Great Melton Cricket Club recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a weekend of festivities. Formed in 1974 by me and a few other cricket-loving friends, the club competed as 'Great Melton & Wymondham' throughout the 1980s, winning Norfolk League Divisions 4 to 1 in successive seasons as well as a hat-trick of League Cup successes. Problems with the wicket at the Rec eventually meant a temporary move to Bowthorpe while work began on developing a new home ground in Great Melton.
Since moving permanently to Melton Park in 1993, the club has gone from strength to strength. Having started with one team, Great Melton now run 21, including one of the biggest and most successful junior sections in Norfolk. Fittingly, 2023, the club’s 50th season, was the most successful in our history, with 3 senior teams promoted and County Cup wins for the U17s, U15s, U13s and U9s. The 1st Team now compete in the Norfolk Alliance Division 1 - the highest level the club has ever played at.
The recent 50th Anniversary Celebratory weekend began with the normal Friday evening junior coaching session, with the A and B teams winning a hat-trick of victories the following morning. The main Anniversary event took place on Sunday 30th June.
Due to rain, the cricket got underway 90 minutes later than scheduled. With fellow-founder members Chris Lacey, Mike Phoenix, John Griffin and Chris Betts all in attendance along with over 100 other past and present players, it fell to me - having played 1021 games spread over all of those 50 seasons - to propose a toast to the club before cutting a magnificent anniversary cake, baked by the event organiser, Nania Poulson.
With a video on our history and a display of statistics from the past 50 years, there were plenty of reminders of the club’s “glorious past” and plenty to reminisce about while the bar, a Pims station, barbecue, pizza oven, ‘afternoon tea’ stall, ice-cream van and bouncy castle added to the festival atmosphere.
It was an amazing day involving club members of all ages and their families. It was great to see so many past players make the effort to return – some travelling long distances to be there. There was a real buzz about the place as people caught up with friends they hadn’t seen for a while and generally, I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
