A Century Not Out - One hundred years of the I'Anson Cup
Graham Collyer

Cover of A Century Not Out

Incorporating 'A Cup for Cricket' by L.T. Pope

Availability: From local outlets, or from the author as below

Front cover: Lynchmere, first winners of the original I' Anson Cup in 1902, and Frensham, winners in 2001 of the present I' Anson trophy.

Hardback £14.99 (excluding P&P) - ISBN 1-85983-327-6
Graham Collyer - Tel: 07973 415089


Inside Cover . Further information


Inside cover

Queen Victoria had been dead a day and the country was in deep mourning. But a planned meeting for the evening of January 23, 1901, went ahead. Five men went to the Fox and Pelican public house in Grayshott on the Hampshire-Surrey border near Hindhead, and the decision they took was to form a cricket league.

They already had the offer of a silver trophy, made at the dinner of Grayshott Cricket Club the previous November, and they named the new league after the donor, Edward Blakeway I'Anson.

So, the I'Anson Cup Competition was born, and, apart from the years when the country was twice at war with Germany, it has continued to provide Saturday afternoon sport for a growing number of cricket clubs ever since. It is the oldest village cricket league in continuous existence, and in 2001 celebrated its centenary with a year of events both on and off the field.

In this history, Graham Collyer, who has been the secretary of the competitions (the final 's' was added as the original format was enlarged) for 22 years, tells the fascinating story of the ups and downs of the league, whose most famous old boy is England's premier batsman, Graham Thorpe.

The book includes a reprint of A Cup for Cricket, the history of the first fifty years of the I' Anson Cup, which was written by L. T. Pope when he was the news editor of the Herald series of newspapers based in Farnham, Surrey.
Mr Pope subsequently became the editor of the papers (and Graham Collyer's first boss).

The Herald continues to be the paper of record for all matters connected with the I' Anson Cup Competitions, and the proprietor, Sir Ray Tindle, was the main sponsor of the centenary year.


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