Beyond the wicket : The local Cricket Club at the heart of Boldon’s community

Boldon village has a wonderful community spirit, and their cricket club is at the very centre of it all.  

Cricket is at the heart of this club, but what outsiders may not know is that it’s home to much more than just this. The community found within the club stretches beyond the game, and people from all over the local area come together to socialise and use the facilities on offer.  

During the summer the club thrives with families and friends coming to soak up the sun and atmosphere, and people of all ages are welcome. Club treasurer and cricket chairman John Kilner believes that in summer there’s no better place; “you can just sit here, watch the cricket, dip in and out of it, and all the doors are open, there’s no better place in or around the area”. He also mentioned how the club an help local businesses thrive, “it’s south facing so it’s in the sun all day, we’ll get pizza wagons in and things like that – there’s a local person that’s asked could they bring their pizza waggon down, and I thought well we do drinks, we don’t do food so yeah, great, you do that and if that works for you that’s great and we’ll concentrate on what we do”.  

John Kilner, Club treasurer and cricket chairman, taken by me

 Along with being home to multiple cricket teams, the club also has Cleadon Archers, squash, and two pool teams. John plays on the Boldon B pool team, and the social side is his favourite part of it “we come down here once a week to play pool, we measure who wins and who doesn’t, but actually that’s irrelevant, its seven or eight people meeting up once a week to have a pint and have a chat, that’s what the value is, not actually the score”. 

The club has a vast function room available to hire for a range of events such as birthdays or wedding parties, and weekly events like quiz night and fitness classes take place in there. In the main bar area, bingo is played every Sunday afternoon, and anyone can join in. 

As treasurer of the club, John’s main roles involve dealing with finances and suppliers, which he spends a few days a week dealing with, as well as an exec meeting once a month. One of his favourite parts of the role is seeing the place busy and seeing them make money that can be re spent into the club. “So we did the patio out here, we’ve put solar panels on, we just bought new equipment, we’re getting the place repaired, so I like that”. His main goal is to hand over the club to the next generation in a better state,  “I’m determined to just spend on the infrastructure, so that the next generation have got something”, and he wants to keep spending every year on the infrastructure while keeping the sports going. 

Outside Boldon Cricket Club including new patio, taken by me

John hopes that the club feels like an important part of the local community and is looking forward to the start of the cricket season in April, and the following months to see the club thriving, including the upcoming children’s all-stars summer sessions.  

Although the club is so community driven, cricket is a huge part of how it grew to be such a popular location to socialise and spend free time.  

Leanne Sargon is a member of the club, the safeguarding officer, and the coach of the girl’s junior team. She has been involved at the club for 4 years, and was previously at Whitburn Cricket Club. She has been involved with cricket all throughout her life, and spent most weekend travelling around different clubs with picnics and playing outside. 

She also used to play cricket when she was younger, however there was no girls team, and she had to play with the boys. “This is one of the reasons I have become so involved in the setup of two girls’ sections in different clubs to allow more opportunities for the girls”.  

Speaking from her member and coach perspective, she said that Boldon Cricket Club is a family, social environment, and being a member and part of a busy blossoming club is fun. Describing it as “hard work in the middle of summer with all the games and training on”, she said it’s a passion she has and seeing all the progress and achievements within the girls section, and the success of the club makes her proud to be a part of it all.  

Achievements in cricket span across the various teams of all ages the club has, ranging from the adults first and second 11, all the way to under seven boys. Last season, the first tam cricket won the league, promoting them back to the premier league.  When John was asked what he was proud of the club achieving, he said “last year winning the cricket league because it gets us into the Premier League again – it’s like the pinnacle of North East cricket, for a club like this needs to be in that really”. 

The cricket field at Boldon Cricket Club, taken by me

This thriving environment is a wonderful hotspot for community spirit and is a great place to visit to relax and socialise. The club always open to new members, and anyone who wishes to inquire about joining one of the sports teams is welcome to come along anytime and enquire.