Twickenham Cricket Club is an historic amateur cricket club in Twickenham in the United Kingdom. Twickenham played their first ever game in 1833 when they locked horns with Thames Ditton Cricket Club. A copy of the scorecard from that game hangs in the club's home, the pavilion on Twickenham Green.
Early history
The earliest record of cricket being played in Twickenham dates back to 1735. It is contained in a letter by Lady Suffolk to her husband, suggesting she had learned of the game at Marble Hill House and might practice that afternoon.
The first recorded match played by Twickenham Cricket Club was on 29 July 1833 against Thames Ditton. The two clubs met again for a centenary match in 1933. The match stands unique as the only joint centenary match played by the original teams.
Some early cricket matches were played "For the Honour of the Game" whilst others were played for "A New Ball". Other quirks of the early games include batsmen being "Thrown out" rather than "Run Out" and "Hit Foot" rather than "LBW" or "Leg Before Wicket". What is currently termed as a victory "By and Innings" was then referred to as "Single Handed".
The old score cards show comparatively low scores, with 73 being the highest individual batsman's score for the twenty-year period.
Teams
1st XI
Since 2007, Twickenham's premier side has competed in the Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL), winning promotion from Division 3 in their inaugural season under the captaincy of Jon Varney. Promotion from Division 2 to the MCCL Premier Division followed in 2009 thanks in part to a successful season by ex TCC junior, James Munting. He took 5 wickets on 6 occasions, a standing club record. New captain, powerful top order batsman Carlos Nunes was also very influential. In a dramatic final game of the 2009 season the Twickenham tail were guided from a seemingly impossible position by the experienced John-Pierre Cronje, to achieve the necessary draw against promotion rivals, Southgate CC, to pip them to promotion. The dramatic achievement was immortalised by the opposition's light hearted, comical depiction of how Adolf Hitler may have interpreted the result, on YouTube.
Twickenham found Premier league cricket challenging, lasting just 2 seasons before they were relegated in 2011. The acquisition of Indian Left Arm spinner Parminder Singh in 2012 proved decisive as well as bringing on internal talent as he returned Twickenham CC best bowling figures of 8-18 early on in a season which saw him finish with a bowling average of just 10 runs per wicket taken. Promotion was secured with just 1 defeat all season and 12 victories (2 draws and 3 abandonments due to inclement weather). Singh continued leading the Twickenham attack and the records continued to be broken. In the 2013 season Twickenham finished mid table in the Premiership, thanks in no small part to Singh's record breaking June when he took 18 wickets, the most by any Twickenham bowler in one month. In 2014 Singh took a club record 52 wickets in a season which saw Twickenham finish runners up only to Teddington in the club's highest ever league position.
The Ts have remained in the Premier League since then and in 2023 managed to win their first ever senior Middlesex-wide trophy; the Middlesex T20. They beat Indian Gymkhana and Teddington on the way to a finals' day at Ealing CC on 16 July 2023. Neville Talbot, Pat Dixon, Mayank Malhotra and Gus McKenzie were at the centre of Twickenham's narrow victory against Ealing in the semi-final. The final against Harrow St Mary's was a rather more straightforward affair, Twickenham getting home with 10 balls and six wickets to spare. Adam Mather (2-19) and Malhotra again (2-17) were at the centre of the Ts' bowling efforts, with Dixon (30), Malhotra (29) and Preet Patel (22no) leading the way with the bat.
Other competitive teams
In 2008 Twickenham increased their number of Saturday sides from the long-standing four teams to five. All five now play in the Middlesex County Cricket League. Success of the higher rated teams in the club saw demand for places exceed supply in 2014 and in order to accommodate paid up members, a 6th XI was formed playing friendly matches.
Sunday cricket
Twickenham have traditionally played Sunday friendly cricket. In 2012 Middlesex launched an U21 Development League where eight of the eleven players must be under 21 years of age. In order to encourage participation from the younger generation, Development Cricket is played in coloured kit (Pyjama Cricket) and with a pink ball – similar to televised one day cricket. Twickenham CC won the inaugural season of the competition.
