Each year the spectacle of nine local teams playing Victorian Cricket takes place on the Butts in Alton. Men and women folk dress up in period costume and compete in a Victorian style cricket match played with authentic bat, ball and stumps. The charity contest is one of the highlights of the Alton summer.

The Alton Town Mayor traditionally bowls the first ball of the day and then the teams slug it out in a limited overs league competition. The two highest scoring teams then play in the final. The rules require at least one lady in the team and all team members must be dressed in a Victorian style. The old fashioned cricket day attracts visitors from all over the county. Side shows, stalls, children rides and a bouncy castle as well as various food and drinks stalls, all add to the enjoyment of the day.

Charitable stalls & commercial attractions are encouraged to participate - click here

The 2010 Victorian Cricket Match will be held on Sunday 13th June and will be in aid of St Michael's Hospice. www.stmichaelshospice.org.uk
	The charity to benefit from the 2009 victorian cricket match was "Over The Wall" (www.otw.org.uk). Over The Wall provides week long residential activity camps for children aged 8-17 who are affected by serious and life limiting illnesses. They have been based in Alton since their establishment in 1999 and to date have touched the lives of an estimated 2,500 children.

The "Rules of the Game"

Below are some photos from previous Victorian Cricket days...

Town Mayor Bob Booker bowling to John Campbell (Landlord of the French Horn) with his wife Wendy and Alton Police in very close attendance. JRP Photographic 1992

Bowling a maiden over... Town Mayor Paddy Mendham, bowls the first ball as Jacqueline Martin takes guard in Sunday's charity match. JRP Photographic, Alton Gazette, Thursday June 22 1995

Howzat? The annual old fashioned cricket match held on Alton Butts always draws an enthusiastic crowd and symbolises the Deaneries sense of history being part of life today. Picture: Peter Cansfield 1990s

A fine body of sporting gentlemen. Bushel Leaze team. JRP Photographic, year unknown.

A fine body of sporting gentlemen. Bushel Leaze team. JRP Photographic, year unknown.

Glad, Sir - that's just not cricket! Just a little ball-tampering in preparation for Alton's annual trip into the past... Definitely not cricket! Old fashioned cricket stalwards, David Knight (recumbent) and David Brown (right), seem unperturbed as Helen and Nigel Collins, hosts at the French Horn, are joined by ghosts from the past, Lord Mayor Trelor Hospital nurses from before the First World War, for the new-fangled practice of seam-raising.
JRP Photographic, Alton Gazette, Wednesday June 12 1996

Arriving in style for Alton's Old Fashioned Charity Cricket Match at the Butts, Town Mayor, Paddy Mendham, and the lady mayoress, his wife, Annis, pictured with French Horn hosts, Nigel and Helen Collins, and the organisers of the event, David Brown and Dave Knight.
JRP Photographic, Alton Gazette, Thursday June 22 1995

The high religious and moral values of the Victorian age epitomised by Brian Morgan here giving a blessing to one of the fair stalls. The "Archbishop" of The Eight Bells also used his spirituality to carry out a spot of umpiring.
Alton Herald, 11.09.87

Underhand delivery. JRP Photographic, 15.06.95

And below are some extracts we've collected from the media for previous cricket days...

