Hayle Cricket Club
Riviere Towans, ,
Hayle
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In the mid 19th century Hayle was a thriving community and probably the main trading town of Cornwall, raising industrial standards especially with the likes of Harvey, Trevithick and Brunnel, Hayle was associated with the invention of the steam engine, Railways and the production of copper. Hayle was the main port of Cornwall and one of the centres of the industrial revolution in the country. Cricket was first played in Hayle in the mid 1840s, when some of the gentry challenged Redruth to a match and won easily. On the 26th September 1856 a match was organised by Captain Chris Ellis and Fred Lillywhite between a Hayle eleven plus eleven invited players of Cornwall against The United Eleven of England before they boarded ship to play Australia in Australia, at Clowance watched by several thousand. The match report states that some of the England players practiced with Hayle players on The Towans, but the location is unknown. The 22 batted first and scored 29 all out (one of the main bowlers for England was Wisden), England's eleven scored 65 all out and England in their second innings scored 37. The match was a great success but a financial disaster as approximately £120 was lost. You will probably agree little changes. Hayle survived and continued with what we now know as Hayle Cricket Club with club colours being primarily white black and green. Over the years the club used grounds at Trevassack, The Rugby Club, on the Towans near Beachside and where we are now. The present ground, due to astute trading and gifts is now owned freehold by the club and the facilities including the clubhouse are debt free. I'm sure our ancestors will be proud of the progress set by their foundations.
On the field of play we have had many Cornwall senior and age group representatives plus others who have represented their employment including The Army, Navy, Royal Air Force, Police, Fire Brigade, Post Office, however we still await our first ecb international. The club is a family club with close associations to the community, especially Hayle Rugby Club, we have won many competitions and cups but are probably best remembered for the domination of the short game in Cornwall in the 1970's. Recently we have also been blessed with excellent cricketers from abroad including The West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. The club have survived many scrapes but always come back fighting, I am sure that with strong Hayle family connections including Lello, Jenkin, Mungles over decades we will be there for years to come and prosper"
