FLAMINGO CRICKET CLUB

The Flamingo Cricket Club was formed at a meeting held at the Crown Hotel, Eastleigh on December 7th, 1959. Those present included a few members of the Eastleigh NALGO Cricket Club who were unhappy with the direction their club was going. Why Flamingo? No-one seems to know, other than that it seemed to be as good name as any.

The meeting set the annual subscription at 10/- (50p) for senior members and 5/- (25p) for juniors. It was also agreed that a sum of five pounds should be set aside as the start of a future development fund and that an invitation be extended to the ladies of the club to form their own Ladies Section to run "off field activities and fund raising". This proved to be a very shrewd move, as after more than ten years of playing at the Bishopstoke ground, the Ladies Section raised sufficient funds to enable the club to obtain the lease of a ground of their own at The Holt, Upham, recommended by a former player, Sam Crook, in late 1973.

Up to that time, the club played in the Eastleigh & District Evening League, had an extensive programme of friendlies and from 1961, enjoyed 22 successive years of annual week long tours to Sussex , S

omerset , and Devon .

In 1973 the club became a founder member of the Hampshire Cricket League and entered the South-East Division.

With the acquisition of The Holt, extensive efforts by members of the club, including Stan Brambley, Alec Bennett, Joe Todd and Peter Lynham, saw them build a new pavilion and develop the playing area sufficiently for them to start playing friendlies there in 1975 and league fixtures in 1978.

In those early years at The Holt, there was no water or electricity at the ground. The supply of electricity was acquired as soon as possible, but water had to be brought to the ground in large containers for many years until the mid-1990s, when a grant from the National Lottery enabled the club to sink a borehole and procure their own supply of water. Continued improvements, both on and off the field, saw the club presented with the Hampshire Cricket League's “Ground of the Year” award in 1998.

The club was twice strengthened by mergers. In 1976 Eastleigh Corinthians joined forces and brought with them four players who became Flamingos legends – Pat Bowyer, destructive opening batsman, Alan Hickman, tearaway left-arm fast bowler who was reinvented as a slow left-arm spinner, Brian Short, who took hundreds and hundreds of wickets – all from the Stephen's Castle Down End – and Peter Lynham, top class fielder and consistent batsman.

A second merger with long-lasting benefits was agreed with Monksbrook CC in 1995, bringing with it, among many others, Dave Wright, Jeff Yarney and John Pattison – currently Club Secretary – who are still with the club.

The players have been fortunate for many years to have a succession of devoted and hard-working ground staff, producing reliable pitches and outfields. Alec Bennett, Peter Lynham and Brian Short did a superb job and were followed in 2004 by Terry Trodd, formerly Head Groundsman at Havant and BAT Sports, who persuaded the club to invest in relaying most of the pitches. Sadly Terry passed away in September 2008 before his work was complete, and his knowledge and leadership will be impossible to replace.

Steady progress by the Club through the divisions of the Hampshire Cricket League, mostly led by the inspirational Colin Barrett, saw them eventually win the County Division 1 Championship under the captaincy of Stuart Shapland in 2000 and gain promotion to the Southern Electric Premier League Division 3. Following relegation in 2004 - the club's first ever setback – and another in 2008 , the 1 st XI will be back in County Division 2 in 2009, with the 2 nd XI in Regional Division 2 North East.

The Club formed a Colts Section in 1978 and it flourished for ten years. After a brief period of dormancy, it was revived in 1995 as part of the Monksbrook merger and has proved to be a very productive source of players to the two senior XIs, to Winchester & District squads and recently to Hampshire County squads in the form of Steve Wright, 1 st team opening bowler, who has progressed through the age groups to the Under17s. Currently there is no Colts section and a top priority for the club is to reform at least one age group as soon as possible.

As well as the County Division 1 Championship in 2000 and the Ground of the Year Award in 1998, the Flamingo Club won the Winchester & District Tichborne Trophy in 2000 and were runners-up in the Hampshire Cricket League's Noel Fisher Trophy in 1978 and 2001.

Other key figures in the club's history have included Stan Brambley, the first Captain, who provided great leadership as Chairman and President until his death in 2004, his wife Eileen, who fulfilled the crucial role of Scorer for so many years, and Tim Gover, who masterminded the great borehole operation and whose sons Paul and Matt were outstanding players before moving on the Havant CC in the Southern Premier League. Stuart Shapland – whose father Brian was another former Eastleigh Corinthians stalwart - has also moved on the SPL, with Old Tauntonians & Romsey CC. Matt has now returned the club and perhaps Paul and Stu will do the same one day.

Flamingo Cricket Club
Hampshire League champions 2000
Winchester & District C.A. Tichborne Trophy winners 2000
www.flamingocc.co.uk
Founded 1959

Affiliated to:
England & Wales Cricket Board
Hampshire Cricket Board
Hampshire Cricket League
Winchester & District Cricket Clubs' Association

Don Broomfield, Eric Carpenter, Michael Chamberlain,
Paul Emmerson, Mr & Mrs V L Gregory, Peter Hibbert,
Bridget Lynham, Neil Jenkinson, Sir Richard Pelly, David Rees,
Alf Short, Brian Short, Jackie Short, Mike Vimpany

Joe Todd (1988), Tim Gover (1996), Jason Dodd (2005), Terry Trodd (2006), Dave Wright (2009)