Penzance enjoys all the Lashings of club cricket
Andrew Lawton looks at how one Cornwall club is spreading its wings across the county
Penzance, formed in 1829, will also be hosting Cornwall versus Herefordshire in the Minor Counties on the final weekend of July
Club, county and community. Those are the three words that the incoming chairman at Penzance Cricket Club wants to instil across the length and breadth of Cornwall.
Neil Tregarthan has already ploughed over £200,000 into the club which has a duo of former first-class cricketers in Brad Wadlan and Greg Smith leading things from a cricket perspective.
But the ambitions of Penzance CC seem to stretch far beyond just a 22-yard wicket and an outfield – they’re looking to grow throughout the wider town and the rest of Cornwall. The famous Lashings touring team will be visiting the St Clare ground on July 26, in a bid to attract new fans and players to this fast-developing club.
Penzance, formed in 1829, will be hosting Cornwall versus Herefordshire in the Minor Counties Championship on the final weekend of July.
The nearest Cornwall gets to first-class cricket remains Somerset, but they are two and a half hours away in Taunton so such events are seen as crucial to developing the game locally.
It’s all part of a major project to expand and grow the club, according to first-team captain Wadlan, who has been playing for Cornwall for two years.
“We had an ECB grant for new nets facilities and Neil’s put money in to help redo the club rooms with new sofas and there’s new machinery for the ground,” said Wadlan.
“He used to play here when he was young and he’s retired and come back to the area. He’s chairman from this coming season and he wants to see the club thrive. It’s definitely very exciting, there’s a lot other things that are in the pipeline as well. There’s a new cafe/function room to serve lunches and coffee, which will be open five days a week.
“And we have had planning permission to go ahead with a £1.2m cricket facility at the ground, so come September or October we will begin looking into building that facility.
“The main use of it will be cricket, but it will be multi-sport so netball, bowls, badminton and other local sporting clubs can use it as well.
“The chairman keeps going back to ‘club, county and community’ – he wants to integrate all three to make the club sustainable.
“He’s desperate for Cornwall cricket to improve, he’s putting the money in and doing the things he has because he wants to see Cornwall cricket thrive and produce first-class cricketers.”
Wadlan has been a Cornwall player for the past two years and used to play in Bridgend, before agreeing to join Penzance in July last year.
He’s previously played first-class cricket for the Unicorns, but is now concentrating on his coaching career, having spent the last eight winters overseas developing his trade.
Wadlan will be working closely alongside former Derbyshire and Essex man Smith, the club’s director of cricket, who has also set up a cricket academy in the area.
And with an ECB National Club Championship game against Devon side Bovey Tracey on April 23, as well as a Premier Cup fixture against reigning Cornwall champions St Just six days later, Wadlan is determined to hit the ground running. With that in mind, he’s organised an escape from the inevitable early-season rain, gloom and cold, with a pre-season tour to La Manga in southern Spain.
“The tour was an idea I brought up in October, we were thinking of a tour that would bring the club together,” explained Wadlan.
“As soon as I put it out there, there was interest from 45 people and when the dates were sorted, we had 30 people going from the playing side of things.
“It’s all about taking two teams and giving them a huge opportunity to put themselves forward at the beginning of the year and find some form. One of the main things come April is that the weather is so 50-50, we may not be able to get outside, but going away we can do all our drills and stuff. It’s quite a big start come the second and third week of April, so we want to do everything we can to prepare for those games.
“We’ve also signed four of five players, so we have a squad of 14 or 15 people trying to play first XI cricket – it’s very competitive which is exciting.”