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Colne Cricket Club is a
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
club who play in the Lancashire League, which plays its home games at The Horsfield in
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...
. For the 2022 season, their club captain is Tom Bradshaw, their 2nd XI captain is Martin Kegg, their 3rd XI captain is Thomas Ellacott and their T20 captain is also Tom Bradshaw. Their professional is Geeth Kumara of Sri Lanka. The club has won the league on five occasions and won the cup six times, achieving a league and cup double in 1959. It has employed professionals including Amar Singh,
Bill Alley William Edward Alley (3 February 1919  – 26 November 2004) was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI. Whilst in Australia, Alley was also a middleweight boxer, and was undefe ...
,
Joe Scuderi Joseph Charles Scuderi (born 24 December 1968) is a professional cricketer. From a young age through school he showed much potential to become a great cricketing prospect as a much respected all-rounder, later being inducted into the Australi ...
and
Collis King Collis Llewellyn King (born 11 June 1951) is a former West Indies first-class cricketer who played nine Test matches and 18 One Day Internationals for the West Indies cricket team between 1976 and 1980. Born in Christ Church, Barbados, King pl ...
.


History

The club was founded in 1830, making it the oldest club in the Lancashire League and among the oldest in the area. The club folded after around ten years but was reformed in 1848, soon employing its first professional and playing its first recorded matches against other clubs. The club folded again in 1854 before reforming once more in 1860, folding in 1871 and reforming again in 1874. In the years following the club attracted crowds in the thousands and began charging for admission, employing two full-time professionals. In 1891 Colne CC became founder members of the North East Lancashire Cricket League, which became the Lancashire League the following season. Colne finished as runners up in the first season but experienced no similar success in the 19th century. In 1898 the club president Richard Sager who had been intimately involved in every incarnation of the club died. The early 20th century saw success for Colne, winning the league in 1902, 1905 and 1910 and finishing second on three further occasions, losing a 1903 title play-off to local rivals
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
. The 1904 match with Nelson drew a crowd of 10,000 to the Horsfield. When the league resumed after the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Colne found little success, though the club did twice win the Worsley Cup in 1919 and 1924. In 1921 Colne played a match against probably the strongest side ever to play on the Horsfield - a
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
team containing seven
test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
players, losing by 22 runs. In 1935 Colne employed its first ever overseas professional, Amar Singh. He was seen as a rival to
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
's
Learie Constantine Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, (21 September 19011 July 1971) was a West Indian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black pe ...
and his arrival caused the club's gate receipts and membership to double. Also that year Colne played against the largest crowd ever to watch the team. 14,000 people watched the fixture with Nelson at Seedhill which ended in a tie after Amar Singh took Nelson's last wicket with the scores level. In 1948 Colne almost completed a league and cup double, winning the Worsley Cup and finishing second in the league by one point after falling just five runs short of victory in their final league match. Colne's professional in this period was
Bill Alley William Edward Alley (3 February 1919  – 26 November 2004) was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI. Whilst in Australia, Alley was also a middleweight boxer, and was undefe ...
who became the first player to score 1000 runs in a season for Colne, which he did in five successive seasons, the only player to achieve this feat in the Lancashire League's history. He went on to play for Blackpool and joined Somerset CCC at 38 Years of age setting records there and being the last player to score 3000 runs in a season, retiring at 49 to umpire at Test level. The club's fortunes declined after this point and in 1957 Colne finished bottom of the league for the first time.Post-War history
International players could not join County teams and many came to play League cricket to gain experience of playing conditions for later tours and some gained residency to play for Counties. Learie Constantine, Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, Lance Gibbs, Charlie Griffiths, Wesley Hall and Ray Lindwall are just a few who would visit Horsfield. Colne could not afford these and depended on talent spotters suggesting younger players. In 1959, an inexperienced Colne team completed the League and Cup double with a Celonese (Sri Lankan) professional Stanley Jayasinghe, who outscored Everton Weekes to 1000 runs. Colne were victorious over
Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...
in the Worsley Cup final and won the final match of the season at Todmorden to take the title ahead of
Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...
and Nelson. Jayasinghe went on to play county cricket for several years with Leicester CCC The club won the cup again in 1969 but achieved no further success for thirty years. The late eighties and early nineties were particularly difficult for Colne, with the club finishing bottom of the league in five out of six seasons and at one point winning just three matches over two seasons. The club has moved forwards since the mid nineties. Financial stability enabled Colne to employ better professionals including
Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football * Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...
who scored a league record 1,716 runs in the 1996 season. In 1999 the club again won the Worsley Cup, beating East Lancs. in a match which went down to the last ball. By the end of the 20th century Colne were regularly finishing towards the top of the table, though this performance has declined in the 21st. However, a fantastic 2019 season saw Colne win the Division 2 Lancashire League table. This meaning Colne were the first ever team to win the second division title after the split at the end of the 2018 season. A fantastic season by professional James Price of South Africa followed by some dominant individual performances by the amateurs throughout the season meant Colne led the table from the first day to the end. Despite being favourites to finish bottom of the second division, Colne defied all odds to be crowned champions on the last day at Enfield. Colne amateur players who have gone on to play County Cricket include Alan Wharton 1945 - 61 Lancashire and Leicester 1961 - 1963 ( 2 England caps in 1949) http://www.pcboard.com.pk/Archive/Players/0/857/857.html and Andrew Kennedy 1970 - 82 and the then Minor Counties side Durham. Andrew was 1975 Cricket writers young cricketer of the year


Ground

Colne play at the Horsfield in the east of Colne. This has been the club's home since its early years and has seen crowds of 10,000 people. A new pavilion was built in 1888 and this remained unaltered through much of twentieth century before being replaced in 1965 at the cost of £10,000. This structure was destroyed in a fire in 1974 and a new pavilion was built. This remains in use today, though it was extended in 2001.Colne CC history


Honours

*1st XI League Winners - 5 - 1902, 1905, 1910, 1959, 2019 *Worsley Cup Winners - 7 - 1919, 1924, 1948, 1959, 1969, 1999, 2010 *Ron Singleton Colne Trophy Winners - 1 - 2000 (shared) *2nd XI League Winners - 7 - 1904, 1905, 1914, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1965 *2nd XI (Lancashire Telegraph) Cup Winners - 1 - 1996


References


External links


Official website
at lancashireleague.com {{Authority control Lancashire League cricket clubs Sport in the Borough of Pendle Cricket clubs established in 1830 English club cricket teams Colne 1830 establishments in England