With 95 years of history, we are one of the oldest and proudest clubs in South Leicestershire. Tucked away on the outskirts of the village of Countesthorpe, we have a hard working committee and a thriving junior section.
Countesthorpe Cricket Club was founded in 1925 and has been playing cricket at Bassett Avenue, Countesthorpe for over fifty years. The Club has always managed to field a senior side but it was only in the Club’s recent history that they have began to provide a junior section for the up and coming cricketing talent to blossom.
The Club has always had an honest and hard working committee who serve the Club well. We are proud of our history and work hard to ensure that the Club is the best it can be.
The Club’s major expansion came in 1991 when the old club house was demolished and a new club house was built from scratch. We were lucky enough to have been granted Lottery funding for this work and we have always been grateful for the support we were given by all those involved in the project. Furthermore, in time for the 2007 season, with the help of members and supporters of the Club, we were able to open our new 2 bay outdoor net practice facility following much work during the closed season. More recently, we were able to complete a changing room extension with the help of South Leicestershire College.
For many years now the Club has managed to field three senior teams that play their cricket on a Saturday afternoon, and after a merger with Gilmorton, the Club now fields four senior league teams.
We are working hard to attract the best players around to ensure that we ultimately achieve our long term goal and secure promotion into the Premier Division. With this goal in mind, the Club has engaged the services of overseas players from around the globe. One outstanding acquisition in our recent history was that of Iain Robertson who has represented New Zealand under 19’s and has played professional cricket for several years. In 2009 he managed to score over 100 runs against England in a one day match. We are proud that we have been able to attract this sort of talent to our Club. We have also secured a number of young talented players from Australia and New Zealand in recent years who have assisted our First Team in challenging for promotion.
Moreover, the Club’s second senior team has managed to perform consistently well over the past years and unfortunately just missed out on promotion during the last few seasons. We also have a third senior team. They have also been challenging for promotion in recent years and have improved their position every year since joining the Everards League. We are proud that we are a big enough club to field three senior sides on a weekly basis. The foundation for this comes from our excellent junior set up.
The Club has provided children with an opportunity to play cricket for many years now. We have a thriving junior section with a range of teams from under 11s and kwik cricket to under 17s. As a Club we are keen to ensure that the children are given the best possible opportunity to develop their passion and talent for the game. We have a conscientious team of junior managers who spend a lot of time coaching our junior sides to ensure that the best cricketers progress into the senior sides. Further, in the 2007 season our Under 13s managed to get to the National Final fighting it out in a knockout tournament format against eight other teams. They eventually managed to come third which evidences how committed we are to nurturing the County’s best cricketing talent. The Club has also produced two players who have progressed to England under 19s level which is further evidence of our coaches commitment and dedication.
The Club is also committed to developing the ladies game and has both ladies and girls teams. These ensure that women can enjoy the game in a female only environment.
In addition to this, the Club is also supporting inclusive cricket and provides coaching for those with learning disabilities giving those individuals to chance to enjoy the wonderful game too. It is not only great for them, but it also provides them parents with some time to relax and enjoy watching their children play the game.
We have a hardworking committee who strive to take the Club from strength to strength. A number of our committee members have been with the Club for years and have continued to be involved event after their playing careers came to an end. We have a wide variety of professions and skills on our committee which has helped us develop and take the club forward in recent years.