By Richard Coleman

Cricket: the game that brought a village together
 
Local side revived for its first season since  second world war
 
SO FAR this season, Etchingham and Fontridge Cricket Club has a record of played two, lost two. But the club can be forgiven for being a little rusty considering it had not turned out for the small mater of 67 years.
Etchingham had an active cricket team up until 1939, but that was brought to an abrupt end by the outbreak of the second world war. The seriousness of the peril facing Britain meant the pleasures of a gentle game of cricket had to be suspended and the cricket field was ploughed up to aid the war effort.
But when peace finally came six years later, the cricket field was not returned to its original use and the village lost a sporting tradition.
None of which Anthony Burke, a resident, knew as he sat chatting to fellow villager Mike Shillabeer on the train up to London earlier in the year.
"We began to talk about things that were missing from Etchingham as a village: one was a pub, and I said a cricket team. I'm originally from Lancashire where every village has a cricket team but Etchingham didn't have one."
"I then did some research and found out there was a cricket team up until 1939."
Burke tracked down the only surviving member of the original team, villager Lionel Dengate, now in his 90s, who still had photographs from his playing days. Dengate, who had been club secretary in the 1930s, was able to fill him in about the cricket field not being returned to its former use.
Suitably inspired, Burke and Shillabeer resolved to bring the club back into existence. In February they held their first meeting and posted flyers to see whether there was enough interest among villagers to be able to put out a side.
The response was emphatic and everything spiralled from there with several comments that this should have been done years ago.
Necessary roles such as secretary and treasurer were filled and paperwork completed to enable the group to be officially recognised as a club.
Training days were held, with Robertsbridge Cricket Club helping out, and fixtures booked.
Lionel Dengate even agreed to serve as Honorary Club President. A further link to the club's past was secured when Matt Neve ran in to bowl the first ball in the club's first match.
"Some people played at school and then never touched a cricket bat for years, others are just starting."
Anthony Burke
 
 
His grandfather had been the man to bowl Etchingham and Fontridge's final delivery before the war brought an enforced end to its fixtures in 1939.
With more players to cram in to the team than places available, Etchingham is using a rotation policy to ensure everyone gets a game. No one is fussed about the lack of a win - when you've waited 67 years for a game, you are just glad to play.
As for the current crop of players, Burke says: "The team is all taken from the village and is very mixed. Our youngest is studying for his AS Levels and the oldest players are in their 50s. Some people played at school and then never touched a cricket bat for years, others are just starting."
Seeing the interest the club has generated, he said he feels sorry for the "lost generation" of villagers who have not had the opportunity to play for their local side all these years.
So what has he learned in the process of reforming the club?
He says it is a question he was asked by the parish council recently, adding: "The biggest thing is it has brought together a group of about 20 people who didn't know each other very well at all.
"Some knew some individuals but for the first couple of net sessions I was introducing people even though we all live in the same village.
"Up North we say hello to everyone but in Etchingham there are different pockets in the village - people who go to church, people who go to the social club, people who commute. The cricket club has brought all those people together. It's been amazing.
"The other thing has been the tremendous support from the village with people going to watch games. The car park at Mountfield was overflowing with cars and if we had home games I reckon we'd be getting half the village down there, certainly while it's still a novelty."
The club's biggest problem, says Burke, is that it has nowhere to play home matches. The original pitch - still referred to as the Cricket Field - remains agricultural land, lying fallow at the moment so all the newly-revived club's fixtures this year are away which means added expense.
But that has not stopped Etchingham's born-again cricketers drawing up a five-year development plan to establish the club.
"The main thing we want is to get the youth section going," says Burke. "This year we have been targeting six to 11 year olds - we need a youth team to feed the senior team. Players like me, at 52, we should be letting others play.
"And we want to get some women involved - not as tea makers, as players - but unless we start them at six to 11 we are not going to get them so that's why we've targeted Etchingham School.
"Flimwell have got quite a good youth team, as have Robertsbridge. At the end of the day we haven't got nets or facilities to offer them but we have got our enthusiasm."
 
Copyright, Courier Newspapers 2006
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