Bedfordshire county cricket will return to Bedford Cricket Club for the first time in ten years as they face Cambridgeshire tomorrow (Sunday, 16 Jun).
The two sides will meet to play a Twenty20 match from 11am at the The Bury, the home of Bedford Cricket Club, on Church Lane just behind Goldington Green.
Cricket at the former Bedford town club has had a shaky time over the past few years after Bedford Town Cricket Club folded in 2006.
Bedford Town Cricket Club was one of the premier amateur clubs in the country from the 1950s to 70s.
As a result, the club had numerous players who represented the county with even the second team having minor county cricketers turning out hoping to impress first team selectors.
The newly reformed and renamed Bedford Cricket Club, however, has emerged and grown from strength to strength from basic grass roots to, once again, becoming one of the senior clubs in the county.
The return of county games to The Bury marks a mile-stone in the rebirth of Bedford’s long cricketing history.
Bedford Town moved to The Bury in the 1960s from its former home on Newnham Avenue.
Bedfordshire County had played home games there on a regular basis and even hosted Minor Counties matches.
These included them playing Australia in 1964 and a Somerset v Bedfordshire team including Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Joel Garner in 1982.
President of Bedfordshire County Cricket Club and Bedford Cricket Club, Russell Beard, says the match will be a great day for all: “The facilities, playing surface and club stability are as good as they have ever been and it is a return to a great and long standing relationship between Bedford and Bedfordshire cricket clubs.”
Entry is free and anyone can come along to watch the match from 11am at Church Lane, Bedford. Full details at the Bedford CCC website.
