History
Bar Hill Cricket Club was reformed during the winter of 1986 after a meeting of the primary school PTA. Three of the clubs founder members, Tony Moffat, Nick Jones and John Fuller met for a quick half at The Fox (local pub). The discussion turned to the subject of how Bar Hill Football Club wanted an extra pitch and the only available position was across the old cricket square! The square had only been re-discovered the previous summer for an inter-church match. The square had been 'lost' after the original cricket club was disbanded some years earlier and it had become just another part of the village green. It was decided amongst the three that it would be a shame to lose the square and therefore the possibility of playing cricket within the village.
Our story begins here.
1980
A notice was posted in the Bar Hill News (the village magazine) for anyone that was interested in forming a new cricket club. Local resident Ben Pedderson was approached and led them to the original square and equipment. As a Cambridge college groundsman he also assisted with the preparation of the wicket.
During the summer of 1987, Nick Jones was appointed Secretary and arranged a series of 7 friendly matches against local companies and organisations, Tony Moffat was elected as captain for these matches.
In 1988 Niall Dunwoody took the helm as Captain of Bar Hill Cricket club and Tony Moffat became club secretary and joined four other local teams to form an unofficial mid-week league. This progressed to joining the C.C.A. league in 1989 in division 6B, which we went on to win that season, setting a league record in a match against Fordham III of 326 for 9. This was also the season our annual 'Wrinklies v Smoothies' match was started, as the original team against the new side. A game that has become Bar Hill Cricket Club against Bar Hill Sports and Social Club, which is our local watering hole. The league team went on to be promoted in two of the next three seasons.
1990
During the Annual General Meeting in 1992 Fred Styles was appointed as our first President. Our club colours were also decided, that originated from a bobble hat of the daughter of Tony Moffat which were maroon and gold (These were later found to be the colours of Northants County Cricket Club). In this season our first century was scored by John Simpson, 101 not out, for the newly formed Bar Hill 2nd team. The following year the club was large enough to support a friendly under-15s side . This team only played one season before becoming the 2nd Team.
Over the next six years both league teams experienced the delights of promotion and the despair of relegation. In 1994, John Fuller twice came close to becoming our second centurion failing firstly by 17 runs and secondly by a tantalising 4 runs. In the same season Ian Dunk took 8-22 against Melbourn. In 1998 'the two Daves' Fletcher & Sandham shared a 144 record-breaking partnership against Royal Mail.
During the 1999 season, the club was forced into a state of turmoil after only two matches, as the 1st team was forced to disband due to a lack of commited players. The 2nd team players who had won their first two matches of the season had to jump up a division to fulfil the 1st Teams fixtures. Not suprisingly the 'new' 1st team were relegated that season. On the brighter side the Club formed a youth team (at under-12s level).
2000
In 2000, the 1st team narrowly missed out on promotion back to Division 2, although the Youth side (now at Under 13's level) won their league with a game to spare. The club also formed a regular Sunday friendly side which played a full list of fixtures.
The following year in 2001, the 1st Team remained unbeaten in Division 3 until early September. Not suprisingly, they were promoted as champions. The Club also formed a second Youth side, at under-11s level, to join the existing side (now playing at Under-14s level).
In 2002, in Division 2 for the first time for a while, the 1st team struggled but did enough to avoid relegation against some very strong opposition. Ian Basser hit the record individual score for the 1st team with 92 against Milton II. The under-14s side stayed at that level but the Under 11's went up to the Under 12's level. Cameron Scott re-wrote the Youth record books by hitting the first four youth half-centuries in Bar Hill's history. His top score was 89 not out.
2003 was a season of two halves for the 1st Team. They lost 6 out of their first 7 matches and were dumped out of the cup. Then a tie against Waterbeach (which included a David Fletcher hat-trick) turned the season around and they won 7 out of the last 8. The performance of the season was undoubtedly David Rush who hit a record 158 not out against The Globe in a friendly. Cameron Scott carried on from his exploits the previous season by hitting another seven half centuries with a high score of 90 not out.
The 1st Team actually looked reasonable bets for promotion in 2004 but couldn't quite keep pace with a strong Cambridge Granta side. Cameron Scott started making the transition from youth to adult cricket by taking 5-11 in less than three overs against Sutton II in the league. Phil Walmsley narrowly missed out on a century running out of partners on 93 in a cup match. The 'highlight' of the friendly season was undoubtedly Simon Smith contributing towards the seasons highest friendly team 10th wicket partnership after suffering a heart attack as he was waiting to bat! The under-15s came close to winning their League but were pipped by Ely/Haddenham. The under-14s season started poorly (7 all out!) but improved throughout the season with Cameron Scott getting his long awaited maiden century with an unbeaten 110 against Cambridge Granta.In the 2004 close season ex-Bar Hill player Ben Thapa hit the headlines as a member of G4 who were runners up on X-Factor.
