Torquay Cricket Club - 1851 - 2024

The year, 1851, Queen Victoria was on the throne and John Russell was PM, saw a meeting held at Hearders Hotel (which subsequently became the Queens Hotel) in the June to form Torquay CC.  Less than two months later the first match was held at Windmill Hill against South Devon CC.

Just two years later the club had the privilege to host the Twenty Two Gentlemen of Devon when they took on the All England XI.  How many clubs can say they have had visitors from two Royal Families at the same time?  Well Torquay CC can as members of the British and Russian royal families were moored up in Torbay at the time and visited the match.

The club moved it appears to “Cricketfield Road” in around 1868 thanks to the generosity of Sir Laurence Palk although it did upset a few of the locals and we aren’t talking Baron CC!  A possible change of ground was also made mention of in 1861 although the records are unclear if this was another move or not?

The later part of the 1800s for those of you who want to know more of the history of the club, as it is so difficult to paraphrase events of that era, so it is best to obtain a copy of Ray Batten’s history of the club which was published in 2005.

The club had a rocky time around the turn of the 20th century and ceased to play for a few years but fortunately this was only a temporary interlude.

What does Dame Agatha Christie and Evo have in common?  They have both scored for the club!  A young Agatha under the recently felled big tree at Cricketfield Road scored when her father was Club President.  Sadly when cruise ship passengers stop off on their Agatha Christie Tour at the ground, no mention is likely to be made of Torquay CC.  (Barton CC weren’t formed until 1935 the year Agatha published “Death in the Clouds” and “Three Act Tragedy”.)

The first recorded pro for the club was a local bowler by the name of Delbridge who was employed between 1908 and 1912 before dying tragically young.  However, a Charles Bentley in the mid-1870s is now likely to have been the first.

The Roaring Twenties saw the club in 1926 move from Cricketfield Road to its final ground, The Recreation Ground.

The employment of a pro on a regular basis recommenced a decade after WW1 with a slow bowler by the name of Vaughan from Sussex.  Without a doubt though the two most famous subsequent one were George Emmett in 1932/33 and Fanie DeVilliers in 1992, both of whom shall be mentioned later.  However, one famous by “association” was Frederick Pierpoint between 1950 and 1952, as he shared the same surname as the hangman at the time!

The 1920s / 1930s though was the time of local headmaster, George Butler, a batter so feared by the opposition if they batted first they would often bat on after tea.

Whilst only associated via local cricket history in many respects, 1933, saw the introduction of the Brockman Cup.  However, its spiritual home has always been the Recreation Ground and many of its Presidents were prominent club members including the current incumbent, Mike Hunt.  Amazingly though the club’s 3rd XI only ever won it once and that wasn’t until 1978 the year the club’s Ray Haydock also scored the first ever century in the competition.

Unlike during the WW1, the club didn’t shut up shop and a strong RAF side played several times at The Rec especially until The Palace Hotel was bombed – probably the most famous players probably being Leslie Ames and Wally Hammond.  (However, Bill Edrich, a member of the famous cricketing dynasty, actually turned out for the club.)

The post war era, well 1948 to be precise, saw the arrival of Ted Dickinson from the East Midlands.  Simply Ted over the years became “Mr Torquay CC” fulfilling virtually every role in the club (as well as for Devon CCC).   A mantle though which subsequently was passed onto Ken Jeffery in the New Millennium who got short listed for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Unsung Hero for the South West in 2016. 1948 was also the year the only a member of the club played test cricket for England – George Emmett, whose family on the McMurray side later became stalwarts of the club.  Could the merged club be on the verge of one though?  Returning to the original “Mr Torquay Cricket Club”, Ted and his wife Jane were in the Carlton Casino, the night of the murders in 1973.  Had there been a different outcome that night, how might the cricket club have looked subsequently?  Fortunately we never had to find out.

