South Petherton has had a cricket team since at least the turn of the century, playing up until the Second World War on a pitch in the centre of the village in a field behind the Church. The club moved to the recreation ground after the war when it was extended to make it tenable for cricket. By all accounts the wicket was a bit variable in those first few years! The present club can draw its orig
ins to the mid sixties when a group of local cricketers who wanted a competitive team in their own village got together. Amongst those founder members were John Pendrill, Norman Burfield and Danny Brown. Initially the new club played only friendlies against the local villages but, after gaining a reputation as a formidable side, began playing sides further away such as Lyme Regis. As the club grew it had at various stages a second XI. After much debate the club decided to enter the newly formed Mid Wessex League in 1980 and for the first time began playing competitive league cricket against sides including Westlands, Horsington and West & Middle Chinnock. Petherton went on to win the title on 3 occasions, jointly the second most successful club in the leagues history (after Chinnock's 8 titles) and never left the top two divisions in 18 years. However as the Somerset League grew from it's humble beginnings in 1979, it became increasingly obvious that Petherton, who had initially opted to not join the league due to the travelling involved, would have to join in order to play a better standard of opposition. So in 1987 Petherton entered the rapidly expanding Somerset League, but, as they had opted out 8 years earlier, when one of the areas most successful clubs, they were forced to start in the bottom division, division 6. For the next 11 years Petherton played in both leagues on a Saturday and a Sunday respectively. SPCC has experienced positives and negatives over the years, but we are an extremely proud village cricket club who are blessed with excellent facilities and certainly one of the best wickets locally. SPCC has 2 sides that play league cricket on a Saturday and a mid week side that plays league cricket on a Wednesday evening. We always welcome new members and it would be fantastic to see you at a game some time soon.
