Cricket in East Meon is almost as old as the game itself. There is reference to a match in1796 between a combined East Meon and Petersfield side and a combined Hambledon and Portsmouth side. Where cricket was played in the village in the 18th and 19th centuries and how enduring it was is not known, but it was clearly thriving at the end of the 19th century when in 1894 the Charity Commission approved a scheme for the exchange of a ’fuel and field garden allotment’ on Oxenbourne Down for the present cricket ground on land then known as Pill Meadow. The scheme laid down some some quite demanding rules including:
”(7) Persons of known profligate character, intoxicated persons, and beggars shall be excluded from the ground.” In 1958 a new scheme made the Parish Council trustees of the ground .
East Meon Cricket Club is a thriving enterprise whose every match is recorded. Click here for the club’s website, where you can find a summary of the history of EMCC..
The pictures on this page are from the past, and we would welcome more.
The Westbury House team caption suggests that it belongs in West Meon. The House is in East Meon ….
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