Howzat! A History of Cricket in the Wychwoods
Here is an article by Carol Anderson written to accompany an exhibition of photographs currently on show in the Wychwoods Library in Milton.
Carol’s review – available to download here – covers the varying cricketing activities in Ascott and Milton as well as the successes enjoyed by Shipton teams over the years.
Cricket has been played in the Wychwoods since at least the mid-19th century. Jackson’s Oxford Journal records a match between Shipton and Ascott, played on 24th August 1861 (Shipton scored 89, Ascott 35).
Shipton Cricket Club: Historic Moments
The Shipton Cricket Club website records that it is believed that village matches were staged in a field on the edge of Shipton near Fiveways. This is the junction of Leafield and Swinbrook Roads, Mawles and Plum Lane.
The club also records that country house cricket was played on the present ground in the late 19th century. This was made possible by the levelling and draining of the area by the Pepper family. This family were the owners of Shipton Court, which locals will know, stands opposite Shipton’s cricket ground.
A historic timeline of Shipton Cricket Club appears on the club website here. This includes links to videos of some of the early 21st century games played by Shipton Cricket Club at Lord’s.
The club first entered the National Village Knockout Competition in the mid-90s , reaching the final in 1997.
Sam Mendes, who was a regular player at this time, hosted a meal for the team at the Groucho Club on the eve of the match. In the event the final is overshadowed by the overnight death of Princess Diana. There are doubts about proceeding with the match but it goes ahead. The result was a defeat to Caldy of The Wirral.
Here is a video of pre-match interviews, and many slices of action from the match.
.. and here are some images from Shipton’s later visit to Lord’s in 2010:
Images © Alan Vickers