“Ton up for Bentley Heath”

2020 marks 100 years of cricket for Bentley Heath and was due to be a year of celebration for the club, though in the current climate all plans have been put all plans on hold. It’s 100 years worth of ups and downs, from War, Pandemics and Arson to Herts Village Twenty20 winners and Saracens League Club of the year awards.

Bentley Heath is hidden away within the Wrotham Park estate, situated between Potters Bar and Barnet, with 2 Saturday XI’s both competing in the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League and the occasional Sunday XI. It was 15^th May 1920 when Bentley Heath recorded their first game their opponents were Totteridge CC. After being set a target of 83, the Heath were then bowled out for 49, losing the game by 34 runs. It was also 1920 when the club announced the Earl of Strafford as the clubs first President.

The club’s match at Napsbury on 2^nd September 1939 (the day after the invasion of Poland) was played in uncertainty, it was the following day that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced war with Germany. Although fixtures were drawn up for the 1940 season, with the absence of 7 members through call ups it was decided “for the duration, all cricketing activities will come to a close with the end of the 1940 season”. After a General meeting in October 1946 it was decided the club should resume play for the 1947 season but matches are to be played on the Barnet Playing Fields due to neglected state of the ground at Wrotham Park. The following year Bentley Heath joined the Club Cricket Conference and have remained a member to this day for all pre and post season friendlies.

Bentley Heath CC 1921

President’s Day 1960

After moving back to Wrotham Park post War the club were playing alongside the cattle who lived on the estate, before moving to its current location in 1981. The club then played in a fenced off area that helped see an improvement to the state of wicket and outfield, even with the odd intrusion. The first brick built pavilion was completed in 1992 after 6 years work, funded, designed and mainly constructed by members' own efforts. The pavilion was then disturbingly destroyed by Arson in the early stages of the 1999 season which hit the club at its core. After a season of using a temporary porter cabin for a pavilion the club welcomed the 2001 season with a brand new pavilion built by the Wrotham Park estate and mainly funded from insurance receipts.

President’s Day 2000

A lot of Bentley Heath’s most notable success has come in recent years following the club joining the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League in 2000. After a few years of settling within the league the club hit some excellent form hitting back to back promotions between 2007 and 2010 when the 1^st XI moved from division 10 to 6. 2010 proved to be the clubs most successful year though, along with 1^st XI’s forth promotion in a row, the 2^nd XI tasted their first bit of success after joining the league in 2005 and gained promotion to division 12. The club also won the Herts Village Twenty20 Trophy at Clarence Park and were awarded the “Club of the Year Award” by the Saracens Herts League. Something the then Club Captain Martin Dunnett was very proud of, a captain who to this day remains the clubs longest serving first team captain, 1997 to 2014.

(Left to Right) John Hall, Martin Dunnett and Peter Halsey pictured with Saracens Club of

The Year and the Herts Village Twenty20 Trophy

Throughout the years Bentley Heath has very much been a family club, with many a member introducing the next generation, most notably the Collis family. This year will mark 72 years of a Collis member within the club, with 2XI wicket keeper Craig Collis ensuring the name remains a regular feature on the weekly teamsheet. The family legacy started in 1948 with Peter Collis, who sadly passed away in November 2019. Peter joined the club and later introduced two of his sons, current Chairman Gary Collis starting in 1975 and Dave Collis starting in 1982. Wicket keeping seemingly became a very consistent element of the game for the family with Peter passing the gloves on to Gary who later passed them down to his son Craig in 2005.

(Left to Right) Dave Collis, Gary Collis, Peter Collis, Craig Collis

The club is hopefully the season will commence on 11^th July and are ready to hear from interested cricketers and potential new members, regardless of ability.