Horsted Keynes Cricket Club: Where cricket's past meets its future

Research conducted last year unearthed a manuscript revealing a cradle of cricket in south-east England amid the heavily wooded Weald region of Kent and Sussex.

Historians believe the earliest variations of the game were invented by children and shepherd’s in Saxon and Norman pastoral farmlands.

Hambledon Cricket Club in Hampshire, formed around 1750 at its original Broad-Halfpenny Down site, is viewed as the epicentre of 18th century cricket. Earlier origins though date back to the late 15 and early 1600s in the Home Counties and the South-east.

That ‘cradle’ is Horsted Keynes Cricket Club, a wholly volunteer-run facility sited on an unassuming little ground in a village more notable regionally perhaps as one of the stations on the Bluebell Line heritage railway linking Sheffield Park with the East Grinstead main network.

Club treasurer Bob Willard Watts unearthed Horsted Keynes’ cricketing roots through painstaking research. Having recently stepped down as head groundsman, he passed the baton to Edward Long, who tells me how 21st century technology is transforming site management, safeguarding the future of grassroots cricket and supporting sustainable practices.

Now a pilot for EasyJet, Ed had been working on farms locally before undertaking groundcare duties at a school “just to earn some money”.

“I was an all-rounder playing for the club when I took over from Bob as head groundsman nearly four years ago and still play when I have the time,” he says.

Currently well placed in the Sussex Division 7 Central league, the club stages a game most weekends, with junior fixtures held during the week.

“Our colts are thriving,” Ed notes. “Set up three years ago, they number over 40 now in the under 6s, under 8s and under 10s age groups with leagues planned to start next year. We had been running All Stars but came out of the programme because we found it too restrictive.”

Ed (right)  is bullish about Horsted Keynes’ future. “We have big plans,” he confides. “Cricket’s in a strong position here, despite competing with larger clubs locally.”

Unusually for a grassroots facility, the club has yet to tap into ECB funding but that’s set to change, Ed explains. “Although we run a number of social events during the season, including a summer ball, it’s time to replace our

very old clubhouse with modern provision – that project, set to start soon, will improve facilities, especially for junior and female players and will give us access to the funding sources we’re currently ineligible to apply for.”

Summer is aviation’s most demanding period, and Ed has a punishing flying schedule at the very time the ground needs most attention. “Fortunately I have an assistant, Jack Bacon, to help me maintain the quality of provision, while Bob still helps out when we’re up against it.

“I suppose we average 10 to 15 hours a week, heavily weighted to the cricket season of course,” but the challenges of keeping up standards prompted the club to search for solutions that would ease the workload by introducing methods to boost groundcare efficiency in the light of so small, though dedicated, a team.

Horsted Keynes’ mission is to become fully electric, one it has so far progressed without funding. Already using battery kit, the club sourced it’s latest acquisition online – one earmarked for a specific task.

“Our tractor and gang mower were ageing and creating issues around maintaining the outfield,” Ed recalls, “becoming more temperamental. We just had to replace them.”

“As we were trying to go all electric, we thought about the best option to ease pressure on grounds staff.” That turned out to be a Mammotion Luba 2 AWD Series robot mower, supplied and subsidised by UK distributor Mower Magic.

“The mower started cutting in May, and it’s been brilliant,” Ed declares. “We’ve pre-programmed it to cut the outfield three times a week, usually through the night, with a break between 10pm and 1am, so it’s safely stowed away as the pub closes!”

Each mowing cycle lasts 16 to 17 hours uninterrupted – the robot operating to previously mapped-out areas of the outfield, before it automatically returns to the charging port for powering up.

“I live 10 minutes’ drive away from the club and can come in if the robot experiences any issues,” Ed explains, “but I usually monitor it remotely from the app on my mobile phone, including access to the camera.”

“The mower monitors itself really and carries plenty of safety features on board. Its four wafer-thin cutting blades are razor sharp and double-edged, so that we can flip them over, before replacing them after a few weeks (the unit came complete with a spare set).

Head Groundsman Edward Long standing, with Club treasurer Bob Willard Watts front left, sitting next to Club Chairman Oli Wright.

“Cut height varies between 25 and 65mm and we can programme the robot to mow at different speeds, but 25mm is perfect for us,” Ed reports.

The club is acutely aware of the importance of maintaining the ground to the levels expected of a cricket hub with designs on the  bigger picture.

“We’ve focused this year on reducing pressure to keep the outfield cut, without over-extending resources at a busy period. Further maintenance is on the back burner for the time-being.

Attention turns to the square, with its nine strips. The Allett Sterling electric pedestrian mower has also proved to be a sound investment, Ed says. “The other machines we trialled didn’t cut the mustard. After purchasing the Allett four years ago, it’s worked brilliantly throughout.”

For cutting perimeters, edges “and underneath tables”, an EGO LM 1914E electric rotary, the club bought two years ago, has ticked the boxes on sustainability and performance too.

Right: Bob Willard Watts and his son Jasper on the pitch roller. Jasper was named after the unfortunate Jasper, hit with a cricket bat in 1626.

Scaling up work on the square starts in the closed season, beginning after the last fixture on 5 September, with Verticutting, rolling and overseeding core tasks taken up by local sports contractor Edwards & Sons, although the square is watered and fed throughout the cricket window.

“We leave everything to re-establish over winter, with a little bit of mowing, seeding and feeding,” Ed explains. “The Allett’s four interchangeable cassettes come in really handy for Verticutting, brushing and cutting, with either six- or ten-blade options.” The one-tonne petrol roller is Horsted Keynes’ sole concession to fossil fuel technology, though they will convert it to electric when funds allow, he adds.

“The club has everything it needs to maintain a high standard of groundcare, plus strimmers and hedgecutters to tend perimeters. The site is quite small and surrounded by housing, so our commitment to electric is neighbourhood-friendly.

Sussex was just entering drought measures when we spoke in late July but their impact on the ground aren’t cause for concern, Ed says. “They don’t affect us massively as we don’t have to maintain surfaces as much as larger clubs.”

When Jasper Vinall was hit on the head by a cricket bat when playing for Horsted Keynes against local side West Hoathly in 1624 in an activity featuring a hook-shaped bat, little could he realise the impact this then-quirky sporting pastime would have across the globe.

“We knew the history of the club,” says Ed, but Bob revealed another level, and thanks to his body of research, conducted in London and elsewhere, we can all enjoy deeper insight into a sport many still view as the heart of England.