Community

Our mission is to ensure the long-term future of Broadhalfpenny Down, on which cricket continues to be played for the enjoyment of players, spectators, and the many who make pilgrimages to the ground from all over the world;

We preserve, maintain, and improve the historic cricket ground at Broadhalfpenny Down as a feature of special historical interest and its facilities.
We promote community participation by providing the ground for playing cricket for the benefit of young people, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities and those who might otherwise have limited access to recreational facilities.
We share the history of, and the stories from, the ‘Glory Days of Hambledon’ and the significance of The Hambledon Club in the formation of the game we all love today.

To do this, we raise funds by organising cricket matches and hiring out the ground for events. If you would like to know more, support us, or get involved, please get in touch with one of the Committee from the Contacts page.

We welcome approaches from teams who wish to play at the cradle of cricket; contact the Fixtures Secretary. We welcome new players, of all standards and abilities; we just ask that you love cricket and play in the right spirit.

Our Trustees are; Mike Beardall (Chairman), Dr T Hands, Mark Le Clerq, Richard Green-Wilkinson, Bill Allen, Gerry Northwood (ex-officio)

Our distinguished patrons are; Dr Ali Bacher, JRT Barclay DL, David Gower OBE, Lord Maclaurin of Knebworth DL, The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, Mark Nicholas, The Hon Sir Oliver Popplewell, Sir Tim Rice, Sir Garfield Sobers, Richard Stilgoe OBE DL, CBE, John Woodcock OBE

To stay up to date please follow us on Instagram @cradleofcricket or go to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@cradleofcricket.

Blind & Visually Impaired 2023

ECB Disability Cricket 2023

Commonwealth Games Baton

World Cup roadshow 2019

Hambledon Juniors playing Portsmouth

Hampshire U15 Girls Triangular 2022

Friends

We are grateful to be part of a wonderful cricket-loving community, and indebted to our grounds team for their year-round efforts in preparing wickets to play on. Thank you to Fuller’s for providing our famous London Pride covers.

Two features of cricket at Broadhalfpenny Down are splendid cricket teas (featuring tea bags from our Friends at Yorkshire Tea) and post-match refreshments at the Fuller's Bat and Ball public house and we thank all those who make this such a highlight.

We have strong links with the Marylebone Cricket Club, Hampshire Cricket Board, the Royal Navy, Hambledon CC, and Winchester College. The Barmy Army have given us kit, B3 Cricket designed and made us some lovely cricket bats and artist Jack Russell has captured Broadhalfpenny Down in its glory before, and after, the new pavilion was built.

Our website was built by OMO Design, and Renars Fazlutdinovs designed the Broadhalfpenny Down logo.

Members of The Hambledon Club, Stephen Saunders, Dave Allen, Nina Bates, and Clive Barnett assisted with historical research, shared some lovely photographs, and helped compile a bibliography.

Toby and Jack of Cricket District, and Stuart Palmer, provided drone footage of Broadhalfpenny Down. Ollie and Robbie at Spice Productions have been incredibly generous with their time, capturing the final season of Harry Bates as Honorary Groundsperson on video and turning it into a beautiful story.

Ryan Pierse, Dave Vokes, Dave Bodymore, Kris Newton, Dougie Henderson, Milly Henderson, and Russell Sachs have all provided us with photographs for use on the website. Other images were supplied by supporters or licensed from Pathe, Getty, and Alamy.

Jon Hotten, Elgan Alderman, and Ivo Tennant have all written articles of late about the cradle of cricket, and we have reproduced their words within the website.

Broadhalfpenny Down is a stunning event location, and we have worked closely with Lewis Marquees over the years to create a magical setting for weddings, parties, and private events.

We also thank the support from Sytner Land Rover, Sticky Wicket for the stumps, player of the match prizes from Hambledon Vineyard and Veuve Cliquot.