Stony Stratford Cricket Club – the only ECB Premier Division club in Milton Keynes, North Bucks and South Northants. Stony Stratford Cricket Club was officially founded in 1898 and we have been based at our current location, off Ostler’s Lane, for the vast majority of that time. Our traditional, wooden cricket pavilion was opened in 1932 and still serves the club well today, although it has been updated and extended a number of times since then.
The cricket club became a focal point of town life in the first half of the 20th century and generations of local families have played for or been involved with the club ever since. Like many clubs, ours was built on a tradition of playing friendly cricket. That’s not to say that we weren’t competitive – far from it. Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, we established a reputation for being one of the most competitive sides in the area, despite not playing any league cricket.
It was the great sides of this era that established ‘Stony’ as one of the stronger sides in the Milton Keynes / North Bucks area. By 1981, the lure of league cricket had become impossible to ignore and the members voted to enter a 1st and 2nd XI into the Northants County League (now the Northants Cricket League structure).
After firmly establishing ourselves in the league during the 1980’s, the 1990’s saw both sides promoted through the divisions. At the same time, the membership was growing fast and a 3rd XI was added, playing in the Northants Alliance (which latterly merged with the NCL). In 1997, the 1st XI were promoted the Premier Division of the County League and after a couple of near misses, we were crowned Premier Division champions for the first time in our history in 2001. As a result, the club were promoted to the Northants Cricket Championship, which held ECB Premier Division status and which was home to some very strong sides from Northants, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
A couple of years later, the Championship merged with the old County League, the Northants Combination and the Northants Alliance to form the Northants Cricket League (NCL). We took our place as founder members in the top flight and we have maintained our position in the Premier Division of the NCL ever since. We are proud to be the only club in the Milton Keynes & North Bucks / South Northants area to currently have ECB Premier Division status and as such we can genuinely offer the highest standard of cricket in the area.
As the club continued to grow and the standard of cricket continued to improve, we began to look for talent from further afield. Since 1998, we have had several overseas players who have brought with them great experience and coaching that we have all benefited from. All of these players have had first class cricket experience in their home countries and most recently, we have been captained by former Zimbabwe test star Dion Ebrahim. Others to have represented SSCC are former Tasmania and Australian under 19 all rounder Shannon Tubb, West Indian test fast bowler Dwight Washington and Border wicket keeper / batsman Abongile Sodumo.
The 2nd XI were promoted to Division 3 in 2008 and three successive promotions have seen the 3rd XI promoted to Division Six for the 2010 season. Due to increased demand for places in our Saturday sides, particularly from our junior members, a 4th XI was formed in 2008, competing in the Four Counties Cricket League. In 2009, a very young 4th XI won promotion as runners up in Division 6. As well as four Saturday sides, the club fields two Sunday XI’s who play in the Milton Keynes Sunday League. In 2009, the 2nd XI gained promotion from Division 3 as champions.
We still manage to play the occasional Sunday friendly, but like many clubs, the bulk of our season is now devoted to league cricket both on a Saturday and Sunday. Whilst the vast majority of the cricket we play these days is competitive, the club still maintains the ethos on which it was built, offering cricket for players of all standards in a friendly, sociable environment.
Junior Cricket
The club is dedicated to the development of our young players and we believe that youth cricket plays an integral part in ensuring the clubs future. The youth section has expanded significantly in recent years and has enjoyed great success in local competitions of late. There are now over 130 youth cricketers who regularly receive training from ECB qualified coaches within the club and we currently field sides from Under 8's through to Under 16's. The junior teams are in the Bucks Cricket Board League and Cups.
The junior section has been one of the club’s great success stories of recent years and we are now regularly producing young players who are going on to play representative county age group cricket, as well as senior cricket on a Saturday. We are dedicated to offering quality coaching for as many local boys and girls as we can.
Cricket at Stony Stratford CC
Our cricket calendar begins in January when the players begin to practice indoors in preparation for the forthcoming season. Our pre-season preparations include the Stony Stratford Cricket Club Tour to Mallorca every March, which is now in it’s 12th year. Weather permitting, we practise outside during April with the season itself beginning mid to late April.
During the season, seniors practice on Monday and Wednesday evenings, the juniors are on the field on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and on Saturday and Sunday afternoons the club hosts the weekend league & friendly matches. The club also participates in the NCL Twenty20 cup knockout cup which is held on weekday evenings and hosts or takes part in a couple of high profile Twenty20 friendly matches each summer. As mentioned above, the club puts out six sides at the weekend:
More about Stony Stratford CC
Stony Stratford Cricket Club has gained an accreditation known as "Clubmark". Clubmark is a Sport England national charter standard for all sporting clubs to illustrate that they are an effective, well managed and child friendly club.
The club is fortunate to receive an extensive amount of coverage in the local press both in Milton Keynes and Northants. You can read match reports and get up to date information on SSCC in the MK Citizen, MK News and the Northampton Chronicle and Echo. We’re also fortunate enough to receive the help of many local businesses and club members can receive a discount in a number of these establishments.
Like all good cricket clubs, SSCC is not just about batting and bowling on a Saturday afternoon. The club prides itself on making players and non-players alike welcome. In addition to the cricket, there is an extensive calendar of events throughout the summer, such as the annual pig roast, race nights, Stony Gift (fun races). The club bar (with Sky TV) is busy most nights of the week, with weekend evenings being particularly busy. If you’re new to the area, joining a club like ‘Stony’ with a thriving social side is a great way to meet new people – new members are always welcome and you can join at any time of the year.
Anyone who would like more information about Stony Stratford CC can email cricket@stonystratfordcc.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.