LANCING MANOR CRICKET CLUB

A Pictorial History of the Manor Grounds.


The Manor House, Lancing.
Sold by the original Lloyd family to Lancing College in 1920 for Boarding pupils.
Sold in 1935 to Worthing Council, who by 1972 decided to demolish it so that a leisure centre could be built !


This was the Manor Lodge (gatehouse) in 1910.
Situated on the north side of the 'roundabout' of the Old Shoreham Road and Grinstead Lane.
The road on the right of the white fence was widened and ultimately became the A27.
The road to the left corner of the picture was/is Manor Road...the lodge ?..demolished in the 1930's.


Looking West in the 1940's. Not much is familiar today...Most of the trees
in the picture were destroyed by Dutch Elm disease and the 'great'storm of 1987.


Eastern side of the Manor House in 1950.


Looking North West around 1950. The old Pavilion can be seen in the distance.
Again, most of the trees are long gone.


Another view of the Manor House around 1950.
Looking North East from the southern part of the Manor Grounds.


1972...Manor House surrounded by fencing, being demolished !


From it's earliest incarnation circa 1965 (?) to the present time - Lancing Manor Cricket Club has , like many clubs of a similar size , gone through varying levels of success , on and off the field.

The original Lancing Cricket team had played at the Manor Park since the turn of the century, but for reasons unknown (although some say it was due to ill use of the ground), Lancing CC was evicted from the ground and formed two teams, Lancing Athletic and Sompting who were to play at Monks Rec & Somptiong Rec respectively.
There then was a period when the Manor Park was not used by a resident cricket team, but out of the ruins of Worthing Wednesday CC , (plus players from Lancing Athletic & Sompting and a few pupils from Lancing College) , Lancing Manor CC made their home within the grounds of the Manor House in the mid-1960's, again the exact date is in doubt as many of the original players moved on fairly quickly, and for one reason or another have not kept in touch with the club. To be honest, many of the original players were unhappy with a certain influencial player in the latter part of the 1970's. More of him later.

Unfortunately, as seen in the pictures above, the Manor House itself has sadly been replaced by a Leisure Centre....and the old Pavillion (an old Train Carriage !) was 'burnt down' at more or less the same point in time, in the early 70's. Some of the character of the ground still remains...especially in the form of the Eleven oak trees within the playing area !!

The nucleus of the early years were players who would form the backbone of the team for the next decade . People like Captain Mike Reynolds (6000+ runs) , John Lane (4000+ runs 500+ wkts), John Ray (3000+ runs 300+ wkts) , Bill Winter (3500+ runs 1100+ wkts) , Dave Wood (11000+ runs), Ted Poole (3000+ runs) and Russell Wood (876 wickets @ 10.7 !!) would all play in excess of 300 matches for the club , and in Bill Winter and Dave Wood over 1500 matches between them !! - all of whom were not only very good club cricketers , but the type of player every club needs - those that would get involved with the jobs everyone hates...team secretary/fixture secretary/treasurer/pitch and pavillion maintenance.


1st XI 1970
Reg Phillips, Russell Wood, Roy Loveland, Ted Poole, John Lane, Cyril Ford, John Ray
Barry Harman, Norman Johnson, Mike Reynolds(c), Neil Tomsett, Umpire Bill O'Sullivan

Throughout these early seasons matches were friendlies. Although technically friendlies , many matches showed the way local club cricket was to follow- into a league structure. Many matches in the 60's and 70's showed 'making a game of it' didn't really come into play. Maybe the lure of the pub was the reason why every other weekend a match was finished before tea !! - Manor's 14 all out lasted roughly 45 minutes !

With the advent of a Colts XI in the mid 70's , LMCC developed slowly into a club of 2 XI's - with the ideal format of the 1st XI being for those of a competitive nature who wanted league cricket and the 2nd XI being the place for developing youngsters and those players who played for the love of the game -

During the late 70's one local resident (he lived a six hit due south of the ground) joined the club and would make a lasting impression, not least on removing many long-standing 1st XI players by replacing them with talented colts. That man was Les Lenham the well respected coach and ex-Sussex County Cricket Club Player.

Bringing his first class experience and considerable coaching abilities he turned LMCC into a reasonable force ..at club level ! - not withstanding his own contribution , 4341 runs @ 68.9 and 191 wickets @ 10.4 in over 100 matches including the club top score of 178 not out (made out of 200-3 !!) , his presence also helped the developement of colts such as :- Roger Geal , Chris Prees , Nick Bazen , Martin Gander , Paul Thurston and most significantly John Coles , a tall fast bowler of superb control who would play for the Sussex 2nd XI and is generally thought of as one of the best local bowlers of the last 20 years.


