West Harrow Cricket Club

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 t

he 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. 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.