Silverdale Cricket Club

Hello and welcome to the official SNAP Sponsorship profile of Silverdale Cricket Club.

We're delighted to announce that we’ve now partnered with SNAP Sponsorship and we’re looking for sponsors who are excited about affiliating themselves with a growing Staffordshire grassroots cricket club with excellent facilities and a lengthy history.

We strive to craft a partnership with our sponsors that meets their specific objectives, whether that be community gifting, social responsibility (CSR), direct sales or brand building.

We’ll work with you to develop a partnership which meets both your objectives and adds value to our members — supporting our club’s ongoing work in the community to remove barriers and make sport enjoyable, accessible and sustainable for all.

Whatever your motivation, find out more below. Thank you for visiting our profile.
 

Why Sponsor Us?

Membership networking opportunities and increased brand awareness

Do you want to connect with an enhanced target audience? Silverdale Cricket Club has an extensive network of members which is structured through players, supporters and employees. We can boast excellent facilities including a wonderful clubhouse with a well-stocked bar, wooden dance floor, kitchen and buffet area with relaxing views overlooking the cricket ground ⁠— perfect for hosting a sponsored networking event if required.

Silverdale Cricket Club has an array of sponsorship opportunities which can be tailored to meet your objectives. Through sponsorship, our club will promote your company in a wide variety of ways enriching the profile of your business in our community. 

Participation in team sports improves self-esteem, mental discipline and social skills

Silverdale Cricket Club make training and development fun, we encourage our players to support each other and we celebrate individual achievements and success as a whole.

Although exercise and sport in general can have an incredible effect on people’s mental health and wellbeing, research has shown that there are more impactful mental health benefits of team sports.

In addition to wellbeing and the physical benefits of team sports, there are also valuable life skills and lessons young people can learn including manners, respect and boundaries on and off the cricket pitch; practising persistence, meeting new friends and boosting confidence.

We’d love for you to get involved and see the positive impact cricket can have on players.

Get involved in grassroots sport and remove economic barriers making sport affordable and accessible for all

Sponsorship of a grassroots sport delivers a much higher return on investment than traditional advertising. This is because sponsorship allows your business to become directly involved in activities that are highly valued by local consumers.

Consumers are known to form strong positive associations with sponsors who support the development of grassroots sport and contribute to the local community. With eight out of ten consumers preferring to believe in what a company does rather than what it says, it’s easy to see why many businesses are choosing to sponsor cricket clubs like ours as a way of maximising their marketing return.

By directly supporting us, you’re helping to remove economic barriers — making sport affordable, accessible and inclusive for all.

Contact us now to find out more and explore what Silverdale Cricket Club can offer!

The Club Today

Silverdale Cricket Club (SCC) was established over 160 years ago to serve Silverdale and the adjoining communities. The club is committed to providing facilities for the community and to promote the participation of the community in the sport of cricket.

We are incredibly proud of our facilities which have been developed to ensure that there is equal access and opportunity for all. We operate an open-door policy with a very warm welcome to bring new players to the club.

We have worked tirelessly (and will go on doing) to maintain equipment and raise funds to update facilities which are commented upon by our own players, visiting teams and the community. These improvements have brought more players to the club (especially juniors) and we feel any improvements will again raise our profile and attract more new players.

The club provides a real ‘buzz’ within the community throughout the week when matches, training and social events are running. This buzz offers a presence at the site which allows surveillance of surrounding houses and also an opportunity for members of the community to drop in and engage in positive activities, this could be; taking part, spectating or catching up with club members. As a community club the community are heavily involved in the running and supporting of our club.

SCC has a strong foothold in the community as we support and engage so many local people and organisations. We have great support from players, neighbours and families who volunteer time, cash and enthusiasm to develop and support the club. The support we have mustered has enabled us to encourage and grow the most talented young players we have ever come across and develop better facilities to nurture their ability.

Silverdale Cricket Club is an ECB Clubmark accredited cricket club. We have two senior Saturday teams who compete in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Cricket League, we also have junior teams playing age group cricket.

The ECB Clubmark accreditation is a recognition of quality which is awarded to a cricket club by the England and Wales Cricket Board when it is able to demonstrate that it meets the stringent ECB Clubmark criteria. This illustrates we are striving to provide both a high quality and welcoming environment for young participants in cricket.

The Club provides opportunities for young people to receive coaching and competition within cricket. All coaching is supervised by trained coaches who have been DBS verified for their suitability for working with young people.

History of the Club

RALPH SNEYD

Ralph Sneyd, the owner of Keele and most of Silverdale granted land around 1856 for a cricket ground to be built. 1879 saw the club move to its present venue by which time the North Staffordshire Railway was extending its line from Stoke towards Market Drayton, meaning that instead of being restricted to playing matches within walking distance, opponents as far afield as Leek and Crewe could be visited.

