History

The Cricketer Cup was conceived in 1966 by Tony Winlaw, currently their President, and Henry Lewis. Together they persuaded Ben Brocklehurst, owner of ‘The Cricketer, and E.W. ‘Jim’ Swanton, its editor, to support their idea of providing for public school alumni cricket clubs the equivalent of the Halford Hewitt in golf and the Arthur Dunn for soccer. The first competition was played in 1967, won by the Repton Pilgrims. Originally for 16 schools, the Cricketer Cup proved so popular that it was extended to 32 teams in 1969. The most significant organisational change came in 2003 when ‘The Cricketer’ was bought by ‘Wisden’ and the parent company made it clear it would no longer support the Cricketer Cup. The participating schools therefore took control of their own destiny, forming their own committee and drawing up their own rules. It was decided to keep the name in tribute to Ben Brocklehurst, who did so much to get the competition established and presented a fine silver trophy for the winners. In 2017 the Cricketer Cup celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with a splendid dinner for 800 people in London and a further celebratory event at the final that August at Arundel.