Danescourt men aim to make their mark

The sport may trail behind football, speedway and boxing for the city’s affections.

But Hammond, captain of Wolverhampton Cricket Club, believes the interest is there – and he’s keen for his club to exploit it.

A £60,000 makeover of the club’s Danescourt Road ground in Tettenhall will certainly help. The picturesque ground boasts new nets and covers (of county cricket standard) for the players, while fans can watch the action from a charming decking area.

You might even find yourself sitting next to former England captain Ted Dexter who, aged 82, has recently moved to Wolverhampton and become a club member.

Next up, Hammond hopes, will be positive results on the pitch.

A run to the quarter-finals of the National Knockout has helped create a buzz around Danescourt as the current side bid to emulate the legendary Wolverhampton sides of 1973 and 1999 who lifted club cricket’s most prestigious trophy on never to be forgotten days at Lord’s.

Wolverhampton beat The Mote from Kent in their first appearance at the home of cricket and then overcame Middlesex outfit Teddington in 1999.

A home tie with Ockbrook & Borrowash now awaits on August 6 and Hammond, who bagged five wickets in the last 16 victory over Bootle, is hoping it will capture the attention of the city’s cricket fans.

“We just need to get more people to come and watch us now,” he said. “Results will help, people want to see a winning side.

“The new facilities are excellent. With the covers, we’d have eight or nine games called off per season before, but now it’s three or four.

“There’s so much space here and we’ve got the capacity for another 100, 200, 300 people.

“We’ve got to create that buzz, especially on social media and things like that which we’re trying to push and promote more.”

While 62-times-capped legend Dexter is a very welcome addition to the Wolverhampton ranks, it’s future legends that the club wants to produce more than anything.

That said, they’ve helped nurture their fair share of county players in recent years, as 25-year-old Hammond is keen to point out.

“We’ve got Ted here through connections, which is great,” he added. “Dave Lycett and Chris Bowyer have done a great job fundraising and promoting the club on the social side of things, holding a lot of things in the winter as you need to create that revenue for 12 months.

“To have Ted here is lovely. Wine and cheese nights – not many clubs will be doing that! It can only help boost our exposure.

“We’ve also got, hopefully, a few future legends. We’ve had a lot of pros who’ve come through the ranks – I can’t name other clubs who’ve produced the number of first class cricketers that we have.

“In last 15 or 20 years the likes of Tom Fell (currently at Worcestershire), Aneesh Kapil, Vikram Solanki and Chris Russell (all formerly of Worcestershire) have played through the age groups to adult cricket.

“And Birmingham League Cricket is a great place to play your cricket. It’s one of the toughest leagues in the country.

“Plus there’s been a raft of overseas players that have come and go and a few more young stars before my time.”

In the most urban of cities, situated in the football hotbed that is the Black Country, it can be hard for local cricket to get the exposure it deserves.

Hammond believes more competitions between local clubs could help attract interest – and maybe see Wolverhampton Cricket Club competing with Wolves, or Wolverhampton Speedway, for the city spotlight.

“It’s not just us, there are so many good small clubs in the area,” he said. “We should brings those games back because we don’t play half the sides anymore. We might play Himley occasionally but we don’t play Fordhouses, Penn, Wightwick & Finchfield or Codsall as much as we should. There’s the Black Country T20 week but a cup organised with more local teams would be good.

“You associate Wolverhampton with football, speedway and maybe boxing, but the interest in cricket is up there.”