Wonderful  start to the season with a competitive game to clear the cobwebs. The ground is located opposite the All England Tennis Club

The match against Hartley Wintney is played on their pretty village green, where quite a few spectators turn out to watch the day's play. On one side of the ground is a pub where it’s always good to arrive early and warm up with a sandwich and a pint. Hartley Wintney play in the Hampshire league and it has been a competitive fixture that has recently changed to a limited overs match. For example; in 2001 LNZCC were chasing 290 and lost by only 15 runs, a little over a run a ball

Hartley Wintney, Hampshire

Royal Household

A long standing fixture, The Royal Household at Windsor is one of the jewels in the crown. The setting itself couldn't be more majestic with the oval within the grounds of Windsor Castle.  It is a fixture that is always eagerly anticipated not only by the players. On more than one occasion Her Majesty the Queen has stopped by to cast an eye over the New Zealanders taking on her staff. The opposition are friendly but also very competitive therefore ensuing an entertaining match

Quite close to Amersham, Chenies and Latimer is a big ground, surrounded by hedges with a wicket that has a bit of everything in it. Chenies like to play a declaration game, with wins proving elusive for us over the years.

Chenies, Amersham, Hertfordshire

Harefield

Another nice location and close to London, the Harefield ground is ringed by trees and hedges. Well used to Kiwis, in 1994 Harefield approached the Auckland Cricket Association, offering to assist a promising player. The first to arrive was the now well-known Danny Morrison! Since then a few other useful Kiwi cricketers have taken up residence at the Harefield bar, including former (Pat Hounsell) and current (Chris Lee) LNZCC club members. Harefield at one stage last season fielded no fewer than 6 Kiwis in their first team. This is a keenly contested fixture that leads to plenty of good kiwi banter in the bar afterwards.

Harefield, Middlesex

www.ukcricket.org/harefield

Wiltshire Queries

The match is this year back at Dauntseys School, one of England's top boarding institutions. It’s a fabulous setting with a great wicket. Lunch and tea held in the school-dining hall are lavish affairs, a great problem if you're batting at the time! Being situated on Salisbury plain the atmospherics can be spectacular, as illustrated when we were happily batting away a couple of years ago on a good wicket with sunny skies above, suddenly a storm blew in from nowhere. We took refuge in the pavilion as a bolt of lightning that thankfully missed the willow, struck a fence post.

West Lavington, Wiltshire

Oxford Downs

Hagley is LNZCC’s most stately fixture and should not be missed even as a spectator. In terms of distance it is the furthest the club travels but once you have arrived you will agree it was worth every mile of motorway. Set directly in front of the magnificent Hagley Hall, this ground was bequeathed to the local Hagley village team by an ancestor of the present Lord Cobham. Cobham is a name that some Kiwis may have heard of as it was the present Lord Cobham's father that was a popular Governor General to NZ in the 1960's. With the Hall, a church and the thatched pavilion providing the backdrop on one side and fields with deer grazing to the other, there can surely be no more idyllic setting in which to play cricket. Our patron Lord Cobham entertains us splendidly with silver service at lunch and tea no less. Ham off the bone is de rigeur and the cakes for desert….well…come and see for yourselves anyway.

A LNZCC tradition has been the infamous Hagley Sprint, which is a very short race designed to find the slowest LNZCC member present. Run over a taxing 10 yard course, the holder has the right to challenge any one other member he thinks is more hung-over than he is. The tradition continued in our jubilee season.  when the nominated member Tony Penman, whilst carrying a hamstring injury, beat the challenger, Richard Fish.

During the 50th Season, journalist Gordon Harcourt recorded a video of Hagley and the game which was later broadcast on 'The Holmes Show' in NZ.

Click on the file below to view the full program.

Dialup  / Broadband / Local Lan

Hagley, Near Stourbridge, West Midlands

www.hagleycc.licomnet.com

Datchet featured for the first time in our 2001 fixture list. Their lovely postage stamp sized ground hosted a special New Zealand celebrity match for us, with many New Zealanders and local spectators enjoying an entertaining match along with a traditional kiwi barbie. Black caps’ opening batsman and 2000 NZ cricketer of the year Mark Richardson featured as their professional. Former NZ one day internationals Hamish Marshall and Aaron Gale also played. It came down to the last over, with LNZCC coming out winners. If the cricket ever becomes a bit slow you can always ponder your own mortality by wondering if any of the low flying jumbos might fall out of the sky onto you as they land at nearby Heathrow.

