Historic day awaits for Hadleigh CC

AN HISTORIC day in the history of Hadleigh CC lies ahead next weekend.

The club will host a Suffolk Men’s 1^st XI fixture for the first time when the county face Lincolnshire in an NCCA Dojo T20 Group Two game on Sunday, June 14^th.

Club Chair Simon Gladwell (pictured above) said it will be ‘a feather in the cap’ for the Friars Road club, who were formed as long ago as 1779 and run four Senior sides and have a thriving Junior section.

Hadleigh CC have previously hosted two Suffolk Women’s T20 matches and various Senior matches, but Gladwell admitted it was a pleasant surprise when he was contacted by Suffolk head coach Adam Mansfield last October.

“He called me to ask if the club would be interested in hosting a T20 match. I said we would be honoured to do so and that it would be a feather in the cap for the club.

“It will be the most important event to be held in the 25 years that I have been here,” said Gladwell, who joined the club after moving to Hadleigh upon the completion of his university studies.

Hadleigh batting against Coggeshall in a recent Marshall Hatchick
Two Counties Championship Division One fixture at Friars Road

“It will be a lovely to host Suffolk and everyone is right behind it. It will help to get Hadleigh Cricket Club recognised around the county.

“Although our club members play cricket on the ground themselves, it will be a great opportunity for them to come and watch their ground at its best staging a county match.

“It is hard to predict what sort of crowd will come along to watch, but we have got strong links with both the football and rugby clubs in the town, and there is a good cross-pollination between them, so hopefully they will come and support it,” he said.

The club, whose first team play in Division One of the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship, have improved their facilities in recent seasons.

Two new changing rooms were added on the side of the pavilion in 2017 and decking was built outside the front ahead of the 2022 season.

The 53-year-old, who has been Chair since 2023, said: “We have had to buy some side covers to go with the existing covers, which is a good thing to have anyway, but most things were already in place.”

The accolade would not have been bestowed upon Hadleigh without the efforts of Dave Levitt and his grounds team.

The 45-year-old, who lives in Hadleigh, took over as head groundsman last July, after helping out for the previous four years.

Hadleigh CC groundsman Dave Levitt

He estimates he spends 25-30 hours a week work on the ground and receives help from club president Ivan Kistruck, Simon Manthorpe, Tim Ryder, Adam Smith, Richard Shanks and Luke Foxwell, who is volunteering as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

Dave recalled: “I was sat on a sunbed in Spain while on holiday when I got a telephone call from Simon to say Suffolk would like to come and play here.

“I put a lot of work in towards the back end of last season to improve things, so it is nice to be recognised by the county.”

Entry to the two matches, starting from 11am, will be free and there will be a programme on sale.

Car parking will be available at the bottom end of the ground, the bar will be open and the club are also planning a barbecue.

Tags: Dave Levitt, Hadleigh CC, Lincolnshire, NCCA Dojo T20, Simon Gladwell

Categorised in: Club Cricket, Suffolk CCC