1976 Colts - Worthing And District Champions
Terry Smith, Simon Marchant, Steve Johns, Roger Bellamy, John Coles, Steve Scales, Chris Prees
Stuart Matthewson, Paul Thurston, Roger Geal, Mark Loveland, Dicky Dale(?)

Les Lenham also introduced his young son Neil Lenham to the club - he would play 53 matches (scoring 3 100's and 3 50's before he was 14 !! ) in his 4 seasons at the club.


1st XI 1980
Bill O'Sullivan(u), Steve Scales, Russell Wood, Nick Bazen, Mike Reynolds, Dicky Garrett
Les Lenham, Roger Geal, Paul Thurston, Geoff Stanford(c), Roger Fielder, Chris Prees

Geoff Stanford was club captain/Wicket-keeper during this period and with both Les and Neil Lenham , Prees , Geal , Thurston and Bazen scoring the bulk of the runs , LMCC would pose a pretty formidable batting line up , and in Coles , Lenham snr , Russell Wood , Thurston and Winter , many opposing sides would collapse in the face of such a well balanced bowling attack. Indeed in the period when LMCC first joined the Brighton Cricket League in 1981 to Les Lenham's last with the club in 1984 , LMCC would lose (out of 62 matches) only 6 times in the League. Winning the league in 1982 and only failing to do so in an unbeaten 1983 season when matches were lost to the weather.

After Les Lenham departed at the end of 1984 , the club lost many of its leading players to clubs of greater strength (Coles to Worthing CC) (Geal/Bazen/Gander to Littlehampton) and club struggled for a few seasons. The lowest point being relegated to Division 2 of the Brighton League for the 1989 season after a poor 1988 in which only 1 of 14 league matches was won. The 1989 season saw the return of Coles/Bazen/Thurston and Gander , they joined the newer 'stars' of Steve Eke , Neil Reynolds and Simon Haggis to again create a strong side which was to win Division 2 of the Brighton League when losing only 2 of 15 matches. Indeed the 'class of 1989' had within it's ranks many who had played in LMCC's Evening League side (but not weekend side) of '88 which reached the Knockout Cup Final...only to lose in a reply after a tie !!...

LMCC in 1992 came close to another Brighton League Div 1 championship. Having lost only once in their first 10 matches , Manor were to lose their last 2 matches and finish 3rd.
The team by this time had lost Coles(again)/Haggis/Eke and Gander , but formed a base around Gary Mason (currently 7000+ runs), Danny Griffin (9000+ runs), Chris Salt (8000+ runs) , Dave Smith (7000+ runs) , Steve Luckhurst (3500+ runs 600+ wkts) and Neil Reynolds (17000+ runs 450+ wkts).
A move to a different league brought immediate success in 1995 , having joined the Sussex Championship League , they initially started in Div 2 - this gave opportunity for a potencially successful season - and so it proved. LMCC duly won the league , winning each match they played. Reynolds , Salt and Griffin all averaged over 50 with the bat , and Luckhurst , Jeff Read and Nigel French took 40 wickets between them at an average of 12. Reynolds & Luckhurst also won the respective Div2 batting/bowling trophy's for most runs/wkts.

The last 3 seasons have seen LMCC consolidate in Division 1 of a frequently changing League , the league (now the West Sussex League) has seen many changes in the teams represented as clubs try and find the correct level (within a fairly fragile 'pyramid').

The 1998 season saw a continued consolidation for LMCC with regards to success for the 1st XI - finishing 6th out of 17 in the League , with Luckhurst (somehow) winning Division 1's Bowling Cup with 31 wickets.
Unfortunately the 2nd XI has been sadly in decline for the last few seasons. Not so much as in the strength of the team , ably led by Jaffa Ullah and the batting skills of John Smyth (career Av of 60 !) , but significantly in the number of players available.

From a club able to support 2 XIs on each weekend day (with some thought of a 3rd Sunday XI), the last two years have seen insufficient members for this to be sustained. Indeed only a single Sunday XI has taken the field in the last couple of years-even then sometimes with 10 or even 9 players.

1999 saw much of an improvement on the previous season. Worries regarding the number of players was off-set with the addition of half a dozen regular new players. On the field the 1st XI finished joint 7th in division 1, whilst the 2nd XI, perhaps for to the long term benefit of the team, were relegated to division 3 of the West Sussex League. Sadly 1999 saw the last matches played by Jaffa Ullah after some 30 seasons with the club as he's moved on to a new life in Devon. Sadder news was that of the loss of Bill Winter late in the year. The leading wicket taker for the club with over 1500 wickets spread over 30 seasons, he contributed greatly off the pitch too, with regular maintenance of the pavillion as well as many years as team secretary.

