Sway Cricket Club is a friendly yet competitive cricket club located in the village of Sway situated in the heart of the New Forest National Park. The club runs 4 adult teams in the Hampshire Cricket League, 6 Colts teams (Girls, U9s, U11s, U13s, U15s and U17s) and Kwik Cricket sessions for the youngest players. On the pitch the club has gone from strength to strength in recent years, nevertheless, the club strives to be at the heart of the local community as well as maintain the true spirit of the game. 

The earliest origins of the club are unfortunately lost  in the sands of time, however, like many of the surrounding New Forest villages it seems likely that cricket was being played at least from the mid to the late 19th century. Dura to the very rural nature of Sway at the time, it seems that cricket was a relative late starter in the village compared with the larger, more prominent towns and villages such as Brockenhurst, Lyndhurst and Lymington who were playing at the beginning of the 19th century at the latest. The earliest record of a game yet discovered was recorded in the July 26th 1873 edition of the Hampshire Advertiser:

"Sway C.C. v Milton C.C

The return match between the above clubs was played on Monday at Sway and was won by the former, who obtained a majority of 59 runs over their opponents. The total scores were Sway 79 & 97, Milton 60 & 57. We are unable for want of space to give further details."

Significant in the above report is the use of the "C.C.". At the time there were regular games of cricket between groups of players from villages e.g. "a team of gentleman from the New Forest" but the use of C.C. clearly implies that there was a formal club in existence at this time.

It is very likely that Sway's home games at the time were played on the field at Pitmore Lane and not only is it a flat an open site, but by 1897 a building marked on old maps as a "pavilion" was erected at the site. There are then records of the Club competing locally in the run up to WW1 at which point presumably there was a break.

The Middle Years

By 1937 Sway was competing in the Alderman Stone Cup (which is still played today), but it is likely that the Club was playing before then. Presumably there was another break for WW2 followed by a resumption of cricket. We know the Club existed just after the war as we have the "Fielding Cup" from this period inscribed with winners names for a few seasons - in fact we have recently been contacted by former player who played for Sway in 1949 but now lives in the USA. There might have been another break in activity at some point, but there are records of the Club playing friendly but highly competitive matches in the late 60s. The Club first played at a location nr its current ground. When this was for housing in the 70s, the Club reverted to playing at Pitmore Lane before eventually moving to our current ground in 2002. I The club is researching its history and hopefully there will be more details soon - if anyone has any information or memories we would love to hear them!

Read this article on Sway's most senior player, Pete Wright

The Modern Club

Sway Cricket Club in its modern form was re-established in 1992 and has gone from strength to strength ever since. The club is fortunate to be able to play at Jubilee Fields in Sway - a beautiful place to play cricket. The club now has an extensive colts setup from the age of 5 to 17 and now fields 4 teams in the Hampshire Cricket League as well as Sunday and friendly sides. The club was awarded Clubmark accreditation in 2011. The Club has a 5-year development plan and in accordance with this, significant  investments has been made in our facilities. These include an artificial wicket for colts games, a re-laid and re-orientated square, sight screens, covers and both senior and junior bowling machines. The Club is currently working on plans to replace the current pavilion with a new one fit for the 21st century.

The Club's facilities are now on a par with the leading clubs in the area, but despite the growth of the Club we strive to maintain our "village" ethos and the true spirit of cricket - a competitive yet very social and friendly club. New players are most welcome to join.