Like so many seaside clubs, Festival Cricket came to The Rec in the mid-1950s with a host of (future) stars playing including Sir Gary Sobers -  the club owned a bat containing his and so many other signatures.  Sadly as the matches were at the end of the season the weather wasn’t kind so the Festival after a few years ceased because of financial loses.

The extremely late 50s saw the emergence of a young batter by the name of Barrie Matthews who went onto score in the region of 30,000 runs for the club as well as many more for Devon CCC who he captained for many years including to their first Minor Counties title in 1978.  Barrie’s partner in crime opening the batting for Torquay for many years was Dave Traylor who learnt his trade as a youngster with Chelston CC.  One though has to wonder but for having a successful career in the hospitality trade, whether Barrie could have tried his in the first class game.  However, in the twilight of his career, having immigrated to Spain, Barrie represented Spain O60s along with another club legend and now ex-pat, Vaughan “Jocker” Hosking.  Returning to the Traylor family, mention must be made of another brother, Bill, a bowler turned wicketkeeper, who used his skills from the building trade for many years to help the club.

The was an era that came to an end in 1969, when Chris Greetham resigned as the club pro – the club didn’t employ another until Fanie DeVilliers in 1992 accept for match day pros.  While mentioning pros, the oldest surviving is David Post from 1960, who was one of the many contributors that kept the club website alive in the dark days of 2020.

League cricket arrived properly in Devon in 1972 and the club will go down in history as the first winners of the league.  (Just like the Football League though one of the original 12 clubs no longer “exists”.)  The title seem to be won every other year for a long period of time.

The early 70s also saw the emergence off, the TBGS conveyor belt, Malcolm Kingdon, who ultimately earnt the title “Sultan of Swing.  On (damp) uncovered pitches, Malcom was simply lethal.  Fast forward some thirty years oh how the club lamented the conveyor belt coming to a virtual halt, as career aspirations had evolved – which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why he club is no longer a standalone club.

From the late 60s to the late 70s, the Minor Counties played the tourists virtually every other year.  In 1976 the fair came early when Viv Richards played “Splat a Duck” – sadly the duck didn’t survive.

The first half of the 70s also saw the club host an annual Sunday League match for Somerset CCC – the only out ground which was also truly out of county as well.

No history of the club could be written without including Ray Batten and some of his famous catch phrases.  Well when the club lost its Alcohol Licence for a season, we can all still hear Ray saying, “call yourself a cricket club” (slightly amended) and “what a pantomime.”  Ray though on two occasions became one of the fabled “Tea Men” who ran the hatch when the conveyor belt of ladies had stopped along with the likes of Messrs Kingdon, Pelosi, Schneider and Stephens.

The late 80s saw another cricketing dynasty tread the well-worn path from Chelston to Torquay, the Western’s.  Grandee, Ian though in the twilight of his playing career played for the lower XIs before concentrating on the maintenance of the club’s facilities and becoming an umpire.  Ultimately he became Club president.  Wife, Sandra, caught the scoring bug but please don’t ask her about Play Cricket!  Son, Tim opened the batting for the 1st XI, with a few interludes, for more years then he would like to be reminded of, and has become a Level 3 Coach.  So not to become a cricket widow, Tim’s wife, Vanessa became Club Secretary and also became a vital member or Team Baker in the kitchen.  Their youngest son, Bobby, who came to the ground less than 24 hours old (surely a record), is now following in the family tradition and starting his coaching pathway.

Though not so well known, at the same time, a young Ian Baker, was cutting his teeth in terms of cricket at Kingskerswell CC – his parent’s house just a stone’s throw from the ground.  Since joining Torquay CC thanks to Roger Mann (see below), a whole book could be written on the involvement of his family including in-laws.

