Christopher Rossi

1938 - 2014

Woodpeckers CC is a wandering cricket club, that above all else celebrates the conviviality and camaraderie of village cricket. We play almost every Sunday from April to September, in villages and pubs across the south east of England. We have a fantastic fixture list that includes some of the most beautiful village greens in the country - Tilford, Brook, Headley and Dunsfold to name a few. We also have a midweek game against the Bat and Ball at Hambledon, the cradle of cricket. Our players are a real mixture of ages, between 10 and 77 last year, and we play our games in the right spirit with fun and everyone having a go being the primary objectives. A close finish is always a bonus too.

Our club was formed in 1936 by a group of mainly public school boys who loved cricket, particularly village cricket. It was formed for fun and we still have a lot of it. We really enjoy the social side of the game, whether meeting for a pub lunch before, or beers with the opposition after the game. There is always good banter during the week, with the detailed and entertaining match report keeping people abreast every week. Around sixteen Test players have played for us including Danny Morrison (NZ), Geoff Lawson, Michael Slater (Australia), Ian Bishop (WI) and Aamir Sohail (Pakistan). Speakers at our prestigious dinners have included Gary Lineker, Angus Fraser, Graham Gooch, Nasser Hussain, Mark Ramprakash, Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart, Ian Ward, Ashley Giles and Nick Knight.

The Woodpeckers welcome new players of all abilities. We are also always open to new fixtures...as long as you have a ground, a sumptuous match tea and an excellent public house...