iris Doble and the 2008 Littlehampton Ladies side.
