?Hopefully in March the weather will be kind for the preparation of the ground for the new season. With the help of the school letters will be distributed to the children, boys and girls, with details of the start of the outdoor coaching sessions and an invitation for children coming into year three to take up the sport.

Coaching sessions will begin on Wednesday 4th April for Under 15s and Under 17s.
On Friday 6th of April sessions begin at 6.15pm for year 3 and upwards to Under 13s. There will be a registration night on Friday 30th March 2012 at the club so please come along and start the season rolling. Coaching sessions will be charged at £2 per week.

Last season the youth section had a team in all four of the youth leagues but this
year there will be five with two teams in the Under 15s league. We look forward to seeing you.

A Short History

In 2013 Weldon Cricket Club will be 150 years old. The ground itself was previously owned by the 8th Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham (1752-1826) a member of the Finch Hatton family who founded the MCC in 1787 along with the 4th Duke of Richmond.
On Thursday September 17th 1863 Weldon, Welledon or Welden Cricket Club played their first recorded match away to North and South Luffenham a distance of approximately twelve miles. It ended in defeat by an innings and 113 runs.

In those days matches were of two innings if time aloud and were played midweek. Saturday cricket did not exist until 1880. In those early years Weldon suffered from a lack of opponents playing only five or six matches a season. Even then Weldon developed into a strong team and in 1870 played against 22 Deene batsmen. Pitches were shared with farm animals when not in use and it was a rare occasion for a batsman to score fifty. The first league the club joined was in 1900 and this was the Kettering and district league and later the Geddington League. The current owner of the ground is John Singlehurst whose family have owned the field since 1922.

Of course two world wars interrupted cricket and when peace returned in 1945 there was no pavilion and no kit. Committee meetings were held in the Woolpack inn until 1951 when Mr. Ollie Goff gave £100 towards the cost of a pavilion which was built by the village carpenter Albert Newman. A few months later changing rooms were added and a toilet block and work started on a grass wicket to replace the concrete one that had been used for some time.

Moving closer to the modern day a bar was installed in 1971 but with the club growing swiftly both on and off the field it was obvious that the old pavilion was passed its best and planning permission was granted for a new pavilion. With grants received from both District and County councils a bank loan was arranged and most members gave interest free loans of £100. Several donations were received and Everards Brewery gave £4,000. The pavilion as you see it today was built in 1988.

In the last few years a youth policy has come to the fore which is the envy of many and it is this policy which will hopefully carry the club forward for many years to come.