Ewhurst, Surrey
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Ewhurst is a small village in the English county of Surrey.
Ewhurst is located between Cranleigh (two miles away) and Shere which is around five miles in the other direction. Ewhurst has many well-known legends as members of the village, such as Eric Clapton, who is known to play at the Church of England church in Ewhurst. It also houses other stars as Kenney Jones of the Who and Jim Davidson.
[edit] Ewhurst cricket club
No knowledge exists of when cricket was first played on Ewhurst Green, but an article in an old Surrey magazine of 1947 said that cricket had been played on The Green for at least 100 years. This must mean that it is at least 165 years old. Also the cricket historian, Tom Bing, who lived locally said that he had found evidence that cricket had been played between the villages of Ewhurst and Rudgwick as far back as the late 18th century. Local families such as the Wellers, Warringtons, Barlows and Osgoods have served the club with distinction throughout the years.
A minute book held at the Guildford Library relates how cricket was played in the village from the turn of the 20th century up to World War I. It then started up again in 1919 and continued right through to 1942 when the club closed down through lack of young men in the village. During World War II, the boys from Ewhurst School were allowed to play cricket on The Green on a Friday afternoon. The Home Guard also had matches against Oakwood Hill Home Guard. The pitch was also used by the Canadian soldiers stationed at Garlands for baseball.
The club started up again in 1946 and has continued to play every year since. In 1952 at the annual dinner, the guests of honour were Alec and Eric Bedser. 1955 saw Ewhurst win the Flora Doris plate, defeating Ripley in the final and nine years later they were to share the plate with Guildford 1st XI after the final had been rained off twice. The following year Guildford were to defeat Ewhurst in the semi-finals. Ewhurst would then appear in the Admiral Dunlop final in 1972, losing out to Godalming. A year later they were again knocked out of the Admiral Dunlop semi-finals, this time by Westfield.
1976 saw Ewhurst enter league cricket in the Arun Valley District League. A year later Ewhurst Colts won the Percy Lewis Cup, defeating Woking and Horsell in the final. In 1979 four Ewhurst Colts (Mark Tabor, Muir McMath, Justin Weller and David Bulbeck) were selected for Surrey.
Ewhurst finished runners up to Roffey in 1982 in the Arun Valley League, and three years later they lost in the final of the Admiral Dunlop Cup to Aldershot. In 1986 Ewhurst lost in the semi-final of the Flora Doris to Farnham. In the years 1989 and 1990, Ewhurst hosted matches against Surrey County Cricket Club.
The old wooden pavilion which had a tea room added to it in 1948 from the proceeds the Ewhurst Village War Memorial Fund, lasted until 1968 when the club, with help from a grant from the Sports Council, built the existing pavilion. This building has since been added to with a beer and bar store and in more recent times a roof extension.
The club received the award for The Best Kept Cricket Ground in Surrey in 1996.
After dropping out of the Fullers League Ewhurst joined the Village League. Ewhurst finally met with some success reaching 3rd in the Division 2 in 2001. The following season the club continued to improve finishing runners-up in Division 2.
2003 was a great year for the club winning the Village League Division 2 and the club toured overseas for the first time to Holland. 2003 also saw the inaugural Mark Young Cup played annually between Ewhurst CC and Priestfield Wanderers CC which Ewhurst won (they would also go on to win the next 3 years).
In 2004 Ewhurst made the step up into the I’Anson League (the oldest cricket league in Britain) fielding two league teams. The 1st XI won Division 4 at the first attempt. The club embarked on another tour this time to the Isle of Wight. The following year the 1st XI claimed the 3rd Division winners trophy and the club toured Cornwall.
The club then wanted a new challenge and in 2006 decided to rejoin the Fullers League and both the 1st and 2nd XI’s finished with in respectable mid-table in their respective divisions. The team once again toured overseas this time in the Czech Republic.
The old wooden pavilion which had a tea room added to it in 1948 from the proceeds the Ewhurst Village War Memorial Fund, lasted until 1968 when the club, with help from a grant from the Sports Council, built the existing pavilion. This building has since been added to with a beer and bar store and in more recent times a roof extension.[1]
