Following the publication of John Carter’s “A History of the Club 1860-1996”, we were relegated from the B Division in 1996, and stayed there until 2003 after finishing C Division runners up in 2002.
The colts section had become dormant in the 1990s and was relaunched by James May and Jock Spry in 2001 and entered the East Devon Youth League for the first time two years later. Younger energy was injected into the committee, with Charles Kislingbury taking over as chairman in 1999. Thorverton signed an overseas for the first time in 2001 with Mark Nicholson joining from Australia. A club reunion was held in 2002 and Simon Molineux, John Carter, Charlie Andrews and Mike Denford were all awarded life memberships.
The pub competition was introduced in the early 2000s and proved to be a fantastic addition to the season schedule, as both a great social occasion for the local area, and providing much needed funds for the club
Following promotion, the club entered a steady period of decline. The 1st XI had plummeted to the depths of the fifth tier of the Devon League (D Division West/East) by 2006, following two successive relegations & bottom placed finishes in the B Division in 2004 and the C Division in 2005. The second XI had also fallen to the D Division East (the fifth tier of second XI cricket before the all-through league) following relegation in 2006.
The club sadly lost honorary life member, former chairman and 1st XI captain Simon Molineux in 2004, who had been a member for 40 years, amassing 25,000 runs and taking 1,200 wickets during his career. The Molineux memorial fixture was introduced, initially between a Thorverton XI & a Simon Molineux XI. This later evolved into the Molineux & Carter Memorial Fixture.
With the youth from the colts starting to come through, the second XI were promoted back to the C Division in 2008. Under the stewardship of James Meredith and then Gareth Hess, the 1st XI secured back to back promotions in 2009 & 2010 to reach the B Division again. Around this time the new artificial practice net facilities were installed and a bowling machine purchased, providing a much improved training environment for both senior and colts teams. John Hill also joined the club as groundsman and this lead to a great improvement in the club’s traditionally low-keeping wicket. The wickets that John prepared lead to the club winning B Division club of the year in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The club celebrated it’s 150th anniversary in 2010, with a number of events and special fixtures. A well attended club reunion was held, as well as fixtures against a former players XI, a Devon League XI and MCC. We beat MCC by 37 runs in a rain affected match on 11th August.
We sadly lost President John Carter in our 150th year at the age of 80. John had been involved in the club for 56 years, serving as chairman for 31 of those and also as groundsman for 40 years. He was honoured with the John Carter gate at the entrance to the ground.
By 2010, the number of youth players coming through the colts system and into senior teams had steadily grown to the point the club was able to introduce a third XI. The first season was a solitary season in the South Devon League, followed by entry into the Devon League in 2011. The 3rd XI played fixtures at Newton St Cyres for a season before moving to Witheridge. The XI ran until 2017 under the captaincy of James May. There are hopes that the 3rd XI will return at some point in the future.
3 Thorverton colts, Harry Choules, Gill Crouch and Alistair Chilcott werre all selected for the Devon U15s tour to South Africa in 2010, a real credit to how the colts system had evolved since being restarted 8 years earlier.
2010 also saw the club pick up silverware in T20 cricket, winning the Exeter Evening League, beating Exeter CC in the final at the County Ground, to complete an impressive double after winning the C Division.
The early 2010s saw a period of consolidation in the B Division after a few turbulent years in the Devon League. The 2nd XI were strengthened as colts filtered through and won the C Division under Jock Spry’s captaincy in 2013. We also entered a “Last Man Stands” team and won the Devon competition. We narrowly lost in the South West semi finals at Taunton Deane.
Jock Spry was awarded the national “Heartbeat of the Club” OSCA award in 2015 for services to cricket. He was also honoured by the club with an honorary life membership.
2016 saw the start of a major drive to improve facilities at Station Ground with the addition of roll on wicket covers. This was followed by an electronic scoreboard in 2020 and a full renovation of our net faculties in 2021. WiFi was also added to the clubhouse. We were absolutely delighted to purchase the ground on 25th August 2017, adding long term security to TCC. Charles Kislingbury was awarded with an honorary life membership for services to the club in his 20th year of chairmanship.
The colts section was expanded with the introduction of the ECB initiatives All Stars and Dynamos Cricket, which have been successful and continue to grow.
2019 was nearly the perfect season; the 2nd XI won promotion from the F East Division, but the 1st XI cruelly missed out on promotion by 2 points.
The club started the 2020s in style, first winning the swiftly arranged T20 Covid Cup in 2020, winning all 5 matches played. Ladies Soft Ball Cricket was started in 2021, with the ladies team playing and winning their first 3 matches in a festival at Budleigh Salterton. The double was then secured with two major pieces of silverware, the B Division title and Corinthian Cup in 2021.
Thorverton played in the second tier of Devon Cricket for the first time since 1990 in 2022, finishing 6th, as the 2nd XI won the E Division East title. Thors retained the Covid Cup in 2022, following 5 T20 wins in 6 matches. The 2022 season also saw the Ladies soft ball team enter the Devon Women’s soft ball League for the first time. The square was completely relaid following the season. 2023 saw Thorverton retain the Covid Cup and consolidate in both the A & D Division East. There was much sadness at the club following the passing of legendary groundsman John Hill.
A growing amount of playing members enabled the club to re-introduce the 3rd XI for 2024, with an arrangement made for the 3s to play at Merryfield, home of Clyst Hydon.
Thorverton Cricket Club 