Cricket in Godalming and district

Article copied from "CRICKET WORLD" - MAY 1993

From Julius Caesar to London Pride
In 1992 a Celebration was held in Godalming to commemorate 225 years of Cricket being played in Godalming & District.
Peter Mayne's book records the events leading up to Godalming's special year weaving a fine thread through a fascinating story in which some of the biggest names in the sport feature. It is not just a history of cricket in the town, but a very good record of the local social ups and downs through more than two centuries.
The author, aided by friends and acquaintances with a particular interest in cricket history, has provided a compact picture of a hitherto neglected area of Godalming's background.
Much had already been written about the great Victorian player, Julius Caesar, who was a famous son of the town, but thanks to the generous assistance offered by Caesar's biographer, Geoff Amey, of Merrow, Mr Mayne has been able to fit a formidable sporting career and its tragic ending into the context of the developing game in the borough.
This is not a book solely about Godalming Cricket Club, for that organisation as we know it came into being only in the mid-1920s, when its ground at Holloway Hill was returned to recreational use after the need for wartime allotments had passed.
So the present club is comparatively young, but it was built on the foundations of some of the first cricket played anywhere in the country. The important first reference which appeared 225 years ago in the Whitehall Evening Post was, says David Frith, Editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, who lives in Guildford, well spotted. Cricket had been played in the area about Guildford and Godalming far earlier than 1767, and Mr Mayne records matches at Peper Harow and Merrow as well as the celebrated women's matches at Bramley and Hambledon. But is was in G. B. Buckley's Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket that the story really begins as far as Godalming the town is concerned. Quoting from a letter written from Godalming to the Whitehall Evening Post of July 23, 1767, Buckley wrote that "the game of cricket is very much followed in this part, there being scarce a week but there is a considerable match about this town and Guildford."
Two years later, almost to the day, the Whitehall Evening Post reported that "nothing can exceed the vogue that cricket is in in some parts of Surrey and Hampshire: the people are so fond of it that it is common for them to ride 40 miles to be mere spectators at a cricket match. A few days ago 22 expert players played a match not far from Godalming when each side got the same number of notches at both innings, which was esteemed very extraordinary."
Little was recorded of the early days, and Mr Mayne moves swiftly into the 19th century where he quickly finds a Caesar, probably Julius's father and comes across Keens and Marshalls, both prominent families in the town. There were matches against the M.C.C, sometimes at Lord's where every cricketer, however humble, dreams of playing at least once in a lifetime.
Julius Caesar lived for only 47 years, but at the height of his career he was in great demand. He appeared for Surrey first in 1849, against Sussex at The Oval, and thereafter, as a batsman more than a bowler, he had many seasons of top class cricket, making his debut for England in 1853, aged 23, and after a setback when he and his wife, Jane, suffered the death of their first child, being selected in the first England touring team to play in Canada and the United States, in 1859.
Godalming feted its famous sporting son and Julius was the guest of honour at a farewell dinner in the King's Arms Hotel given by "friends and lovers of cricket". The tourists found the tour heavy going, and on one occasion the weather was so bad that they fielded in scarves, gloves and overcoats.
The town again turned out when Caesar retumed and at another dinner in the King's Arms he told his audience of his experiences. He was none too flattering about the Americans - he had at one time in New York got himself into a spot of difficulty in a bar and stared down the wrong end of a revolver - and the newspapers in the United States had picked up on these remarks.
Because of Caesar, Godalming cricket was able to attract major teams and leading players as opposition, and many of these matches were played at Broadwater on the ground in front of the mansion (long since demolished) which was the home of the aforementioned Marshalls.
Julius, in what was probably the pinnacle of his career, travelled to Australia in the winter of 1863 as a member of the second touring team to that country. Three years later, at the age of 37, he called a halt to his playing days but remained involved in cricket locally, as an umpire, a cricketing outfitter in Ockford Road, Godalming, and as a coach to the boys at Charterhouse. However, the deaths of his wife and then his son, who committed suicide on the railway line at Peasmarsh after his girlfriend had become pregnant, sent Julius heading towards an early grave as well.
He died, a broken man, at the Railway Tavern in Mill Street in 1879 and was buried in the town cemetery. Mr Mayne observes that no stone marks the spot, and that it is "high time that the situation was remedied".
In 1867, Caesar was a founder member of the Broadwater Cricket Club, whose matches were played in grand style and whose teams often included the stars of the time. One game in 1868 featured the first Australian touring team, a group of Aborigines whose modern day counterparts played matches at Guildford and Farnham in 1988 during only the second visit by an Aboriginal party.
There are important chapters on the former cricket clubs at Eashing Park and Busbridge Park - the ground at Busbridge Hall
drew large crowds to see the touring South Africans in 1929 and 1935 and the West Indians in 1933 and 1939. Then Mr Mayne turns his attention to Holloway Hill recreation ground which, he says, has been home to cricket since at least 1883, and Godalming Recreation Club, which was formed around 1880.
The author and his sleuths have worked hard to paint a word picture of the last 100 years and they can be well pleased with their labours. But it is not a book of words alone, and the photographs and newspaper cuttings which appear throughout the pages are a feature not to be missed.
Godalming's year included a Special Cricket Week of intemational flavour highlighted by a visit from a Georgia Select XI Captained by Conrad Hunte. Proceeds from the sale of their Book and a grand raffle (£225 first prize!) was invested in the development of Youth cricket in Godalming.
The youth cricket at Godalming Cricket Club is traditionally well organised. Currently, three teams at under 13, under 15 and under 17 levels compete in the DM Colt's League. Four qualified coaches teach the boys and the system has proved an excellent feeder to the senior teams. Three senior teams play on Saturdays in the Fullers Brewery Surrey County League and two on Sundays throughout the Summer.
Godalming Cricket: 225 Not Out by P.J. Mayne is available from Simon Crowther of High Down, South Munstead Lane, Godalming, GU8 4AG, price £3.95 (plus 55p post and pack- ing).
We should like to Acknowledge Graham Collyer - Editor of the Surrey Advertiser for this article.