Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club in

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. It was founded in 1782 and they play their home matches at the

Nevill Ground The Nevill Ground is a cricket ground at Royal Tunbridge Wells in the English county of Kent. It is owned by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and is used by Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club in the summer months and by Tunbridge Wells Hockey Club in t ...

. As of 2019 they play in the

Kent Cricket League The Kent Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Kent, England. The league was founded in 1970 and the first season of play was 1971. The twelve founding clubs were Ashford, Aylesford Paper Mills, Dart ...

Premier Division.

History

Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club was founded in 1782. They first started playing cricket on the

Higher Common Ground Higher Common Ground is a cricket ground on Tunbridge Wells Common in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. It was used as a ground by Kent County Cricket Club in the 19th century and is the home ground of Linden Park Cricket Club. The gr ...

in Tunbridge Wells. In 1882, to commemorate their centenary, they played a match against

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

In 1895, Tunbridge Wells CC purchased a lease alongside Bluemantle's Cricket Club from

William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny William Nevill, 1st Marquess of Abergavenny (16 September 1826 – 12 December 1915), styled Viscount Neville between 1845 and 1868 and known as The Earl of Abergavenny between 1868 and 1876, was a British peer. Background and education He was ...

to establish a cricket ground. As a result, the Nevill Ground was established on a 99-year lease and named after the Marquess. In 1902,

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

started playing annually at the Nevill Ground, which became

Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week is a festival of cricket during which Kent County Cricket Club play their home matches at Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club's Nevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Games held during it are considered some of Kent's most po ...

1913 fire

In 1913 the pavilion, including the club's archives, were destroyed in an arson attack by

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s, as part of a wider campaign to gain respect and votes for women. The choice of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club as a target may have been provoked by a comment from a Kent official who was reported to have said prior to the attack: "It is not true that women are banned from the pavilion. Who do you think makes the teas?" The arsonists left campaign literature and a photograph of activist

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst ('' née'' Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was an English political activist who organised the UK suffragette movement and helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, ''Time'' named her as one of the 100 Most Impo ...

, to draw attention to her incarceration in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, until its closure in 2016. Hist ...

, and the practice of force-feeding her and others, when on hunger strikes. Cricket-loving Sir

Arthur Conan-Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

reacted angrily to the fire in a meeting of The

National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage was founded in London in December 1910 to oppose the extension of the voting franchise to women in the United Kingdom. It was formed as an amalgamation of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League a ...

, dubbing the arsonists “female hooligans” and comparing the attack to “blowing up a blind man and his dog.” The pavilion was rebuilt within nine weeks, in time for the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Week, helped by a series of fund-raising concerts at Royal Tunbridge Wells'

Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

Recent history

In 1970 Tunbridge Wells CC were one of the founder members of the

. Tunbridge Wells CC hosted a

1983 Cricket World Cup The 1983 Cricket World Cup (officially the Prudential Cup '83) was the 3rd edition of the Cricket World Cup tournament. It was held from 9 to 25 June 1983 in England and Wales and was won by India. Eight countries participated in the event. En ...

match between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

where India's

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by ''Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Centu ...

scored 175

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

. They have won the Kent Cricket League three times, most recently in 1988. In 2004 Tunbridge Wells CC were granted by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and ...

the ECB Clubmark. In 2016 Tunbridge Wells made it to the semi-final of the ECB National Club Twenty20. In 2021, they won the ECB National Club Twenty20 and as the T20 club champions of England, were invited to take part in the 2022 European Cricket League where they finished as runners-up.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Cricket in Kent 1782 establishments in England Sport in Royal Tunbridge Wells