The History of WHCC

Weoley Hill Cricket Club was formed in 1929 as part of the development of the Weoley Hill estate. It was one of a number of sports and community activities which were developed in this era for residents of the estate to become members of. The Weoley Hill area is managed overall by the Bournville Village Trust which was set up in 1901 to oversee on behalf of the Cadbury family, the standard of housing & environmental issues within this & the Bournville area generally. It makes this area, 5 miles south of Birmingham City Centre, a very pleasant & desirable place to live in. From its formation, through the war years & up to 1950 , only Saturday cricket was played by one regular team with a second team being put out during the main summer period. In 1950 local residents were canvassed as to whether they would accept Sunday cricket being played & fortunately there was general agreement, provided the cricketers weren't too noisy! In the late 1960 's a regular Sunday 2nd XI was formed to not only allow the increase in membership to play but also give flexability for those players who worked on Saturdays. League matches were first played in a midweek league in the 1980's & it wasn't until 1993 that the club had no option but to start playing weekend league cricket. Initially Saturday league cricket was played in the West Midlands 3rd XI Championship & the club successfully won their way up the leagues. In 1999 the club joined the Warwickshire League to further develop the playing side & in 2004 Sunday cricket will be played in the Arden Cricket League. Two features that the club has successfully built up over the years, is it's youth development programme, where young people have been properly coached and trained in cricketing skills. Many of these individuals have gone on to represent the club at senior level. The other has been the steady improvement of all the club facilities & equipment. This has been achieved through recieving grants etc. & a lot of voluntary work put in by the members. These improvements have ensured that the club members are able to organise some excellent social events which are well recieved & add another dimension to the cricketing side. Weoley Hill Cricket Club is successful because of the way members have been pro-active both on & off the field & have quite rightly earned respect & acknowledgement from the many clubs they have played against both in the past and the present.