Early Days

      One gaslit Christmas during the later years of the nineteenth century, a small boy in North London received a present from his mother which was to have far-reaching effects on the lives of both him, his friends and thousands of others during the following century or so. The boy was EA. (Ernest) Cawdron and the present was a set of cricket stumps. Ernest and his friend and fellow choirboy, J. Lock gave those stumps plenty of use in the following years and in 1888 they formed the Alexandra Park Cricket Club.

      The club's earliest cricket was played on a piece of waste ground at the end of Victoria Road, near the corner of Dagmar Road and Crescent Road, but their first really private ground was the Victoria Cricket Ground, on the site now occupied by Outram, Clyde and Harcourt Roads and owned then by the Gas, Light and Coke Company. After spending the 1904 season sharing a ground in Palmers Green, the club became a wandering side for the only time in its history during the 1905 season. The membership had reduced considerably by this time and the future looked bleak.

      Adversity, however, had a stimulating effect on what remained of the club, and two crucial decisions made at the end of that wandering season were to stabilize the club and set a course for the future. One was to amalgamate with Wood Green Tradesmen's C.C., who became the Thursday section of the club. The other was to seek permission to play on the Racecourse Ground, This was obtained, and the combined clubs played the first season (1906) on part of the Racecourse ground - the other part being used by the Great Northern Railway Athletic Club. The move precipitated an increase in playing strength and some notable feats were achieved on the field. In July 1910 the 1st XI dismissed Dulwich Hamlet for 6 runs, E.A. Cawdron taking 5 wickets for 2 runs and H.A. Clarke 3 for 4, A partnership of 235 was put up twice in 1911, by J.A.E. Peschier and CJ. Tolfree - against North London for the 2nd wicket and Muswell Hill for the 1st wicket. James Peschier had the distinction of playing for Middlesex at around this time, and Stanley Trick (Essex) was another A.P. county cricketer.

      When the Great Northern club moved to a new ground at Gordon Hill in 1912, A.P.C.C. came into possession of the lease for the entire racecourse ground, and began gradually to extend and improve the playing area. By the time the first World War started the club fielded four regular Saturday elevens as well as the Thursday side, and a quickly growing tennis section. Absence of members of A.P. and other clubs on wartime service naturally reduced the fixture list drastically, but throughout the war facilities for cricket were maintained and one eleven was regularly fielded. This continuity enabled the club to get into its stride very quickly after the war and by 1921 four Saturday elevens were again having regular fixtures.

The Golden Age

      'The Golden Age' is a term well known to aficionados of the first class game. It alludes to that period in cricket history during Edwardian times when, allegedly, cricket was played in perpetual sunshine, top quality, classical stroke-playing batsmen were prolific both in number and runs scored and cricket was played how cricket 'ought' to be played. Whether that era was always as 'golden' as the myths suggest is doubtful, but the image remains both powerful and nostalgic, and strengthened paradoxically by the passing of time and generations. Alexandra Park's 'golden age' began rather later in the twenties. It was 'golden' in that during the following decade or so the club established itself both administratively and on the field as one of the strongest clubs in London.

      One of the main contributory factors to this strength was undoubtedly the continuity of several members who remained with the club over many years as players and administrators, a tradition which remains alive today. Ernest Cawdron, joint founder, was club skipper for over 40 years, and G.B. Garnham was Secretary and Treasurer for 28 years. Elliot Marten, whose active service at the club spans the early twenties right up to the seventies, had lengthy spells as Team Secretary, Tour Manager, Chairman and President. Another reason for A.P.'s increasing strength was the folding of two local clubs in the twenties the Albemarle and Friern Barnet Club and the West Hornsey C.C. Several members of both clubs helped swell the A.P. ranks and enabled the club to field 5 Saturday elevens for the first time in 1926 and later on a Sunday side, too.

      A third and crucial factor in the club's ascendancy and undoubtedly the most important in establishing A.P.'s playing reputation was the acquisition in 1922 from the Albemarle and Friern Barnet Club of L.W. (Len) Newman, and the arrival in 1925 of C.S. Con Davies. The feats of these two players both up to the Second World War and for many years beyond were simply phenomenal and their records make astonishing reading today. In his career Len Newman amassed over 80,000 runs, 250 centuries, 20 scores of between 150 and 200, as well as 13 double centuries! His highest score was 230 made against Highgate in 1930. In 1935 he set what was then a world record of 4,138 runs in a season, and he topped 1000 runs per season 40 times! Con Davies topped 64,000 runs in his long career, including 126 centuries. His highest individual knock was an incredible 239 and his best aggregate for a season was 3126. On top of all this Con took over 5,000 wickets as a slow left arm bowler, by the time he retired from cricket in 1971. On one occasion he achieved the all-rounder's pinnacle of scoring a century and taking all ten wickets in the same match.

      Together, at the wicket Len and Con represented what must surely be the best batting pair any club could ever have had. They compiled 80 century stands, including 12 of over 200, with a highest of 272. As if that were not enough, they opened as a pair 626 times, with no run-outs! A 'golden age' indeed! It is unfortunate that the deeds of these two somewhat overshadow the performances of many fine cricketers who were their contemporaries, but it is beyond doubt that Len and Con were the main architects of the 'golden' reputation A.P. had on the field, which was established in the twenties and continued until quite a few years after the Second World War

      .The exceptional epoch-making feats of Davies and Newman have not been the only features of significant historical merit to emerge from the Racecourse Ground. A little known fact is that A.P were pioneers of cricket in France! In the very early years of this century, Ernest Cawdron led the club on what has been claimed to be the first English cricket tour of that country. The opponents in the only match were Stade Francais, a multi-sports club from Paris, and A.P. ran out the victors by 65 runs. The social side of the visit was of vital importance, with sight-seeing trips, visits to Parisian cafes and a sumptuous banquet arranged by the host club providing a highly entertaining supplement to the cricket. The tour was repeated in later years and helped establish the club's touring tradition.

