About the Club

Sponsored by

Powell's Shopfitters, Andover

Home of, The Lion & The Tree.

(For directions to the ground, which is on the corner of Batchelor's Barn Rd and London Rd, click on the names above.)

To be kept informed of when new features are added to this web site e-mail info at andovercricketclub.co.uk please put the words 'web enquiry' into the subject box. Thanks

Andover is a town in north west Hampshire (England) near to the Wiltshire Border, with a population of around 35,000.

The cricket club has been established since Circa 1865. The home ground is leased from Test Valley Borough Council, from whom the Club also receives generous support.

In 1973 the club became a founder member of the Hampshire League and played its first County Division One League fixture on May 12 1973 away at Hartley Wintney.& won by 99 runs. Batting first, Andover scored 186 for 7 (Wallace 45,Ellwood 28, Peacock 38, Sangster 31, Coleman 22*) . Hartley Wintney 87( Williams 15.1 overs 5 maidens 3 for 31 Sangster 4 wickets & 3 run outs. Andover led the league early season but suffered 2 defeats against Portsmouth & Southsea on Aug 4 & New Milton on Aug 11. Despite taking maximum points Against St Cross in the last match Andover finished 13 points adrift of New Milton both having played 13 matches in a 14 club league.

Andover were to be runners-up the following year. From then, until accepting an invitation to join the Southern League in 1986, Andover were ever present in the top division of the Hampshire League. Membership of the Southern League lasted until 1994, when in controversial circumstances, Andover were relegated back to the Hampshire League.

This was a period of rejuvenation for the Club and their fortunes were restored at the end of 1997 when promotion back to the Southern League was achieved. Since then Andover have continued to perform well in the Southern League. At the end of 1999 club cricket in southern England was re-organized into three divisions: Gold, Silver, Bronze; to comprise the Southern League. The Hampshire League became four 'County' division, supplemented by regional divisions - East 1,2 &3, West 1,2&3. Membership of the Southern League depended on certain factors being taken into consideration apart from simple playing record, ground condition, established colts section etc. Andover were delighted to be invited to join the Gold Division and thus become a member of the top ten elite clubs in central southern England. This ended yet again in controversial circumstances when Andover were relegated to the Silver Division on accreditation issues in 2005

On Saturdays Andover put out five teams. The 1st X1 play in the Gold League and the 2nd X1 XI play in the Bronze League of the ECB Southern League. The 3rd X1 in County Div. 2, 4th X1 in West Div. 2 and the 5th X1 in North West Div. 3. There are two grounds at London Rd. On Saturdays the 1st & 2nd XIs play on the No1 ground whilst the 3rd and 4ths play on No2. The 5th XI play at the Charlton Recreation Centre.

London Rd No2

On Sundays there are two teams playing mainly friendly cricket except for nine weekends when the 1st & 2nd X1s play in the Border League (est. 1999).

1st X1 Cpt: R. Miller, 2nd X1 Cpt: A. Hooper, 3rd X1 Cpt: A. McMahon, 4th X1 Cpt: J.S. Baxter, 5th X1 Cpt: P. Knight.

There are strong ties with Hampshire County Cricket Club through Chairman, Rod Bransgrove, a Vice - President of Andover CC, and an annual match which sees Robin Smith (Hampshire and England) bring a team to play against Andover during our Cricket Week (week beginning August 20th).

Reports of matches are published weekly in the Andover Advertiser, who also sponsor two 1st X1 matches each year.

Town Web Site

The Andover Town Central web site has provided a link through to our own web site. If you would like to visit the Andover Central web site and learn more about the town of Andover click HERE

If you wish to hear more or are interested in joining Andover Cricket Club e-mail

info at andovercricketclub.co.uk

CONSTITUTION You can now read a full version of the constitution of Andover Cricket Club HERE.

Thanks are due to Giles Davis for help with the construction of this web site which is updated regularly by John Baxter.