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History
Formed in 1870 Headcorn CC began playing cricket at a ground on Moat Road behind Headcorn Manor. Unfortunately, we don’t have any details about which individuals were key in the formation of the club as well as who were the big performers in the earliest years.
Moving on to the 1890s and the club was going strong with a good number of games being played against local villages such as Biddenden, Smarden Bell XI, Great Chart, Ulcombe and Leeds Castle. Its in these years that we see the first stars of Headcorn CC come to the forefront such as Arthur Hubble, Frank Foreman Snr, George Boorman & Joseph Knight.
It was strongly believed that if it wasn’t for the First World War George Boorman who was an exception with both bat and ball would have played for Kent. His abilities were evident in the 1912 season when not only churning out good performances with the bat, George also took FIVE 7 wicket Hauls including a Hat-trick against Benenden in his 7-21. Benenden was a happy hunting ground for George as he took 8-27 the following year and scored 97 with the bat.
During this period the club made the move from the Moat Road ground to Home Farm (Now Rushford Close) which was rented off the Tassell family.
Fast forward to the 1930s and another change of venue for “The Corn” in the form of the Lenham Road Ground. The same home we have today. The club is evolving nicely with multiple teams including a 1st & 2nd XI, the Midweek Wednesday XI and we see the introduction Headcorn Ladies CC which was formed in partnership with the Headcorn WI. The ladies team ran very successfully thanks to many willing volunteers such as Pam Reeves and Kate Jeffery for around 30 years until 1960. In the latter years practicing and playing their home games at Headcorn Primary School. Getting to away games was always a challenge during these times and the team regularly relied on coach travel courtesy of W. Watkins of Staplehurst.
In 1965 and after around 30 years of renting the Lenham Road ground from George Knight of Oak Farm, the club had the opportunity to purchase the ground. With the club far from having the surplus finances to make such a purchase, it took 16 incredibly generous members to make interest free loans to the sum of £840 for the club to purchase the ground for £1,000. From that moment Headcorn CC had a permanent home.
During the late 1960s Tennis was first played on a grass court by cricket members which later evolved in the early 1970s to form Headcorn Cricket & Tennis Club.
The 1970s saw some ground improvements with a new equipment shed being built by playing member Pat Parnham. The same shed still used today. The practice nets were also relocated to allow the construction of a hard all weather Tennis court to be built next to the car park & pavilion.
Junior cricket was also played for the first time in the 1970s as the club looked to add some young blood from the village.
The 1970s saw some of the more modern-day legends (both on and off the field) representing the club. Regarded by many as the finest player to wear the Headcorn shirt, Richard Chapman won the Kent Messenger Ronson Award for the most 50s scored in a season as he smashed over 30 of them of which many of which went on to become centuries. Richard also captained the England schoolboys XI along with his vice-captain Mike Gatting.
The club was well known in the village during this period for its annual summer BBQ which often had music playing or a live act. Members used to sleep in the clubhouse to guard any leftover bar stock. Mike Everett often found asleep accompanied with a cricket stump just in case he was disturbed by any intruders. Peter Cooper & Hubert Brooker could be found in the Lenham Road ditch whilst walking back after more than one too many.
The annual Christmas draw was the club’s big fundraiser which took place at The White Horse in Headcorn.
We saw League cricket for the first time at the club with the introduction of the Invicta League in 1981. Headcorn were one of the founder members and competed against many local clubs of whom we had played friendlies against since our existence in 1870.
We were victorious on 3 occasions in 1981, 1983 & 1996.
The club broke an Invicta League record in the 1980s when bowling out Bearsted for just 12 runs. A record which stood for around 30yrs until the league disbanded in 2015.
A new liaison was formed with Aahus Cricket Club from Denmark. This would span over 10yrs and involved many enjoyable trips organised by John Phipps to each other’s grounds. Despite many meetings between the two clubs, nobody ever won on away soil.