      There can be few club tours with the longevity of the Alexandra Park Kent tour. 1986 saw the 50th of these, and when the first expedition went in 1921 to salute the hops and play a week's cricket, few of those pioneers could have foreseen the centenary tour fixture list in 1988 with Gore Court and Broadstairs still on it, and having played us in all 51 tours to date! The highlights of these tours, both on and off the field, are many, and would do justice to another booklet in themselves, but the essence of the journey has always been excellent cricket and superb hospitality from all the hosts. This, coupled with the security of a week so entrenched in the club's structure, virtually ensures a successful tour, year after year, regardless of results. In fact the tour is now such an integral part of A,P. life that many members cannot recall spending the second week in August in any other place! 2002 will see the 66th Kent tour.

      One of the few who can remember pre-Kent tour summers is Ken Hudson, who was involved in another 'first' for A.P. He was the last secretary (joint) of what was originally a unique organization. The winter indoor 'net' is an established part of the lives of many cricketers, but in 1926 AP became 'pioneers' again when members formed an offshoot called Alexandra Palace (Winter) C.C. It was the first amateur club formed solely for the purpose of fostering cricket during the winter months and later to be renamed Alexandra Palace Indoor Cricket Club. The club had its indoor nets in the Palace itself, operated under its own independent constitution and was open to all cricketers regardless of club. No less a player than Jack Hobbs (Surrey and England) was a member, and many first class cricketers as well as club players took advantage of what was one of the finest facilities available for winter practice. The war put an end to this innovative organization when the nets were rendered inoperative, due to the impossibility of 'blacking out' the Alexandra Palace.

Second World War and After

      By the time of the club's 50th Anniversary in 1938, Alexandra Park was a highly respected member of the C.C.C., powerful in constitution as well as on the field, and with a flourishing tennis section. But again war was looming! As with the previous conflict the club's organizational strength was to help carry on through the ravages of war. Neither the exodus of around eighty members to the armed forces, nor even a couple of V.2's delivering their destructive wares to the playing area could prevent A.P. fielding three Saturday sides throughout the war. It meant that any player on leave was certain of getting a game and helped maintain a link between the pre- and post-war years. Of course, none of this happened without a lot of hard work. Elliot Marten even gave up his job, which would have moved him out of London, in order to continue his work for the club.

      It must have been a very proud Ernest Cawdron who was able to announce at the 60th Anniversary dinner in 1948 that, " we run more elevens each week than any other club in the country" (MCC., no doubt, excepted!). The club was by then probably at its zenith with a ten games a week fixture list, and its future looked assured at a time when sport of all kinds was flourishing in the euphoria of peace time. With so many teams selection meetings regularly went on till midnight, and the first eleven's playing strength was probably unequalled by that of any other club of the day, with Len and son Doug Newman, Con Davies and such youngsters as Jack Drake, Max Penney and Frank Crofts, plus a plethora of other fine players. Changes in captaincy and other offices were rare but when they did occur the club was strong enough to take them in its stride. Stanley Brent handed over the 1st Xi captaincy after the war to Len Newman, who held the post until Con Davies took over in 1954. When Jack Drake succeeded Con in 1957 he was only the 5th 1st XI captain in the club's history, and in 1966, when Elliot Marten became President, he was only the fourth holder of that office.

      On the field in the 1960s, however, A.P.'s strength was slowly waning. Society was providing other opportunities for potential cricketers to spend their leisure hours, and fewer A.P. elevens were being fielded weekly. Our swansong as one of London's strongest clubs was the Kemp Cup final appearance at The Oval in 1968, when Hampstead were the victors. With the advent of league cricket in the early seventies, and our failure to become members of the newly formed Middlesex County League, the club was looking increasingly further afield for fixtures. Tring Park, Hitchin and Bedford were becoming regular ports of call. Closer to home, though, other events were having profound effects on the club. Amalgamation with Alexandra Park Football Club in 1971 provided a constitutional link which had existed in spirit for many years.

      1975 was the year of the fire which destroyed the clubhouse and its contents, including many irreplaceable scorebooks and photographs, Temporary changing facilities and the use of a local pub for post-match rituals saw us through two seasons, while in the meantime an enormous effort from the recently combined football and cricket sections enabled a new clubhouse to be erected ready for the official opening on August 21st, 1977. Entry into the Middlesex Cricketers League followed in 1979, but team performances were disappointing in the following years. Nevertheless, in recent decades the tradition for unearthing outstanding individual players has continued with the likes of Steve Poulter and Mark Scott (both county cricketers with Middlesex and Worcestershire respectively), Don Oakes, whose tragically early death initiated the club's annual award for outstanding cricket achievement, and David Douglas.

      During a memorable run in the 1990s, the 1st XI won the 2nd and 1st Division Championships in successive years (1996 and 1997). In 2003, A.P. sported 4 Saturday teams, 2 Sunday teams and a Thursday IX, with the 1st eleven winning their division and the 4th eleven getting promoted in their second season in the league. Alexandra Park CC is becoming stronger each season and, who knows, maybe the Glory Days are not quite over yet...

Don't you know where the ground is? Then click below. LOCAL AREA MAP

5-Day weather forecast for the APCC Racecourse Ground, click below. BBC WEATHER CENTRE

Fullers Middlesex Championship