History
A Brief History of Sunset CC
Doubles tennis games begat early Thursday night Dangerous sports which, around 1994, begat several small gatherings of men in smoke filled rooms. Gossy expressed an interest, Tarr, Jay and Rowan chipped in, Russell, Moore and Carter whittered on. And thus a cricket club was born.
From these early primeval stirrings Bernie Wilson, took the baton, ran with it, got fixtures and spread the news to anyone interested in playing. He invented the Club name. Sounds like Somerset C.C to the hearing impaired but reminiscent of fully ripened maturity and being knackered. Jo designed the excellent logo which is, of course, incorporated in our handsome caps which we’ve had, more or less, since the Club’s inception.
Our first ground was to be at Exminster, the connection being Jack played junior football for St Martins. An artificial wicket, a bumpy outfield, splendid views and boozy clubhouse made an interesting first home. Thus it came to pass that our first season was 1995, our first game being against Kenn C.C away which we lost. We drank in the Ley Arms, the first ever team being Wilson B, Moore, Tucker, Forey, Young, Hitchcock, Tansley, Dalgleish, Harris, Carter and Wilson T. We played eleven games in all, interestingly only one of which we still play, Plymtree CC. In 1996, John Foray, one of our younger players got married. Whilst working for Kneel’s laundry, John was able to acquire a set of used white trousers from the St Merryn meat company which he kindly sold off to Sunset members. The blood stains on them soon wore off after a few washes but, by heck, until then we looked a ferocious bunch when fielding.
Our first ground was to be at Exminster, the connection being Jack played junior football for St Martins. An artificial wicket, a bumpy outfield, splendid views and boozy clubhouse made an interesting first home. Thus it came to pass that our first season was 1995, our first game being against Kenn C.C away which we lost. We drank in the Ley Arms, the first ever team being Wilson B, Moore, Tucker, Forey, Young, Hitchcock, Tansley, Dalgleish, Harris, Carter and Wilson T. We played eleven games in all, interestingly only one of which we still play, Plymtree CC. In 1996, John Foray, one of our younger players got married. Whilst working for Kneel’s laundry, John was able to acquire a set of used white trousers from the St Merryn meat company which he kindly sold off to Sunset members. The blood stains on them soon wore off after a few washes but, by heck, until then we looked a ferocious bunch when fielding.
The year 2000 saw the start of Sunset’s mini tour which includes a fixture against Lynton and Lynmouth at the famous Valley of the Rocks ground. This tour continued with a game against Westleigh on the Sunday. The Valley of the Rocks remains a feature as does the Summer tour. Who can forget the Bodmin/Wadebridge mini tour in 2001 or the Trengilly Wartha Experience in 2003. The decline in our fortunes in the Branscombe 6 a side tournament is chronicled in the 2005 Strip: 2003 WINNERS, 2004 Runners Up, 2005 the wooden duck.
The sudden death of Mark Burrows cast a shadow over the 2004 season. He loved playing for us, was a very good cricketer and a lovely bloke. His name lives on in the form of a beautiful trophy, carved by Howard Donaldson, another Sunset player and is now the award for the Sunset Player of the Year. The Noughty years rolled on and the Club prospered, Bernie build a fearsome fixture list which took to many different and lovely venues.
In 2010 the Club relocated to be based at the Coaver Club, which is the social club for Devon County Council. A successful move situating us in the heart of Exeter, with excellent facilities to watch the games from the balcony, good showers, wide range of reasonably priced beer and a fun place for post match entertainment. The club goes from strength to strength, keeping our ethos ‘friendly cricket for all’ at the core of what we do.