The clubs fundraising to build new dressing rooms & toilets was in full swing. Most notable was the raffle of a new Volkswagen Polo. Many tickets were sold at local bootfairs every weekend by Bob & Jan Westrop ably assisted by Mike Everett.
However, the fundraising target changed when a fire struck the clubhouse in September 1983. It was then necessary for the members to rally around and build a new pavilion time for the 1985 season. The structure of which was built by club member Sid Hyde whilst interior works were completed by club members, overseen by Peter Cooper.
The new clubhouse was operational on time and opened by Kent & England Batsman Chris Tavare.
The 1980s saw the introduction of a new form of cricket for the club in the way of a winter Indoor League which was played at the YMCA & Westborough Centre both in Maidstone. Winning the league on 5 occasions and reaching the regional county final in Orpington on one occasion.
The National Village Knockout competition gave the club the opportunity to test itself not only in Kent but also further afield. Winning the Kent area title on two occasions and reaching the National Quarter Finals on one occasion, losing narrowly to Dinton CC of Buckinghamshire by 1 run.
For the first time a Headcorn player has been recognized on the county circuit as Pete Westrop represented Kent 2nd XI on many occasions. At one stage playing at Headcorn whilst representing Kent at age level, Pete got to play against the ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar.
The 1990s saw a club and Invicta League record broken when Simon Phipps scored the highest individual league score when he smashed 204 against Harrietsham in 1996.
A new century and a new league to battle for as in 2002 we entered the Kent Village Cricket League on Sundays. Winning Division 4 in just our second year with a final game of the season ‘Winner takes all’ match against Littlebourne CC.
With a now thriving junior section it didn’t take long for a Sunday 2nd XI to be entered into the league to help the younger players adapt to adult cricket. An annual fixture against a Headcorn church XI became a regular fixture. Organised by Steve Morrison & Richard Daking.
A Saturday XI was also competing well in the Invicta League also featuring many promising youngsters. One of which was Jenny Jackson who was also representing Kent at county level
Following the disbanding of the Invicta League after 34 enjoyable years the Saturday XI joined the Kent Regional League. Much like our Sunday League arrival it didn’t take long for ‘The Corn’ to secure some silverware winning the ‘Division 1 Central’ in 2017.
Some more ground improvements were required as over time the outfield had become dangerous thanks to digging rabbits. Therefore in 2018, it was decided that a rabbit proof perimeter fence needed to be erected. This was made possible thanks to a very generous interest free loan from club President Bob Westrop. This was also seen as an opportunity to raise future club funds with local businesses able to promote themselves in the form of advertising boards.
All plans to celebrate the 150th year of Headcorn Cricket Club had to be cancelled in 2020 as the country and all recreational sport was grounded to a halt courtesy of the Covid-19 global pandemic. It would be the first time that no league cricket was played at the club for 40yrs. All plans to resurrect and restructure the junior section had to be put on hold until 2021 when via the ECB schemes Allstars & Dynamos, we saw around 80 children (Aged 5 – 11) from the ever-growing village sign up for coaching. This was organised by Kevin Richardson and assisted by many club members volunteering their time. It was due to this new influx of juniors attending the club and all the equipment and training aids needed that we saw our storage facilities reach their capacity. That was until a chance conversation with club sponsor John Bond of JRB Roofing led to a brand new junior equipment shed being constructed adjacent to the existing shed at the end of the 2023 season. All labour and materials donated in an exceptionally kind and generous gesture by John.
Another young talent from the club in the form of Grace Scrivens went on the represent Kent Ladies. Grace went from strength to strength as she also Captained England Under 19s at the 2023 World Cup in South Africa. Taking them to the final and winning player of the tournament. She also represented The London Spirit and Trent Rockets in the Ladies Hundred franchise tournament.
If you have any information, photographs, scorebooks or anything else that you think could be of interest to us then please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you and where possible obtain copies to add to our every growing collection of club history and memorabilia.
Contact
Lenham Rd, Headcorn, Ashford TN27 9LE