Ramblers Rule the Down as Fish and Chips Take a Hit Oundle Ramblers finally broke their eight-year hoodoo at the cradle of cricket, securing their first-ever victory at Broadhalfpenny Down since they began touring here in 2018. After last year’s dismal collapse for 125, the visitors returned with a vengeance, fresh from a sword-swinging weekend where they racked up 290 against the Hampshire Hogs. Brigands, meanwhile, were facing an uphill battle before a ball was even bowled.

Nine men and a boy with links to the theatre and stage arrived at Broadhalfpenny Down to find eleven Brigands with links to a bat and a ball. There were picnics in the shade of the trees, kids with ice lollies, games of Kwik Cricket by the Monument, 80th birthday celebrations, and the sound of champagne corks popping alongside the occasional sound of leather on willow. Club favourite, Nick Harris CB MBE, umpired "both ends". He was seen wiping his brow in sweltering temperat

Hambledon lit the fire, but it took a Yorkshireman to bring cricket to London’s elite. Thomas Lord, bowler turned businessman, dragged the game from a village inn to the heart of the capital, and laid the turf for its future.

"In the spring, cricketers are fresh and eager; ambition within them breaks into bud; new bats and flannels are as chaste as the April winds", Neville Cardus The cricketers arrived on the opening day of the season. There were the keen ones, with oiled bats, ironed whites, and confidence from six weeks in the winter nets. There were the rusty ones, with cricket bags unopened since the last Sunday of the previous September, who discover a solitary batting glove and a pair of s

On match days in the 18th century, cricket at Hambledon was as much about money as runs. For a typical fixture, about 20,000 people would descend on Broadhalfpenny Down, two miles outside the village, arriving with horses from as far away as Reading, Tonbridge Wells and London. The crowd needed feeding and watering, and an entire pop-up economy obliged: tents and banners selling food and drink, punch and pies, and stalls offering bats alongside bookmakers’ ledgers. Tradesmen

The Bat & Ball is closely associated with the history of cricket and part of the charm of Broadhalfpenny Brigands cricket. The pub has spent the start of this year undergoing a refurbishment, and as part of the relaunch, is sponsoring the 2026 Fixture Card. We look forward to pre and post-match refreshments in our favourite pub this Summer.

Pathe News was on hand to capture the famous match between The Eskimos and The Invalids in 1929 ... the match was interrupted by horses...

Local photographer Dan Bennett from Havant, shared this incredible shot of star trails in the night sky that he took at Broadhalfpenny Down. The light from the Bat & Ball helped to illuminate the pavilion, and the camera mounted on a tripod and looking North was, as Dsan describes, on a "particularly cold evening". A beautifully composed shot.

The season closed in style at the Bat & Ball in Hambledon, where a good-humoured crowd gathered for the end-of-season awards dinner....