Englefield CC
- The classic example of English village cricket. Fun and competitive with a buzzing social scene, set in one of the most picturesque cricketing locations in the world.

The Setting

Set within the deer park, Englefield CC is a truly breathtaking place to play cricket. The ground is overlooked by Englefield House, while the boundary beyond the square looks down onto Cranemore Lake. Deer graze at the boundary edge, red kites and vintage aircraft soar unheeded above us, and polo players regularly entertain when those middle overs get all too tedious!  The club finished in the Top 5 of The Wisden Cricketer Magazine’s ‘Loveliest Ground Competition’ in 2006, and is a truly unique club and a fantastic place to indulge in a spot of cricket.

Overlooking the cricket ground Englefield House is a Grade II listed Elizabethan mansion, which is home to Richard Benyon MP, and his family.   The House and surrounding gardens have been used on many occasions as filming sets for films such as X Men : First Class, Easy Virtue and the new film of Great Expectations.  Indeed the Cricket Ground was disguised for the X-Men to look less typically English.  It was also the set, sometime ago, for the series Hex. The Englefield Estate is situated between Reading and Newbury, the major part lying South of the A4.  The Estate covers some 14,000 acres (5,666 hectares) in Berkshire and Hampshire, including 3,500 acres (1,400 hectares) of woodland and a Home Farm of 2,000 acres (800 hectares).  Englefield Village, which lies near the mansion, is wholly owned by the Estate and includes a church, school, village shop, and social club.  There is also a garden centre which is leased to a local charity and an organic vegetable garden.

A Potted History

The has been a cricket club at Englefield since at least 1894, and today the cricket club is still intimately tied to the estate that birthed it over a century ago. The club pavilion was originally a Lacrosse Hut, while the cricketers had to set up a marquee to shelter them when they weren’t on the field of play. For many years the Englefield estate employed and housed an army of agricultural workers and many found their way on to the cricket field in the summer. The 1970s saw a decline in the club as a trend towards league cricket saw the number of friendly fixtures available steadily drop off. This ultimately saw the club join the Berkshire League in 1982. In 1984 the ground played host to a testimonial match for Sir Ian Botham, in which our current club chairman Eddie Newman took part. In around 1986 the present ironwork fence was erected by the estate and the ground was expanded to its current size. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a large crop of extremely talented young cricketers emerge in the locality and choose to play their Sunday cricket for Englefield and this period corresponded with a great improvement in the standard of the fixture list. Furthmore, since Keith Eckersley joined the cricket club the square has been greatly improved thanks mainly to his hard work and diligence. In 2004 the Saturday teams moved to play their cricket in the Chiltern League, and soon after the First XI won the First Division. Sadly, in recent times the club has been hard hit by a loss of players, which culminated in the loss of the Saturday 2nd XI in 2009. However, in the last couple of seasons Englefield has seen a strong revival both on the pitch and also in the social side of things. A strong crop of new players and a return to the Englefield Social Club has seen new life breathed into the club. As always Englefield CC is always open to new players of any standard who wish to play cricket for a fun and competitive team with a buzzing social scene, all set in one of the most picturesque locations to play cricket in the world.