London Road, Datchet, Berkshire

www.thisiswindsor.com/dcc

A recent inclusion is The Wanderers, one of England's well known gentleman's sides, with a long and rich history. Their ranks also currently include a few talented kiwis known to us. Apart from the special Datchet match, last year it was our toughest fixture.

Ripley

Ripley a club with over 250 years history including establishing the use of a third stump is our oldest standing fixture. But not only a favourite for cricket historians Ripley is a batsmen's paradise with a true wicket combined with a lightning fast outfield that makes life difficult for the bowlers. In recent years Mike Singleton scored 150 odd not out and in 2001 Dave Fanning was unbeaten on 149 within our club record innings of 371 for 5. Lunch and tea at Ripley are again superb in their challenging clubrooms. We say challenging as there is an exposed thick wooden beam running across the roof of the bar and the Ripley boys would make sure there was one of them who could swing themselves over it and laugh at our desperate attempts to save some honour. Long time club member Vance Thompson played for Ripley's Saturday League side for many years with distinction.

Ripley, Surrey

www.ripleycc.com

Four Elms

Four Elms is one of the closest fixtures to London. The village derives it’s name as you’d expect from 4 imposing Elm trees. However due to a storm in recent years they’re now missing a couple of stumps. It’s a competitive match played on an ‘away swing’ slope. Go straight ahead at the cross roads coming south from M25

Goodwood

Glorious Goodwood conjures up images of racing, but alas due to the calendar the days when the fixture was played the day after the races are long gone. There were also fond memories of a slap up sit down roast in the dining room at Goodwood House. The ground is situated inside the Duke of Richmond's immaculate estate and as such provides a genteel atmosphere. Goodwood is quite close to Chichester on the coast and Arundel is nearby also, so a good game to make a weekend of it. We are always made very welcome here.

Goodwood House, Goodwood, West Sussex

www.goodwood.play-cricket.com

HAC

for 2006 only

The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a club steeped in military tradition - they must be, to be able to defend it against property developers being located within in the City of London. A flat sward of green, dwarfed by office blocks on all sides, the wicket is usually hard and bouncy. HAC are a very competitive outfit and with their military outlook, frown on any lateness by the opposition (one aspect of our game that sometimes unfortunately rears its head). Being a Saturday fixture, the opportunity is there for the players to go on and sample the delights of the local bars, spawning more than one club legend.  In fact a club member ended up handcuffed to his future wife on one such occasion! Maybe a good game for the bachelors!

Priory Lane and Entrance off Bank Lane Bank of England Ground

www.hac.uk.com

Always one of the games of the season with plenty of prematch talk from both sides of the Cook Strait.

Australia House

The trans Tasman rivalry is renewed here in the UK with a match against Aussie House  – a bunch of lads we get on very well with and in this case we usually come out on top.

Harefield, Middlesex

Broadhalfpenny Brigands is a match for anyone interested in the history of cricket and it’s good to have the fixture back this year. Played on the Bat and Ball ground atop the Hampshire hills this location with outstanding views is widely claimed as the home of modern cricket, where the game has been played for centuries. Hambledon are no longer the force they were then when they would take on and beat the Rest of England, but their involvement with the game continues and their association with LNZCC goes back many years. They have a brand new pavilion and the undulating outfield allows you to imagine games in years gone by. We always have a beer or two with them at the Bat and Ball pub opposite the ground in which the bar literally features the actual county line between Hampshire & Sussex.

Broadhalfpenny Downs, Near Hambledon, Hampshire

www.cricket-hockey.co.uk/clubs/broadhalfpenny

Through long serving club member Richard Holden this great fixture was resurrected in 2005.  the team made a weekend of it and a great evening dinner was held on the Saturday night. Same format in 2006 promises another great weekend break for those lucky enough to sign up early.

Ventnor CC Ground

Aerial Photo