Sadly there are no longer any early records to hand of the club which allegedly played in the 1830’s on a number of pitches in and around Sandy. However it is believed that cricket was originally played somewhere around 1837 and an old almanac (held by SHRG) dates the club competing in 1882.
Sandy CC has a proud history of playing cricket in East Bedfordshire dating back many decades with our most successful period being the late sixties and early seventies when we featured in some of the most famous cup finals of the generation. During that period, The Millman Cup, Hospital Cup and East Beds Shield were all won with a much renowned and revered side under the captaincy of Richard Banks and Ted Smith based at “The Rec” on Bedford Road. Where we drew crowds of over 2000 on occasion! We were a club to be reckoned with and at one stage boasted 5 minor counties players (Bichener, Darlow, Foulds, Parker and Kettleborough). They were forced to move in 1977 when the council allowed an estate to be built next to the ground in Cedar Gardens and so it was resited at The Sunderland Road Recreation Ground, where it is today. In current times, Sandy are fortunate to boast the best pitches for miles around and 2009 saw the introduction of a brand new purpose built pavillion, changing facilities and an electronic scoreboard. That year, Sandy were playing Saturday cricket in the Millman Trophy Division 1 (the top division) and Sunday cricket in the Bedfordshire County League Division Four. In 2010 and 2011, the club fielded a Development team on Saturdays and played fixtures outside of the Millman Competitions.
For the 2012 Season, our Saturday XI played competitively once more, having joined the Bedfordshire Invitation Saturday League in Division 3 and gained promotion to Division 2 for 2013. The Sunday XI continued in the County League Division 4, from which we were always keen to secure promotion but unfortunately a lack of player availability means we no longer field a Sunday side. During the winter months, Sandy has participated in the Bedfordshire Indoor League Division Four and were lucky enough to win and therefore gain promotion to Division Three in the 2018/2019 season.
After an unexpected and short 2020 season, the 2021 season saw Sandy field two Saturday XI’s once again. The 1st XI came top of the Bedfordshire Invitational Saturday Cricket League Division One, only losing one game all season. The 2nd XI (our development side) finished in the lower half of Division Three. Within our club, we have a major focus on youth development and previously, we have had teams competing at U10, U12 and U14 level of the Bedfordshire Youth League. . Training and development for our 5+ players will also continue. See here for more information on our dedicated junior training programme.