	Stepping back in time at The Butts Alton Herald, Friday, 16th June 1995 Alton has been flexing its bowling arm this week in preparation for the annual Victorian Cricket Match. Run in aid of the Bushy Leaze Nursery School, to coincide with Fathers Day (June 18), the event will be hosted by Nigel and Helen Collins of the French Horn. Costumed players will gather at The Butts for the first match at 11am when the Bushy Leaze ladies will face ladies from the Mary Rose. The tournament will involve ten sides, taken from pubs and organisations in the town, including last year's winners, Bass Brewers, who will be striving to retain the title. Town Mayor, Paddy Mendham, will perform the official opening at 2pm. There will be stalls and side shows, with the opportunity to win 100 guineas in the raffle. The Ushers day horses will make a welcome appearance, alongside giant Carnival winners - Lord Mayor Trelors and Mary Rose, and activities will swing along to music from a local jazz band, complimented by performances from the Minden Rose Dancers. Last year the event raised over £1,500 for Bushy Leaze and it is hoped to top that figure with Sunday's extravagances.
	Victoria would definitely have been amused Alton Herald, 11th September 1987 Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. So go the lyrics of the famous Noel Coward song but perhaps they could go out to play cricket in a 'summer' afternoon's downpour. Sunday's miserable weather was not enough to dampen the spirits of regulars from The French Horn and The Eight Bells who turned out on The Butts in costume for their now traditional Victorian cricket match. It was the seventh encounter between the two charity-minded pub teams since the remnants of a match score sheet were discovered in a bricked up fireplace at The French Horn. The French Horn carried on their winning streak although afterwards nobody seemed quite sure of the actual score. However, landlords Rod Ryan and Stewart Copland were agreed that it was not the final details which mattered but the amount of money they raised. Both were delighted at the record sum of £900 which goes to the Bushy Leaze special nursery school at Alton. In true Victorian style the bowling was underarm, the centre stump was missing, LBW had not been invented and even Ian Botham would not have been happy taking the crease with the unwieldy replica bats fashioned from American Oak. The French were put into bat having lost the toss and went on to make somewhere in the region of 120 runs. Following on The Eight Bells are thought to have approached the 100 mark before running out of overs. Losing captain Stewart Copland had no doubts where to place the blame. Eight Bells regular Torquil O'Tavish made 37 "very slowly in true Geoff Boycott style and lost us the game", he said. "The Cricket was secondary in my mind, it was the amount we raised which was important and everyone is chuffed to bits with what we raised. "The match was played in torrential rain and the players just gritted their teeth and put on a spectacle for the members of the public who did stay and watch", he said. His tribute to the spirit of the players was echoed by Rod Ryan who said: "I thought the players were really intrepid and they just carried on despite the downpour. "It was cold and it was wet and I think the turnout was super considering the conditions", he added. Also braving Sunday's rain to raise money for charity were a number of stall holders and a team of dancers helping to lend a Victorian feel to the occasion.
	In the fashion for charity cricket Alton Gazette, Thursday, 15th June 1995 Spectators joining in with the spirit of Alton's Old-Fashioned Cricket Day on Sunday could be bowled over by a well-delivered reward. The organisers have decided to encourage visitors to join with the players in dressing up for the occasion and are promising spot prizes for the best costumes. With substantial rewards on offer in the grand draw as well, many will leave after a scintillating day's entertainment with more than they bargained for. The action gets underway at 11am, when the ladies of Mary Rose take on their Bushy Leaze counterparts in what is traditionally one of the highlights of a packed day's sporting activity. Ten teams representing Alton's pubs, public services and business community will then play two games each in a partial round robin format to decide the identity of the grand finalists, who will meet at around 7pm for the right to carry off the coveted Bushy Leaze trophy, currently held by Bass Brewers. Spectators will have much more than just the cricket to enjoy. Stalls and games will be setup around the boundary of The Butts, The French Horn will be open all day for liquid refreshment and tasty meals and snacks and the famous Ushers shire horses will grace the field with their imposing presence. The cricket is sure to provide non-stop spills and thrills as the players attempt to wield the abnormally heavy bats, cope with devious underarm bowling, and scramble singles on a hit and run basis while togged out in vaguely Victorian costumes, in aid of Alton charities.
