Sulhamstead & Ufton - the ambitious local cricket club driven by selfless volunteers
Sulhamstead & Ufton Cricket Club is punching above its weight.
This is a fact which all involved are proud to admit.
With its home situated just off the A4, opposite The Spring Inn pub, the club is easy to miss.
It represents a village of just over a thousand people and employs no permanent staff, but despite this the club competes in the second tier of the Thames Valley Cricket League.
Their first team plays at the same level as Windsor, Aldershot and Binfield, sitting higher than many of the larger towns surrounding them.
Locally, only Falkland boasts a first team which sits higher in the cricketing pyramid than Sulhamstead.
Recent years have seen the club build significant momentum.
The Jack's Booth Ground now holds two excellent pitches, both with hybrid turf to allow for better weather resistance.
The main clubhouse possesses a well stocked bar, next to a digital scoreboard which wouldn’t look out of place at county level.
The grounds are immaculately maintained, largely thanks to the sense of pride which the club’s army of volunteers share.
The club’s figurehead is its president, Major John Steeds, who embodies this sentiment.
A charming and charismatic figure, Steeds regales visitors with stories from his military travels, many of which involve bat and ball.
He was once introduced to Nawab Pataudi, who described his century against Australia that afternoon as “not bad”.
He also played against Richie Benaud and Sir Frank Worrell during an Army vs Navy match in Guyana.
“We are probably one of the most successful and largest village cricket clubs in Southern England,” said Steeds.
“We have five adult teams, 45 Colts of all ages and a women’s team playing every week.”
Sulhamstead’s approach is a collaborative one, in which volunteers, members and players all pitch in to help each part of the club.
“That’s one of the reasons people enjoy playing here,” said Steeds.
“It’s one club. That’s accepted and that’s the way it's done.
“Everybody helps with the grounds and maintenance.
“That’s terribly important.”
Sulhamstead have made great progress in recent years, but everyone at the club is keen to discuss the next steps.
This mentality of continuous improvement is one which Steeds is also on board with, and he credits the club’s chairman for this ambitious approach.
“We’ve had two very good chairmen,” he said.
“They’re the ones who coordinate and drive it forward, and they’re always thinking of ideas.
“They do the work.”
“We’ve had grants and donations from groups both local and national. That’s all helped.
“Fifteen years ago we were a normal village cricket club with one small pitch too close to the A4 for safety.
“Now we host Berkshire Ladies, local schools and an Easter Cricket Festival for schools from all over England.”
The current chairman, Keith Briggs, explained the plans to build a new pavilion for the club’s second pitch, which currently takes the form of a rather well used shed.
“It’s been there since the early nineties, and it’s literally a wooden shed with two small changing rooms,” he explained.
“We want to expand it and make it fit for purpose, tripling the size of the current building.
“The project is partly funded by the Women’s Pathway from the Berkshire Cricket Foundation, and partly funded by the club.
“There will be toilets and showers, changing rooms for players and umpires, a rest area and a little coffee area.
“Those will be EBC regulation facilities.”
The club is currently seeking planning permission from the council for this expansion.
Upon visiting the site, there is no obvious reason for permission not to be granted.
Should approval be given, this would represent the latest step in the club’s impressive recent expansion.
Sulhamstead & Ufton Cricket Club is a beautiful place to watch cricket, run by a group of selfless volunteers and spearheaded by a knowledgeable and ambitious management team.
Their development shows no sign of stopping, and a visit to the Jack's Booth Ground is a must for any cricket fan with a Saturday to spare this summer.