The 1st team finished mid-table in 2005, not being good enough to go up but also being too good to go down. The second Twenty20 tournament actually produced a winner after it was rain affected in 2004 and proved to be a great success. There were two youth teams at under-15s and at under-12s. Craig Driver broke Cameron Scott's total domination on batting scores by hitting 73 for the under-15s. However, the under-12s produced the best individual performance of the season with Sam Clare taking 6-8 against Camden, the second best youth figures for Bar Hill. 2005 also saw the first Bar Hill cricket tour, to Torquay.
2006 saw a promotion push by the 1st team but they finally finished a close third with a strong Needingworth side winning the division. Scott Stanford decided to rewrite the Bar Hill record books, scoring the most CCA runs for Bar Hill in a season, including scoring the club's highest CCA score (and only the clubs 2nd CCA century) when he hit 119 against Cottenham II. He had also posted the club's second highest CCA partnership earlier in the season as he and Mark Thompson put on 134 against Histon III. He also finished top CCA wicket taker for the Club with 30 wickets and managed to pouch 4 catches in a match, which is only one off the Bar Hill record. Barry Driver also managed to chip in with the third best CCA bowling figures for Bar Hill taking 7-12 against Cottenham II. 2006 also saw Bar Hill managing to put out a 2nd Team again for the first time in six years. Another first was that Bar Hill also managed to field three youth teams, at Under 12s, 13s and 15s. The Under 13s managed to come second in their division, only losing out to unbeaten Milton side. Dom Gedny managed to take 6-6, the second best youth bowling performance for the Club and Sam Clare managed to take four catches in a match, the first time this had been acheived at youth level for the club.
2007 was arguably the most successful season ever for the club. Both adult league teams got promoted, the 1sts winning their league and being promoted to Junior Division 1 for the first time in the club's history and the 2nd team finishing a close second behind Histon IV to grab the second promotion spot. Scott Stanford was at it again when he smashed 183 against Cottenham II beating his and the club's previous highest score by 64 runs. In doing so he, and Phil Pelling, posted the record partnership for the club with 228. He also excelled with the ball taking 7-14 in the Twenty/20 Cup match with Cherry Hinton which saw Bar Hill through to the quarter-finals. The youth sides were successful also, with both the under 14s & 13s finishing as runners up in their respective leagues both losing out to Histon sides. Sam Clare dominated the youth batting hitting five 50s and his maiden century, an unbeaten 103 against Cottenham.
In 2008, the 1st team missed out on back to back promotions by one win and thereby missed the chance to play Senior League cricket for the first time in Bar Hill's history. Scott Stanford hit another century along with three fifties to dominate the 1st team batting. The 2nd Team finished mid table despite Priyal Perera taking 6-12 against Bluntisham II in the last game of the season, as they were bowled out for just 24. For the third year in a row, the under 15 side were in contention to win their division right up to the end of the season, but narrowly missed out again, crucially collapsing against winners Wilburton. The under 14s managed a top half of the table finish and the under 12s did not win a match. The highlight of the youth season was Matthew Churchley taking 5-8 against Wilburton the day after brother Jason had taken 5-14 for the under 14s. They were the only two 5 wickets hauls for any of the youth sides.
2009 heralded the first ever Bar Hill 3rd team and while it only won two matches it completed all but two of its fixtures which was no mean achievement, considering Bar Hill only had one Saturday league team four years earlier. Both the 1st and 2nd teams flirted with promotion during the season, but eventually both finished mid-table in their respective divisions. There were a number of good performances in the season including a Tom Levitt hat trick and Vicky Neal taking four outfield catches in a match. However, the highlight was Jim Orvis breaking the 8th wicket partnership record with Simon Smith and recording his maiden league half-century in the process. By contrast, the youth season was a bit of a disaster with both youth teams folding within the first two weeks of the season due to a lack of players, although not before the under 12s had managed a tie against Coton with only 9 players.
2010
The 1st team had a steady season finishing 4th in 2010. The highlight of the season was Craig Driver hitting his maiden CCA century and the second highest league score for the club when he posted 121 against Saffron Walden IV. The 2nd team started well by winning 3 out of its first 4 matches, but then proceeded to win only 2 out of the last 9 leaving them second from bottom of the table. One of those wins was the defeat of Burrough Green II, where there were two century partnerships by Stuart Lambert & Phil Orvis (117 for the 1st wicket) and by Paul Sistig and Tom Yewbrey (144 for the 3rd wicket). The 3rd Team folded after only one complete season, six matches in to the season, after it was clear there were not sufficient players to field the team. Ironically, only one of those matches went ahead with one being cancelled, two being won by default and two being lost by the same method. With a severe lack of youth players there was no organised youth teams.
2011 saw the 1st team relegated from Junior Division 1 after it only won 4 matches all season. The 2nd team had a contrasting season as they went into the last game of the season knowing that a win and a favourable result elsewhere would see them promoted from Junior Division 5. Unfortunately, neither the win nor the favourable result happened. However, the season saw Peter Howard become only the club's fourth centurion hitting an unbeaten 101 against Histon III and sharing the second highest partnership for the Club of 189 with Martin Haslop.
