Introduction
Newhaven Cricket Club in its present form was started in the 1870's. Prior to the 1870's what is now the recreation ground was unused marsh land. In 1864 work began on building Newhaven Fort - Sussex's largest ever work of defence. Most of the six million bricks used in the fort's construction were made using clay dug from the marsh. The cleared, open land that was left was then passed on to the people of Newhaven for the purposes of playing cricket by Lord Sheffield.
Lord Sheffield
Lord Sheffield owned a lot of land around the Meeching chalk quarry and Hillcrest area as well as other parts of the town. It was he who juggled with the military to release the land for the recreation ground and when it was ready with its new cricket pitch, it was his Sheffield Park Eleven who played the first match against Newhaven on their new home ground.In the late 1800's the Earl of Sheffield staged cricket matches in part of the gardens of his estate a few miles north of Newhaven. The first Australian and South African cricket test teams to play in England often began their campaign by playing Lord Sheffield's Eleven at Sheffield Park. Lord Sheffield's team included W.G. Grace. The last match played against Australia at Sheffield Park was attended by the Prince of Wales and over 25,000 spectators.
The oldest recorded match at Fort Road was in 1877 when, on 6 July: Newhaven played away against Rottingdean with the home match against the same opposition being played the following week on 13 July.
Other Founding Members
Another founder member was Walter Quaife who, although starting his cricketing career with Newhaven then moved onto play for Sussex, but then fell out with Lord Sheffield. Press cuttings from the time covering this incident are in the Newhaven Clubhouse. He moved in 1891 to play for Warwickshire and then later on England. His younger brother, William Quaife, again started with Newhaven, but followed his brother to Warwickshire in 1893, never playing for Sussex. William was named one of the five "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" for 1901 having started his England career against Australia in 1899.
More recently another pair of brothers, Alan and Colin Wells, who again started their cricketing lives with Newhaven, before moving onto Sussex and England. More details of their careers are on the wall in the clubhouse and some of our existing players played with Alan and Colin when they were youngsters. Both are Life Members of the club.
Visit our clubhouse for more information on the Quaife Brothers and other prominent Newhaven Players
Newhaven Youth History
Junior Teams have represented Newhaven in the local Youth Leagues since the early 1970's, although it has only been since 1999 when Gary Dove joined the club that a more formal set-up has been established. We are now proud to boast boys teams at Under 11's, 12's, 14's and 16's together with girls teams at Under 13's and 16's. The girls section started in 2002, but really took off in 2004 when Newhaven Girls Team represented Lewes District in the Sussex Youth Games and won the tournament.
The Clubhouse
The Club's home was built in 1947 and served for most of its life as a cafe. Newhaven CC took over the lease in the 1980's and began a major restoration project in 2010.
As you can see above the clubhouse was looking dated and worn down. This was until in 2010 when a plan was retore the clubhouse to its former glory.
With three months of restoration work complete the clubhouse is now returned to its original facia - along with electronic scoreboard and flower beds.