Horley Cricket Club optimistic ahead of Championship return

Horley’s 1st XI won promotion from the County League Premier Division last season. A key figure in that success was bowler Will Taylor, who joined from East Grinstead and took 48 league wickets at an average of 13.48 including six five-wicket hauls, making him the top bowler in all the Surrey County Leagues. Taylor, who played high level Sussex Premier League cricket with East Grinstead, is confident Horley can thrive in the Championship.

“I don’t think there will be a huge step up, after having had to fight to get out of the league we were in,” Taylor says. “If we apply ourselves and keep playing the same aggressive cricket and try to beat teams instead of waiting for something to happen, we should be able to roll teams in that league and even the next one.”

Taylor was persuaded to join Horley last year by batter Nathan Baily, one of several former Grinstead team-mates who were already there. “I had been injured and had dropped to the bottom of the pile. Nathan called me and I thought I may as well play somewhere I will enjoy it. It’s a trek to get there (he lives on the coast) but it’s a lot more enjoyable so it’s worth it. It wasn’t a huge drop in standard and I was getting a good game every game.”

Horley start the season with an intra-club, 1sts v 2nds friendly on Saturday, 15 April at Horley Row. The 1sts have two further warm-up matches, against Lingfield (home, 22 April) and Sanderstead (away, 29 April), before their opening Surrey Championship Division Five clash, away at Cobham Avorians on Saturday, 6 May.

Before that, the club have another big day in store as their Horley Hackers team which won the Sussex Slam T20 last season is taking on the Surrey and Hampshire T20 champions in the Slamdown at Horsham Cricket Club on Monday, 1 May (11am). Horley enter the Sussex rather than Surrey competition to help limit travel time, and they are looking forward to meeting Dulwich Snow Leopards and Kerala (Portsmouth) in a round-robin, one-day event.

Horley’s 2nds are in County League Second XI Division One again this season, after just missing promotion with a third-place finish last term. They are playing friendlies against East Grinstead (away, 22 April) and South Nutfield (home, 29 April), then begin their league season at home v Sheen Park on 6 May.

Horley 3rd XI, who finished sixth in their debut season in Sussex League Division 11 West (North) in 2022, have a new captain, Kieran Childs and will again play their home games at the Jubilee Pavilion in Copthorne. They start with friendlies against Copthorne (16 April) and away at Alfriston (22 April) before entertaining Crawley in their league opener on 29 April.

Horley welcomes new players of any standard for their men’s, women’s and junior teams. There are Sunday men’s teams as well as the Saturday sides. The junior section takes boys and girls from under-8s upwards. Contact club captain Nick Waddington on 07860 259547.

The club also offers sponsorship opportunities, including advertising boards of various sizes, and for just £20 a company or an individual can sponsor a match-ball and will be mentioned on the club’s YouTube channel (@HorleyCricketClubTV) which has over 3,000 subscribers. Contact club chairman Colin Terry by email, [email protected].