2000 - Saw a greater return on the pitch. The 1st XI finished 4th, with only a last ball defeat at the hands of 3rd placed West Blatchington depriving them of 3rd. Individually, Danny Griffin scored over 1300 runs at 53 with a record 12 fifties and 25 sixes. Dave Baker won the bowling Cup for the 3rd consecutive season, pipping Pete Daly by 1/100th of a run. Neil Reynolds scored 10 fifties in passing 1000 runs. Additionally, Dave Smith, Gary Mason, Nigel French, Jeff Read, Simon Haggis, Chris Salt , Andy Livermore and Steve Luckhurst all contributed to the 1st XI's success.

1st XI.v. Hove Medina May 2000
Steve Luckhurst , Dave Baker , Danny Griffin , Dave Smith , Nigel French , Gary Mason
Chris Dunne , Simon Haggis , Neil Reynolds(c) , Andy Livermore , Jeff Read

The 2nd XI performed admirably, with a mid-table finished to back up full XI's in all but one of their 15 matches. John Smythe won the Batting Cup for the 4th consecutive season, with 596 runs at 74.5. Henry Nelson supported him well with over 300 runs. The bowling honours were shared, with 5 bowlers taking 12 or more wickets. Gordon Collins won the Bowling Cup for the 5th time, with 12 wickets at 18.9.

2001 - Despite what was to many a quite fragmented season, the results on the pitch were still to be commended in view of the small member base. To finish 5th in the league was excellent and had it not been for a couple of silly results (failing to chase West Blatchingtons' 118 by 8 runs) and for a couple of abandoned matches the 1st XI could have finished 3rd.
The 2nd XI, with a much more settled side, finished mid-table in Div 3 and enjoyed their time in due course.

The club has even contemplated moving grounds to the vacated Lower Beeding in order to change leagues, improving as a club in playing and reputation as well as being more attractie to new players. But as seems to be the case in recent years, a good idea was not acted upon and we will start 2002 still in the West Sussex League.
There is again talk of senior/better players leaving to ry their hand at 'better' clubs as the nucleous of the committee members very rarely sees other club members wishing to offer assitance. Hopefully with the AGM coming in March 2002 there will be one or two volunteers on show.

On an individual level, Neil Reynolds won the batting cup for the 6th time, although not since 1995. He scored 1144 runs @ 45 with 4 hundreds & 4 Fifties. Runner-up was Danny Griffin who due to rained off matches fell 26 runs short of 1000 runs for the season. Other notable performances were Nigel French's 269 @ 26.9 and Pete Daly finishing with a batting average of over 30 and a Trophy-Winning bowling haul of 30 wickets @ 12.7.
Chris Salt's also averaged in the mid-40's and but for the rain effecting the last couple of weekends could have challenged Neil for the batting cup.
Jeff Read, Steve Luckhurst, Dave Baker and Nigel French all had days of success with the ball, but all ended with season averages in the early 20's.

The 2nd XI was a familiar story with John Smyth winning the Batting Cup for the 5th year in a row. Jim Kublin's tidy medium pace won him the Bowling Cup for the first time. Chris Dunne was a good addition to the 2nd XI, averaging over 27 with the bat as well as ending up as leading wicket taker.

Seasons from 2003 to 2006 saw a decline in the club never seen previously. Membership numbers reduced as players got older and other interests took over - we rarely saw ex-members playing for other clubs, so one can only presume they gave up altogether ! -
Youngsters came and went and the average age of the team(s) grew year on year. With relegation from Division One of the West Sussex league in 2005 it was clear something needed to be done - it was decided to fold the Saturday 2nd XI, maintaining an XI each day where possible.
This was a good idea until it was clear that we didn't have enough players willing to play both days of the weekend and so more and more matches began to be cancelled on sundays.
Through 2006 it was clear that if we had a Saturday game we couldn't fill a Sunday XI, so a reduced fixture list was compiled.
Relegation from Division 2 to 3 followed as the club's core began to shrink, with the likes of Mason, Griffin, Reynolds, Baker, Livermore and Luckhurst perhaps managing circa 10 games a season.
Jeff Read's emigration to New Zealand was a massive loss, nearly 500 wickets in 12 seasons will unlikely to be replaced - his leg-spinning exploits will be sadly missed.

Reynolds, Griffin, Mason, Baker also featured regularly in the individual honours until 2006 when two new winners emerged - one playing his 20th season, the other, his 1st. Dave Smith's 500 runs @ 32 won his first batting trophy after 20 years of solid play. Wes Sysum stormed into the club as bustling all-rounder, nippy medium pace winning the Bowling cup with 27 wickets to support manic fielding and wristy batting - that also took him to the All-Rounder Cup(!).
A tour to Cork followed the 2005 to Munich - the best ever - with Brussels set for 2007.
Stiff determination will be the focus to get us out of Division 3 as we have too many good players (on their day) to be in the third tier alongside the various teenage XI's performing for the various 3rd & 4th XI's we'll be facing.


Steve Luckhurst.
22/03/07

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