The Sentinel was very dismissive about the team made up of miners but by 1869 it was beginning to win significant games; and by 1875 the club was able to engage its first professional ⁠— Thomas Trodd, a journeyman cricketer who had played for Surrey — a far cry from Silverdale in those far off days.

In 1889 Silverdale became a founder member of the North Staffordshire League and pursued an erratic career. The club finished at the bottom of the new league in 1894 only to carry off the championship in 1896 and 1897, success gained thanks to professional Job Lightfoot whose “lightning deliveries electrified opponents”, producing a hundred wickets each season; and wickets that could well be described as sporting.

The first regular chairman of committee was Mr. Ralph Downing, the sardonic Silverdale schoolmaster, whose untimely death near the close of season, 1898, lost the district one of cricket’s most loyal and able friends. In official matters Mr. Downing was a disciplinarian, but in relaxation a humourist, his writings arousing much amusement. With all his caprices, Ralph Downing established Silverdale cricket as a power during his term as the club’s Hon. Secretary.

Other clubs in the district formed themselves into leagues from time to time, such as North Staffs. and District Cricket Combination 1904-1914, Scot Hay League 1931-1959 and Stone and District League 1958, still surviving. These leagues provided players, already with league experience, prepared and eager when opportunity occurred to “promote” themselves to what was the premier League in the district until 1963.

Thus by 1962 a second “Golden Age” of the league had arrived, the first being 1906-1914. Alas calamity was near and in 1963 the twelve Senior ‘A’ section clubs departed to form another league. With hindsight it can be seen that the established clubs of 1914 who had strongly objected to the establishment of Senior ‘B’ in 1920 objected to an extension of that section’s power in 1963.

The close proximity of Silverdale ground to dwelling houses landed the club in trouble a few years ago when an irate householder, incensed that a cricket ball had gone through his window, showed his displeasure by running his car down the pitch and flattening the wickets. On another occasion, many years earlier, the President, at the club’s dinner, asked the secretary where the wine was for the toast and was told that cups of tea had already been poured. His reaction was explosive, “good God man you can’t drink the King’s health in tea!”

Silverdale’s long stay in the League has not been without incidents.

Silverdale Cricket Club. A village club in close proximity to Bignall End, Scot Hay, Leycett and Porthill Park, has been both an importer and an exporter of players out of and into its neighbouring clubs. Well known players such as Arthur Ikin and his son John Ikin played for Silverdale as professionals at times, and the Downing twins were Bignall End amateurs who did the same. Sam Norcup went the other way and for a number of seasons was the backbone of the Porthill Park attack. In 1923 Arthur Ikin denied Silverdale the Championship by knocking 117 not out (out of 349) in a championship play-off match. Silverdale, did in fact, resign from the League in April 1891 leaving nine clubs in membership, but they re-joined in 1893 and have been loyal to the league ever since. The club won the Senior ‘A’ Championship in 1896, and 1897. Senior ‘B’ 1956 and 1959, the Junior ‘A’ title in 1898 and 1936, and the Junior ‘B’ in 1939 and 1956. Silverdale also won the North Staffordshire League Cup in 1906 and 1908. This trophy was later presented to the League and is now known as the Silverdale Cup. It is awarded each year to the amateur bowler with the best average in Senior ‘B’.

Arthur Turner the former Stoke City footballer and Birmingham City manager played cricket at Silverdale during the 1930’s. The player most associated with Silverdale is probably Joe Ankers, a batsman who loved to hit the ball as hard and as far as possible. The most memorable game he played was in 1935 against Stone. Chasing a target of 244, the Silverdale opening pair of Ankers and J. Bentley scored 251 runs in 106 minutes. Ankers scored 137 not out and Bentley 100 not out, as Silverdale won by 10 wickets.

Another “character” who played for Silverdale and who was well-known in League circles was Jack Shaw, the club professional in the 1950’s. He was a fine cricketer. His brother, George, was captain of Silverdale and both used to open the innings. In the 1960’s-1970’s Graham Bytheway was the leading senior ‘A’ batsman in 1965 and Mick Jones who likewise in 1971. Mick’s opening partnerships with Brian Nixon often laid the foundation for a large Silverdale total.

Aspirations

With membership and crowd attendances rising, we have ambitious plans to continue to develop the infrastructure at the club.

Naturally, we want to support our sponsors and build them in to our club on a strategic level — allowing all of our partners to benefit from our ever-improving facilities, expanding audience and our community involvement.