The arrival of Roger Mann behind the scenes in 1991 was certainly an interesting time.  Roger a traditionalist in many respects and an extremely respected cricket historian, was a man before his time in many respects especially in terms of finances and player acquisition – things he suggested and tried to implement back then are now seen as the norm now,

Festival Cricket returned to The Rec in 1994 after 36 years – the show case match being the last first class match held in Devon (and a fair chance the last one ever) between the Minor Counties and South Africa.  Local folk law though will always remember the club’s very own Phil Bradford in the other two matches – hitting Pat Pocock out of the Old England XIs attack and also despatching the then England spinner Peter Such onto the roof of the rugby club bar (in a Testimonial Match for of all players, John Childs, Kingskerswell’s most famous son).

Around this time also learning his trade in the lower XIs was a young Vivek Kulkarni (“whatever happened to him”), according to the 3rd XI skipper at the time, Gordon Avery.

The club only ever won back to back titles once in 1996 and 1997 (could / should it have been three – we won’t go there).  After the long baron spell of 14 years, it was a case in 1996 of “it’s coming home” and it finally did!  The following year the title was retained at the former home of the club, Cricketfield Road, a title tinged with sadness as within hours the then Patron of Gloucestershire CCC, Princess Diana, was dead.

Whilst the rain in 1996 could have derailed the pursuit of the title, the 1997 title was almost derailed because of a collapsed culvert.  Just days before a vital league match, Devon were playing a minor counties match and a culvert collapsed at square leg nearly swallowing up umpire, Dave Lea.  Neil Ekers, now the club’s own grounds person, and his team from Torbay Council, worked a miracle and just days later the 1st XI were able to play at home.

Around the turn of the New Millennium, for one season a midweek league was formed – with Chelston CC pulling off a famous victory over Torquay.  Whilst the league only lasted one season it was the prelude to the Torbay T20 League, the brain child of Messrs Loxton and Stephens – the crowds in the early years before such leagues became the norm where reminiscent of those in the heyday of club cricket.  One of the later editions of the event saw future England Lion, Sonny Baker, make his debut as an emergency 12th player, aged just 12 (his Devon U12s debut had only been the previous Sunday), after Matt Petherbridge decided to collide with Josh Hunt, with the latter coming off the worse.

It is well known about the Great Escapes of Torquay United but in 2008 the club had one to rival any of those by the football club.  On 7th April news broke that if the club even survived relegation was a certainty.  Step forward Justin Yau and over the eighteen weeks of the season a team of boys grew into a team of men and the miracle of survival resulted.  The Evo part of the story is another story altogether but he does share his birthday with Justin, yes you guessed it 7th April!

History was surely made at Lords in 2011.  The club had a representative for Cambridge University in both the men’s and women’s, in the form of Matt Hickey and Ellie Fielding.  Ellie had already made club history in 2008 by skippering the 2nd XI it the club’s hour of need – her sporting talent across multiple sports is another whole story in itself, including on the road and the water.

We have all heard “The Summer of 69”, but the club had “The Summer of 15” – 2015.  The club achieved the first Triple Crown in the DCL with all three XIs winning their respective leagues – could the merged club do the quadruple one day!  One of the crucial signings for the 1st XI in 2015 was a young fast bowler, Kazi Szymanski, who joined from Chelston and Kingskerswell CC.

Just like with Chelston CC (and then Chelston and Kingskerswell CC) which have been documented already, many people had links with both the club and Kingskerswell CC.  Rob Dickinson (a descendant of “Mr Torquay Cricket Club”), the Haly brothers, Paul Harding and two generations of the Lear family.  However, it would be wrong not to make mention of Bert Mitchell, nicknamed “Lord Mitchell” by some, who especially after hanging up his white coat would quietly hold “court” at both clubs, especially at The Rec in his last years – it didn’t seem the same on his passing.

The last decade for the club was cruel in many ways with the ruinous decision for the 2nd XI not to travel to North Devon in 2017 and a whole new generation of colts lost to the Covid Years.  However, whilst many clubs might smirk at the merger it certainly won’t be the last, and whilst the merger with C&K is bedded in others will be scrambling around for one with changes in population.