Dymock Cricket Club was formed in 1865 and its early home fixtures were played in the field opposite the Plough Inn (now the Beauchamp Arms) in the centre of the village. In the early years, matches were played against The Crypt School, Newent, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Bosbury, Kempley and other local teams (some no longer in existence). The first 5 wicket haul was claimed by James Cummings versus Weston in 1870 and Henry Hill was the first player to score a 50 for the club when he compiled 69 in the 1st innings and 63 in the second against Kempley in 1886. For some unknown reason, Cricket in Dymock ceased in 1888, but then the club restarted in the 1890’s with a new committee.
Dymock CC 1910
The club then moved to temporary grounds at Longbridge and a field opposite The Grange, until making a permanent home at The Pound in around 1920 (formerly an animal pound or enclosure, used to hold livestock on the way to market). The Pound was owned by the Cowls family and was leased to the club until ownership was passed to the Chew family in 1932. They continued to lease the ground until it was bought in instalments, the final payment being made in 1946.
In 1938, Dymock played a local fixture versus Much Marcle, which became the first village cricket match to be broadcast on the radio.
Dymock CC 1938
Dymock mainly played “friendly” fixtures against other local teams on a declaration basis rather than a set amount of overs. This continued until 1979, when Dymock entered the Herefordshire Cricket League. A second XI was added in 1981, before the 1st XI moved to the old Gloucestershire Country League in 1983. The second XI left the Herefordshire league in the early 1990’s to join the 1st XI in the Gloucestershire league.
There have been many outstanding individual performances over the years. In 1927, Billy Hodges took 63 wickets over the duration of the season, including 5 x 5 wicket hauls. The first recorded century was by The Reverend Eric Gethyn-Jones, who scored 159 against the Gloucester Gypsies in the 1950’s. In modern time, Ken Smallman (twice), Brian Morgan and Richard Hall have all taken 9 wickets in an innings and Nick Hill holds the current batting record with 223 not out against Bosbury in 1996 and another 200 not out versus Redmarley in 1995.
The highest team score is the 372 for 6 that Dymock posted against St. Stephens in 2014, narrowly beating the 371 for 2 scored against Bosbury in 1996! The highest batting partnership was 303 between Nick Hill and Peter Dobson for the 2nd wicket against Bosbury in that record breaking encounter of August 1996.
In 2015, Dymock Cricket Club celebrated 150 years of cricket in the Village and building commenced on a new pavilion at the beginning of 2016, here’s to at least another 150 years of Cricket!