Lymington Cricket Club - Formed 1807
Potted history
According to Norman Gannaway's comprehensive history of Lymington Cricket
Club, the sport was first played in the town in 1807 with three matches
against Southampton. Until 1836, the club played its matches on
Pennington Common before moving to the Sports Ground where it has remained
ever since.
In the mid 1800s, Lymington ranked among the county's best club, although
the club occasionally fell on hard times and indeed disbanded temporarily
during the 1850s.
The club's lowest ever recorded total occurred in 1897 when Ringwood
dismissed Lymington for just 8. However, in 1926, a record 509 runs were
scored against Zingari, and eight years later, the highest individual
score by a Lymington player was recorded when Dick Jenvey accumulated 202
not out against Aldenham.
The Post War years represented a testing time for Lymington. A feature of
cricket in the town was the annual Alderman Stone Cup competition which would
attract large crowds to the Sports Ground for matches between the major clubs
in the New Forest. During one such match in 1934, Perce Goff scored a
record 158 in less than an hour.
The last twenty years have been marked by steady progress in the club's
fortunes. Lymington won the Southern League in both 1983 and 1985 and
although there have been no titles since, the club has generally been one of
the major forces in the League. The Second XI gained promotion to Hampshire
Division 1 in 1994 and the Third XI has progressed to West Division 2 of
the Hampshire League, while a fourth side competes in New Forest League, and
provides a stepping stone for the talented youngsters emerging from a highly
successful colts set-up which has gleaned two Europa Cup titles in the
past three years. Lymington were founder members of the Cross Solent Sunday
League and won the first three titles.
The club has been blessed with some talented cricketers through it's history,
and a number of Test players have at times appeared in Lymington colours.
They include:-
Henry Jupp, the club's
professional in 1883 played alongside
W.G.Grace for England, and New Zealand batsman
Andrew Jones played for Lymington in 1982 and 1983. More recently,
the England Under 19s and Under 15s were captained by Lymington's
Zac Morris
and Damian Shirazi respectively. Many Hampshire players have also played
for the club, including
Tony Middleton,
Jon Hardy,
Peter Barrett,
Stephen Andrew and
Sean Morris.