Knebworth Park Cricket Club

General information

The earliest beginnings are not known precisely. It is reputed that the first ground, within Knebworth Park, was given to the club around 1871 by Edward Bulwer Lytton, the first Baron Knebworth, distinguished novelist, dramatist and statesman.

Other historical evidence comes in the form of an old team photograph dated 1871 which confirms that Knebworth Park is one of the oldest cricket clubs in Hertfordshire being at least 140 years old.

Over the years various members of the Lytton family have played for the club and the link continues with the current President, Lord Cobbold, who is in his 71st year in office.

Historic records show that during the 1914-18 War the pavilion was destroyed by cattle and as a replacement a hut was converted into a simple pavilion comprising two small changing rooms was located in the corner of the ground near St. Mary’s Church.

The club moved to its present location in the mid-1920s, this being the third ground within the Park which the club has occupied since its foundation.

Like all clubs Knebworth Park has its ups and downs. After allegedly dying out at the end of the 1920s it blossomed again and is recorded as being “the finest village club in Hertfordshire” in the mid-1930s, running two sides and with an impressive list of fixtures.

The club survived the Second World War when the ground was kept in good order by being used for cricket and hockey by a girls’ educational establishment.

In the 1960s the club’s strength began to advance once more and the emergence of league cricket gave Knebworth Park fresh challenges and successes which attracted growing numbers of new players.

In the late 1960s a group of players were determined to match the club’s beautiful setting with comparable facilities with a pavilion in classical English style to suit the atmosphere of the ground. This new pavilion saw the club gather in strength from which they have never looked back. The club went from running just one team each Saturday and Sunday, to two and then three. A second adjacent ground was built in the early 1980s together with a pavilion extension to house dressing rooms and showers.

At about the same time another key development was the launch of the junior section. This has established an impressive reputation, winning a whole host of trophies, running numerous teams, gathering a large collection of coaches and producing an extensive procession of players through to the club’s senior elevens.

The club now runs six league teams on Saturdays and one playing friendly fixtures on Sundays. The majority of players in the senior sides are all products of the youth section.

Another important step forward was the building of a three lane nets practice training area which is all self enclosed.