	Cricket, lovely cricket! Alton Gazette, Wednesday, 12th June 1996 The costumes are being hired or prepared, the willow is waxed and te strange-looking stumps have been taken out of storage - it must be time for Alton's eagerly-awaited annual charity cricket event on The Butts. Ten teams, each with nine players, decked out for the day in an outlandish array of costumes, will take the field twice each to determine the two finalists for the old-fashioned cricket tournament trophy. Holders, Bass Brewery will be keen to make it a hat trick of wins but face stern competition from the fire brigade, ambulance service, Bushy Leaze, The Eight Bells, Kings Head, White Horse, Loo Point, Wey Valley Radio and, or course, a side representing host hostelry, The French Horn. A packed day of entertainment gets underway at 11am with a ladies' challenge match and games will then continue throughout the afternoon until the grand final at around 6.30pm. Plenty of family fun and games can be found around the arena, with tractor and pony rides for the children, side shows, refreshment and charity stalls and the ever popular Ushers dray horses. Musical entertainment comes in the welcome form of the New Society Jazz Band from 12.30 - 3.30pm and the catchy, folk dance melodies of Pogles Wood & Friends from 4 - 7pm, whose caller Graham Taylor, will lead spectators through a variety of dances. The wonderful Minden Rose Garland Dancers will perform at 3pm and, shortly after lunch, Town Mayor, Jerry Janes, will arrive on the Ushers dray to formally open the proceedings. The organisers hope that once again, with the support of the people of Alton and the surrounding villages, a four-figure sum will be raised for Bushy Leaze and the RNLI by the grand draw.
	Charity cricket spoils claimed by Bass Alton Gazette, Thursday, 22nd June 1995 An old-fashioned summer's day arrived at last on Sunday, in perfect time for Alton's annual Victorian Cricket Day. The sun brought out the crowds, who sensibly decided to shun a certain other sporting event taking place in South Africa for the more entertaining fare on display at The Butts. Games, sideshows and stalls were set around the boundary to provide a diversion from the helter-skelter cricket taking place at the centre of the green. The magnificent Ushers shire horses proved to be an irresistible draw and their groom, Jane, was persuaded to leave their sides for a while to play for the umpires' cricket team. Mayor, Paddy Mendham, splendidly attired in the ermine robes, was taken for a ride on the brewery dray, while plenty of junior spectators enjoyed a trip around The Butts, courtesy of Jane Perryman's horse power. A Jazz band enlivened the proceedings at the front of The French Horn and the Minden Rose dancers performed their colourful routines on The Butts. During the afternoon, the stars of this year's carnival, giant figures representing Lord Mayor Trelor and Mary Rose, paraded triumphantly around the outside of the pitch. On the field itself, ten teams representing the town's pubs, organisations and businesses contested the knockout part of the tournament, which this year involved each team playing two matches in two mini-leagues, with the highest scoring side in each group going through to contest the final. The ambulance service set the early pace, racking up 72 runs against the fire service, who were forced to abandon their innings against the umpire's and adjudicator's due to a genuine emergency call. Only two sides managed to exceed at score and they did so in the same match, the day's most entertaining contest, between defending champions Bass Brewers and long-standing contestants, The King's Head. Bass emerged narrow winners of the sporting tussle, 82-77 and went into the final with an aggregate score of 150, nine clear of Loo Point. The first group was dominated by the ambulance service, whose two-game total of 127 was 30 runs ahead of the White Horse. Many spectators stayed to the end to watch an enthralling finale in which Bass, inspired by their vociferous supporters, retained their trophy in style against the worthy losers from the ambulance service. They'll be back next year to try for the hat-trick, promised captain, Sean Kennedy. The day's charitable activities, spear headed by the grand draw, raised a substantial sum for charity, with the major beneficiaries set to be Bushy Leaze. Their support group recorded their thanks to the organisations who supported the raffle, especially Alton Sports Centre, Little Green Dragon, The Watercress Line, Poulton's Park, Phil-Beams, Experience, Garthowen Nursery, and Valley Nurseries. The tournament organisers, David Knight and David Brown, warmly thanked the players and sponsors, The French Horn's new licensees, Nigel and Helen Collins, and the host of others who made the day possible.
	Alton Herald, 11th September 1987 Alton fire brigade also donned Victorian grab for Sunday's jubilee celebrations - fortunately for everyone concerned there was no fire.