FEATURE: Well batted! Ton-up for Northampton cricket club Saints

There have been many, many centuries notched up at Northampton Saints Cricket Club over the years - but none have been quite as special as the one being celebrated this summer.

That's because the Birchfield Road East club is celebrating its centenary - with a special Cricket Week being staged to mark the occasion in style from next Monday.

As the popularity of cricket grew in the first quarter of the 20th century, Saints CC was actually founded in 1921, with the team linked to the already well established Northampton Saints RFC.

Much of the cricket being played at the time was on local parks, with the Racecourse having been a popular venue since as early as 1820.

Playing surfaces at these venues were always a hot topic of conversation, and clubs with their own facilities became ever more popular.

Saints were lucky in that they were already well established at the Birchfield Road East ground they still call home to this day, and the club started to go from strength to strength.

As time went on, talented cricketers emerged, players such as Mick Allen, Lynn Wilson and Guy Pollard, and they became mainstays of the club, helping to bring success to the Saints.

But it wasn't all about men's cricket, as a dedicated junior section was also established thanks to the vision of Peter Lord, and young cricketers of all ages still get to enjoy their cricket at Saints today.

More on that later.

Saints' teams had always been competitive, but it was from 1970s through to the 1990s when the club enjoyed its 'golden era'.

The team were a dominant force in the Central Cricket League, winning the title on many occasions, and they also enjoyed regular triumphs in the Northants County KO Cup (which was better known as the ‘Manns Cup’).

The Central League consisted of clubs based in Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Derbyshire and that meant there was plenty of travelling required.

Saints were also strong performers in the National KO Club Cup, regularly reaching the latter stages of a competition that attracted the cream of the country’s club cricketers.

The Central League days were ended with the England & Wales Cricket Board's decision to formulate a Premier League-driven set up across the country, broadly following the first class County structure.

That resulted in Saints joining the newly formed Northants Cricket League (NCL) which evolved from the old Northamptonshire County League.

In the Central League days, league and cups triumph were common under the inspirational captaincy of former Middlesex player Keith Jones, and then, following ‘Jonah’s’ retirement, the successes continued under Ian Kilsby – a product of the club’s junior programme.

Saints also maintained a team in the old Town League, and there were appearances in the Garnett Cup Final, a long-running midweek competition of 15 eight-ball overs.

The move into the NCL saw plenty of changes at Saints, but the club won the NCL Premier Division title under the captaincy of Glenn Thompson in 1997.

For the next decade, Saints would continue compete at the top end of the NCL and would also to claim regular successes in the NCL Cup, now a 20-over competition.

The club continues to run four teams for adult cricket, but pre-pandemic the difficult decision was to withdraw the first team from the Premier Division.

This was done for a number of reasons, but the key one was wanting to bring the club closer to its junior sections which is now evident with all of the sides heavily consisting of ex and current junior players.

The first team is currently flying high at the top of NCL Division Three – so that climb back to the premier division could already be underway!

The club has had magnificent support over the years from many volunteers.

Mick Allen continues his involvement which has ranged from junior to player to coach to chairman and chairman/steward.

Lynn Wilson was fundamental in building and shaping the club, and his leadership has passed on via Guy Pollard to Brian Thompson, the club's current president.

Away from the senior teams, the club is immensely proud of its junior section.

Since being set up in the early 1970s by Peter Lord, Saints have always been strong performers at youth age-groups of all ages, and that continues to this day.

The inclusive approach to all abilities has seen interest from around the county to join the club.

All of the current adult teams are infused with juniors who have come through the age groups.

The junior section runs sessions and teams ranging from All Stars starting at five years old through to Under-19s - with the U19s winning the County tournament in 2021 under the leadership of Ollie Chamberlain.

And as the club enters the second century of its existence, the aim continues to bring through the next generation of Saints.

Some of those young players will be playing their part in the celebratory Cricket Week that will be staged at the Saints from next Monday through to Friday.

The first match on Monday (July 25) will be a junior inter-club game involving multiple age-groups with the action starting at 2pm.

Youngsters will also be the centre of attention on Tuesday (July 26) as the club hosts a cricket camp throughout the day – which will be backed by this year’s new club sponsors, Cinch.

The day will see various coaching camps staged for different age groups designed for their enjoyment and development.

On Wednesday (July 27), a Saints XI will take on Northampton Chiefs from 11am, before another Saints XI take on NCL side and near neighbours Bold Dragoon on Thursday (start 11am).

The week is wrapped up on Friday when an inter-club game will see a Saints President’s XI take on the Chairman’s XI, with the start time again 11am.

The clubhouse bar will be open each day, and there will also be a BBQ fired up every day as well.

All are welcome to go along to join in the centenary celebrations.

Beeding ground for stars...

Thousands of players will have represented the Saints over the past 100 years, but it's fair to say some have had a bit more ability that others!

The club has attracted many players with either first-class experience or professional ambitions.

Ray Swann moved to the club in the early 1980s and was a top performer over many years, but he was also followed into the Saints teams by his two sons Alec and Graeme.

Both would go on to achieve great things in the game, with Graeme representing England, Northants and Nottnghamshire, and Alec playing for Northants and Lancashire.

Graeme even played for the club when he was an established England player.

The Swanns took over the mantle of representing Saints at County level from another Saint, Russell Warren.

Warren progressed from Saints U10s to first team and then on to a long first-class career at Northants and then Notts.

The skipper of the all-conquering team of the 70s and 80s was former Middlesex all-rounder Keith Jones, and other Saints men who have played at professional level include Duncan Wild (Northants), Rob Bailey (Northants & England), Richard Ashton (Northants), Michael Davies (Northants, Leicestershire, Essex), Neil Stanley (Northants), Richard Stemp (Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Notts, Leicestershire, England), Blair Hartland (Canterbury & New Zealand) and Andy Oram (Notts).

And to bring things right up to date, current Northants opener Emilio Gay had a successful stint at Saints in 2019.