Spencer CC was established in 1872 and we have just celebrated our 150th anniversary.
As part of the celebrations, an official history of the club was published , from which the following extract comes:
Spencer started life playing cricket on Wandsworth Common, one of literally hundreds of cricket clubs in London in the 19th century. It didn’t even have a unique name, with other local teams also calling themselves Spencer. From this unlikely background it has grown to be the largest cricket club in the country and one of very few still playing in inner London. Together with its now 1,500+ cricketing members, along the way it has added other sports, initially Tennis, then Hockey, followed by Squash, Lacrosse and Netball. But in doing so the club lost sight of its history. As the South London Press noted in 1905, ‘Spencer never did trouble the press with their doings’. The book aims to set that right.
Across the years, a host of famous names have played competitive cricket against Spencer, including at the time of publication, members of current England and Australian international teams . The club has been at times one of the strongest in London and also one derided by its opposition. Arguably its connections have been more successful in football & rugby (sports it doesn’t play!) than in cricket, it’s been threatened at times by builders, bombs and bankers but somehow, with a transient membership reflecting its community, the Club has survived and thrived.
Together with a chronological history, the book is a collection of articles examining events in that history. Part entertainment, part cricket and part social history, it also answers the time honoured question: ‘Spencer? Where’s that then?’
