Ashford Cricket Club

Visit www.stonehill-pools.co.uk

The Story of Ball Lane - by Bill Day

In the Beginning

The perception of a ground share arrangement between Ashford Cricket Club and Ashford Hockey Club began in the early 1980s when the hockey club were renting the use of the cricket club's facilities at Barrow Hill, Ashford.

Since the last War, the hockey club had played matches on grounds at Westwell Lane and Willesborough before coming to an arrangement with the cricket club to use Barrow Hill in the winter months. But it was always their wish to have their own headquarters with more pitches and better facilities than could be provided at the cricket club.

At the same time, the cricket club's use of the Barrow Hill ground was becoming untenable with housing development beginning to encroach on all sides of the perimeter fencing. The threat to the safety of residents and pedestrians from flying cricket balls was a problem, and with a cricket square providing 14 pitches only, the need to encourage youth and boost playing membership was becoming increasingly difficult. Also, the cricket pavilion was in need of urgent and costly renovation.

At a time when many sports grounds in towns all over the country were selling-up to developers and moving out of urban areas, it was the belief of the two clubs that they would probably be better off elsewhere if another ground could be found, though this was driven more by hockey club ambition than by the cricket club, who were happy on the old ground.

The Big Move

The hockey club combed a 20-mile radius in their efforts to find a suitable new home. Their search ended at the gates of Ball Lane, Kennington - 2.7 miles from Barrow Hill - where 22-acres of farmland was available for a change of use.

They purchased 11 acres and rented 11 more in 1981. The hope was that the cricket club would share the use of lands which would subsequently provide two cricket squares and a football pitch to accommodate the soccer section of the cricket club.

In 1983 the hockey club opened their new pavilion. They had also laid some of the finest grass hockey pitches in the county. The cricket club sold Barrow Hill in 1987, playing their final match there in September that year. They moved to Ball Lane in 1988.

It was felt by both clubs that joint enterprise was essential if the 22-acre site was to reach its full sporting potential. The sharing of ground income, facilities and goodwill was achieved through the establishment of a joint Ball Lane Pavilion Club management committee, constituting three elected representatives of the cricket club and three from the hockey club. That body controlled the management of the buildings and ground. The BLPC received all the income and paid all the bills and the two clubs contributed equally to compensate for any shortfall. All income from the artificial pitch was shared equally in a 50-50 split.

From the start, both clubs were anxious to retain their own identities rather than merge. Under the umbrella BLPC, they continued to run their respective clubs as separate entities, each with a chairman and committee.

The First Match

The first match was played on 23rd April, 1988, the cricket club making use of the second square in that first season, while the main cricket ground was being levelled and prepared for first use in the 1989 season.

Ashford Hockey Club held their 90th anniversary dinner on the ground in October 1988, a festive occasion full of optimism for the next 90 years. Building work began on the new cricket pavilion in February 1989 and seven months later the building was officially opened by Colin Cowdrey, the legendary former England and Kent batsman.

At that time it was clear that the development of Ball Lane would fall short of its ultimate objective unless the hockey club could achieve their ambition to build a floodlit artificial multi-purpose pitch, an essential facility for the development of the game at club and international level. A magnificent astro-turf pitch, costing £230,000, was laid in the early 1990s.

Franchise Bar Arrangement

From the beginning, running bars on a voluntary basis was becoming a problem. The task of worrying about stock, VAT returns, security and other aspects of running a successful bar in a private members club was handed to Tony Post on a franchise arrangement. In his first four years, he provided the clubs with £48,000. By January 2000, he had contributed £27,000 to each club over a five-year period.

The cricket club decided to run its own bar on a voluntary basis in season 2000. Tony Post remained in charge of the hockey club bar in a private arrangement based on turnover. At the time of writing, the cricket club bar is run by volunteers.

Beautiful Cricket Ground

Breathtaking panoramic views of the North Downs sweeping east towards Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel contribute to the cricket club's reputation for providing one of the most attractive grounds in the south-east. The success of the tree-planting scheme, which accompanied the development of the buildings and lands, has led to the growth of mature trees that are now an increasingly attractive feature of the ground.

The Ball Lane ground is now rated one of the best Kent League cricket grounds. For several years it hosted Kent County Cricket Club second team championship matches, representative matches, colts age group matches, and summer cricket coaching seminars, backed by the county club. The England Women's cricket team made full use of the ground to prepare for two winter tours.

Similarly, the hockey club have hosted Kent Cup finals, countless festivals, junior, senior and veteran; summer schools; and many other red-letter events in their playing calendar.

The vision, passion, determination and hard work of both clubs to develop this fine sports facility for the town was recognised memorably in September 1989 when the late Lord Cowdrey officially opened the cricket pavilion before attending a commemorative lunch.

He said: "This is one of the most beautiful sports grounds I have seen, a wonderful facility, and long may it flourish. It is a tribute to the combined efforts of the cricket and hockey clubs, and a pointer to the way sports grounds will probably need to be developed to make them a viable proposition in the future."

(Bill Day was Chairman at the time of the move from Barrow Hill to Ball Lane).