Tilford Cricket Club
The Green at Tilford was designated an
open space for recreational purposes in 1853. The current Cricket
Club has played here since 1886, though there is a strong
feeling amongst Cricket historians that Cricket was played on the
Green many years before due to the presence of one of the most
famous Georgian Cricketers of his generation ‘Silver
Billy’ Beldham, who lived at Oak Cottage next to the Barley
Mow from 1822 until he died at the age of 96 in 1862.
Tilford Green, surely one of the most
picturesque in England, is arguably also one of the most media
captured, being used as a setting for advertisements for companies
as diverse as British
Airways, Rover Cars, Courage Beer, and many more, as well as the
setting for the famous Cricket scene in the screen adaptation of
A.G. McDonnell's book ‘England
their England’.
In 2006 Tilford C.C. was featured in a
series of documentaries on SKY
TV about grassroots
cricket.
Tilford was elected to the I’Anson League in 1904 and has
played continuously in what is believed to be the oldest village
league ever since.