The Welly Cricket Club

The Duke of Welly cricket club can arguably be said to have started life in 2014 as a pub side formed to play a one-off testimonial game in memory of Brodie Dawson the ex-landlord of the Duke of Wellington who sadly had passed away suddenly at the pub. The game was the brainchild of cricket connoisseur and bon viveur ‘Sarge’ and Damian Bolger (who still captains the Welly CC team) and took place at Buckingham Park in Shoreham, against The Sandmen from the Evening Star pub in Brighton.  The (unused) stumps from the game are still kept by the club as a treasured heirloom of that historic game. Sarge and Damian were determined to continue the side's existence and in 2017, with the support of Rob Jones the pub’s current owner, gathered a motley crew of drinkers from the pub whose experience of the game ranged from occasional to non-existent, but whose enthusiasm was undoubted.  For the first practice session a hand lawnmower was brought along, essential to cut a wicket at the park somewhere in the general location of where cricket had been played by Shoreham CC in the distant past. The bounce was variable, in truth, but the first Welly CC practice session had taken place.

A first official club fixture was organised that year, against Bodle Street Green at their superb ground on privately owned land. A second also came about in that first year, a fixture against local club Southwick CC at their ground at Southwick Green, to raise funds for the local RNLI station at Kingston Beach.  This raised an amazing £1,500 and was deemed to have been a roaring success, so much so that Southwick CC approached the Welly CC in 2018 to propose we become affiliated and play our home fixtures at the Green. Southwick CC’s league sides had been forced to move their home games to Buckingham Park due to the amount of damage being done to neighboring houses at the Green and escalating insurance claims from sixes being hit. And so the Green became the Welly CC's new home and the club’s fixture list grew year by year. In recent years we have even been on a tour to the Isle of Wight and have played T20 games as well as our traditional Sunday 35 overs games. We have grown our relationship with the Welly pub and all those connected with it (especially our very own pub ‘Barmy Army’ of Rob, Uncle Richard, Keith and Matt) and are often to be found there enjoying the pub’s unique ales and charms after mid-week nets and after our Sunday fixtures.  The pub also provided us with the perfect venue to watch & enjoy England’s fantastic cricket World Cup win in 2019 and very graciously they overlooked the unfortunate TV ‘remote incident’ that occurred as the game drew close to its exciting conclusion. Most notably in 2024, a decision was made by Southwick CC to ban sixes in our games at the Green, to ensure cricket could continue there after 234 continual years of playing. The story made headlines around the world, from Britain to India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Fast forward to 2025, our most successful year so far, with 21 games played, both home and away against other pub sides and local clubs' Sunday teams.

The Duke of Welly CC as you can see has had a short but very rich history and shows no signs of slowing down, with another great year planned for 2026. We will continue to represent the wonderful Welly pub with great pride and honour, reflecting the truly inclusive, welcoming and special nature of this esteemed establishment. And we will continue to play cricket in the very best way - having fun, involving everyone regardless of ability, making new friends and most importantly respecting the game. And we will do so whilst always mindful of our beloved club motto: 'Veni, lusi, bibi' - Latin for 'I came, I played, I drank'.

Alex Mackain-Bremner, - Secretary Duke of Wellington Cricket club.

Postscript: if you want to come and play with us, we welcome all ages, genders and abilities. Please contact Alex on amackainbremner@gmail.com or 07973 836711 if you'd like to find out more