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Click
here to visit the West
Harrow CC website.
The
origins of the club dates back to 1918. The club was formed
by a group of ex-colonials. Due to its location, it was named
West Harrow Cricket Club.
What
happened between then and the early sixties is very vague.
In the sixties the club president Mr Newby and his family
took over the running of the club. After a few years they
realised that it was difficult to get new recruits to replace
the older generation of players.
It
was during this period when Mukund Shah became involved with
the club. He had recently moved into the area, and being a
keen cricketer used to go and support the club. He was asked
to join the club and his all round talents were soon noticed.
He was soon popular with the team and became fully paid member
in 1969.
The
Membership of the club was still falling and no new cricketers
could be recruited. Mukund was asked if he could bring any
of his friends. This is when he introduced Manhar Rao, who
had recently arrived from Uganda, and Gandhi, who had arrived
from Sri Lanka. These three became the first Asian members
of the Committee and they injected new ideas into the running
of the club. Their strong support and contacts helped towards
the survival of the club.
The
club again had difficulties in 1975, and Mr Newby, the president,
decided to have an emergency meeting to fold the club. It
was here that Mukund and Manhar suggested that they would
like to take over the running and welfare of the club, which
was agreed unanimously.
To
recruit more players Manhar approached his work colleague
Yogesh Vora, who had come from Kenya. Between them they were
able to get enough players to raise a Saturday side.
Since
that day, West Harrow has gone from strength to strength.
Ajit Vyas who used to play for Young Indians Cricket Club
was introduced to West Harrow Cricket Club by Yogesh Vora
in 1976. Young Indians decided to merge with West Harrow and
strengthen the side.
Originally,
the club had only a Saturday side, but in the last twenty
years they have strengthened their squad to one Saturday and
two Sunday sides. Both the Sunday sides play in the local
leagues.
West
Harrow have won many trophies in the league and many of the
players are now highly respected by other cricketers and clubs.
Although
Mukund and Manhar have since left the club, the club has carried
on through hard core members, such as Ajit, Yogesh, Raja,
Pinakeen, Shashi, Mac, Subhash and Jitu, who are still playing
and working hard for the club.
Colts
Cricket was introduced in 1997 and now it has a membership
of nearly 80 young colts. In 1999, the club moved to a new
ground in Headstone Manor and also completed the purchase
of the club house. Colts are now trained outdoors at the new
ground and also indoors at Harrow School.
The
club has come a long way in the past few years but there is
still much more to do. We still need to raise the funds to
maintain and enhance the facilities with the planned extension.
We need the support and dedication of all the members towards
this project.
For
West Harrow 2nd XI team, contact Jitu Vasa (07970 534 717).
Click
here to visit the West
Harrow CC website.
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