History
Club Team Honours
Saturday 1st XI
League Champions 1975, 1992, 1993
Division 1 Champions 1999
Saturday 2nd XI
League Champions 1982, 1991, 1992, 1995
Premier League Champions 2007
Saturday 3rd X1
League Champions 1993
Premier League Champions 2007
Division One Champions 2006
Division Two Champions 2004
Saturday 4th XI
Premier League Champions 2007
Division 2 East Champions 2004
Sunday 1st XI
League Champions 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006
Under 16's
Matchplay 2004
Brief History of CCC
Chelmsford was one of the original members of the Essex League on its formation in 1972. Traditionally, Chelmsford was a strong club but that tended to be reflected in consistency. In the first 16 years of the league they were First XI Champions in 1975 and Second XI Champions in 1982.
It was also one of the pioneer clubs in setting up a Colt’s section and a stream of good players flowed into the ranks. The torrent reached its height in the early 1990s.
In 1991, Barry Clayden led the First Team to second place and David Carr led the Seconds to the Championship. In 1992 both teams won their leagues and in 1993, the Third Team got in on the act as well, the Firsts retained the title and the only a nasty accident in the final game of the season denied the second team a third straight Championship.
The U16s also reached the Matchplay finals in 1991 and 1993 so the future looked well set. Somehow, it never quite happened - the Second Team this time under Clayden won the league again in 1995 and Tom Iliffe’s 1997 First Team powered by an astonishing 72 wickets from Keith Goodman went through the season unbeaten but finished one point adrift of Wanstead – much of the ‘90s was a period of decline.
After 1998, the league structure changed from two divisions of 20 to four of 10 and Chelmsford found itself out of the top division in all three levels.
The First Team under the leadership of Neil Fergus reacted smartly by winning the Division 1 title in 1999 but all day cricket did not prove to the liking of the older squad members. The rest came to terms rather late and despite ending the season with three wins, they were relegated. Since 2001, they have stayed in Division 1, often flirting with promotion or relegation but usually ending in mid-table.
The problems for the First Team helped the Second Team and they were promoted to the Premier League in 2000. Like the first team they have maintained their level, achieving a runner-up spot in 2006 and following that up with the title in 2007.
Things proved much harder going for the Thirds. They hung in Division 1 for a few years but relegation in 2001 was followed by relegation to Division 3 in 2002. Since then things have gone rather better. Under Dave Chidley’s stewardship the side achieved promotion in 2003 and then the Division 2 title in 2004. Barry Clayden rejoined Chelmsford as Third Team skipper in 2006 and had instant success, the Division 1 title seeing the Thirds into their Premier Division for the first time. First contact proved fruitful as the league was won on the final day of the season.
The advent of Fourth Team league cricket (in 1998) came too early for a struggling club. It was only in 2004 that Chelmsford finally entered a Fourth team. The first season was fairly spectacular with 14 wins from 14 games in Division 2 East, under the captaincy of Steve Pleasant. That achievement was backed up by promotion from Division 1 in 2005 and a third place finish in the Premier League in 2006. Andy Thurston improved on that in his debut year as skipper, with the fourths completing a hat-trick of Premier League titles in 2007.
Chelmsford now regularly fields a Fifth Team on Saturday’s providing cricket for a lot of members, most of whom have come through the colts system.
Sunday cricket similarly reached a low ebb in the mid-‘90s. To try and solve this Chelmsford were one of the founding members of the Essex Sunday League in 1997. A very young team won all their games to lift the title in 1998 but there were some lean years after that with some exceptionally casual cricket. The 2001 campaign was probably the most inept performance by any Chelmsford team. Since then, things have improved markedly, winning 26 consecutive matches to win Division 1 East in 2002 and the Premier division in 2003 and 2004. The Premier Division title was won again in 2006.
From struggling to field any sides at all on Sunday’s in the late ‘90s the health has improved markedly with at least two sides and fairly frequently three playing on this day.
The key to the two transformations of the club has been the state of the Colts section. This section was neglected in the salad days. The talent that was there was under-developed and forced to play with struggling adult sides.
The Club President Roy Cheek kept some semblance of youth cricket going and with the recruitment of Eddie Lawrence as a coach, the first step back was taken. A stormy development meeting in 1999 laid the foundations for the future. The discussions in this may have been rather poisonous but the results were positive.
It was decided to concentrate maximum energy on the Colts section and use the great advantage of Chelmer Park; three home pitches and the space this needs. The plan enabled the coaching skills of Keith Goodman to be utilised but most importantly encouraged the return to coaching duties of Bob Shortman. Just as he had been in the 1970s and 1980s, Bob is the guiding light for young players but is also now able to help integrate them into the adult club, acting as captain of the Fourth team for several years and since the Fourths entered the league, the Fifth team.
There are now over 100 registered Colt members and given the numbers involved, two training nights each week. There are two teams at the under-11, under-13 and under-15 age groups plus the under-16 Matchplay side. Since 2002, there has been continuity with Eddie Lawrence, Bob Shortman and Peter Drain successfully coaching the Under 16, under 15 and under 11 sides whilst Alistair Fergus organises the under-13s. In 2007 there will be a slight change with Darren Thompson and Barry Clayden taking over the Matchplay team.
Many young players have forced their way into the high league sides and many more should follow. The high watermarks of achievement have been back-to-back victories in the Under 15 Essex Cup in 2004 and 2005 and a superb Matchplay win in 2004.
Club Records (Subject to Confirmation)
Batting
Highest Score in Any Game: 256* Nick Bailey U16 Matchplay v Ardleigh Green (H) 2005
Highest score in League: 232* Steve Pleasant 4th XI v Hornchurch 5ths (H) 2005
Most League Runs in a Season: 925 Robbie Dalrymple (1st XI 2003)
Bowling
Best Bowling in Any Game: 10-37 Ian Hare 4th XI v South Woodford
Best Bowling in League: 9-26 Bob Shortman 1st XI v South Woodford 1993
Most League Wickets in a Season: 72 Keith Goodman (1st XI 1997)
Club Player Honours
Batting Award - Allen Jerman Trophy:
2000 - T. Jones, 2001 - R. Iliffe, 2002 - D. Chidley, 2003 - R. Dalrymple, 2004 - A. Rycroft, 2005 - P. Jones, 2006 - D. Thrift
Bowling Award - Spencer George Memorial Trophy:
2000 - M. Poole, 2001 - D.P. Goddard, 2002 - E.W. Lawrence, 2003 - E.W. Lawrence, 2004 - U.S. Pandya, 2005 - E.W. Lawrence, 2006 - M.E.T Coups
Club Person of the Year:
2000 - P. Jones/R. Shortman, 2001 - J.R. Dench, 2002 - R.A. Davies, 2003 - S.C. Doe, 2004 - Mr & Mrs S.N. Pandya, 2005 - J.R. Dench, 2006 - P.J. Drain
Young Player of the Year:
2002 - M. Thurston, 2003 - G. Chidley, 2004 - C. Prowting, 2005 - R. Hayto, 2006 - M. Drain