Hubby and I will be driving around the countryside in England for 2 weeks in April. We will start in Salisbury, plan to go to Cornwall, then are “wandering” on from there. We have no set itinerary, the only goal is to enjoy what we consider “quintessentially” British things; one of those things is Cricket. What we would like to do is find a “village green” cricket kind of experience. I have searched online for any clue to “seasons” etc. Any suggestions or direction, much appreciated.
Arkansas Vagabonds
Posted by
Land of La
9261 posts
Season begins in April.
Watched a cricket match in Lyme Regis ages ago.
Posted by
Preston UK
1232 posts
The professional County Championship starts on 5th April this year. However Cornwall and Devon do not have full time professional teams. The nearest professional team is Somerset and they only have one fixture in April, a 4 day game at Taunton on 19th April.
Amateur “village” cricket will probably not start until later in April. Village in this context can be anything from a tiny community up to a town or small city. I would doubt that you will find any local games until at least the middle of April and even then only on Saturdays and Sundays.
Posted by
OP
Arkansas
28 posts
Thank you Johnew52. This is great news! We will be starting our trip mid-April, perfect. I would imagine we can find out specifics at the local pub? Thanks again!
Posted by
Bristol, UK
1454 posts
Try searching for cricket clubs on google maps in the areas you’ll be in. Village cricket is a very amateur, social hobby type of activity and there are cricket clubs everywhere so it won’t be hard to find one. Matches will only be at weekends.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7939 posts
Have seen amateur cricket in Central Park, New York City.
Posted by
OP
Arkansas
28 posts
Thank you, Helen! That is great info. Tim, we have amateur cricketers even here in Arkansas, we just saw them playing this last Sunday. Looking forward to having the time to just sit and enjoy watching. All info much appreciated!
Posted by
Preston UK
1232 posts
A quick google finds details of Cornwall cricket league’s fixtures - https://ccl.play-cricket.com/website/attachments/download_file?attachment_id=212071&owner_id=44684
The season starts on 13th April and the first 4 Saturdays are taken up with a T20 competition. This would be ideal for anyone new to the game, as it’s quite quick - the game should be over in about 3.5 hours and fairly easy to follow what’s going on. Purists will decry it as taking out much of the real skill in cricket and that’s true but that will be for you to learn as your knowledge increases.
Posted by
OP
Arkansas
28 posts
Wonderful, this is very helpful, thank you!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33994 posts
a T20 is a good idea - particularly if time is short or you'd like to see a lot of bashing balls about