With the Ashes firmly in our pockets and the zest for the sport reignited throughout the land, why not have your local slice of the action?

2006 sees Totteridge Cricket Club in its 125th year and I hope that those of you who are unfamiliar with what we offer will take the opportunity to come and see us.  Almost 1500 people visited the Club for our magnificent fireworks display in November, many for the first time, and sadly most of them only saw the Club in the dark and went home totally unaware of our local community’s best-kept secret.

TCC, along with the Manor and Resident’s Associations, the Scouts, and the Village Hall provides a service to our local community and tries to retain our “village” ambiance.  We provide a bar, a fully serviced kitchen and hall for hire, open 364 days in the year.

We moved to our present ground on Totteridge Green in 1924 from an even more sloping site in the valley just off Totteridge Common.  Although the owner had offered the Club the freehold of the ground, we were in no financial state to take advantage, and became the tenants of the Council, with a covenant on the use of the ground restricted to sporting activities.  In 1982 we managed to raise the funds necessary to translate this into a 125-year lease at a peppercorn rent, which gives us a much greater sense of security in our tenure.

The centre of activity has always been Cricket, and until relatively recently, the Club premises were only open to members when there were actually matches being played.  We recruited our teams from local schools and local residents, and we played only “friendly” matches.  The formation of the various Hertfordshire and Middlesex leagues changed all of that, and we now support 2 teams on every Saturday of the season and at least 2 sides on Sundays.  We have a ladies cricket side started in 2005 and we have great hopes for their incorporating into a proposed local league by 2007.

Every Tuesday evening and Sunday morning during term time, we give tuition to youngsters as well as holding nets and training sessions for adults.  The 2005 TCC teams excelled in their divisions with three promotions and a missed-by-one, and with standards rising every year, we refurbished the square during autumn 2005. We are most keen to recruit more local players and would welcome any enquiries or referrals.

Every Wednesday afternoon the Club hosts some 15 senior members who play table tennis to a high standard, and we provide the field to St Andrews School for their sports activities every year whenever they require.  We also have an artificial wicket for use by schools and companies for mid-week games.  We are happy to provide coaching for any schools using the Club.

Times, and indeed cricket, have changed, and membership is now available to all, with a wide range of social activities taking place throughout the calendar year.  Family membership is extremely good value at £5 per annum. 

We welcome the many hundreds of dog walkers who use the Club, but we must stress that use of the grounds is a privilege for members and the Club is not a right of way.  Dog-walking Member’s membership is also £5 per annum and includes full membership!!  We recently became a Government-recognised Community Amateur Sports Club, allowing us to benefit directly from donations made by UK taxpayers and all funds go back into the running of the club.

The bar is open daily and we host various social events regularly through the year using our restaurant “Wickets”, run by our own staff for the benefit of the Club and the community. The events are aimed at the full spectrum of family, youth and grown-up tastes, and we hire out the hall for all sorts of occasions, whether happy or sad, restful or boisterous.  We are delighted to be providing the ground for a wedding marquee for a local couple in September 2006. 

In addition, we also take bookings for Friday evening suppers and Sunday lunches in “Wickets”.  For reservations please call Tim or Pat on 07708 307903.

If you require any information about the Club please feel free to visit any day between 5.00pm and 8.00pm.

Telephone during those hours to 020 8445 5331, or contact Robbie Book on 0781 381 3908 at any time.