Since 1885 Audley Cricket Club has officially played it's matches close to the present ground, Kent Hills, in Audley. Though the first recorded match played by an Audley team took place at Booth's Field in Mill End some forty years before. That first game was played against a team from Rode Park and, according to a reliable source, ended in fighting (there is speculation that a right arm 'toffee' bowler named Dodd was the instigator - obviously no relation to one of our former Chairmen).During the 1870's the team moved to a new ground behind the Late Shop, known as Leddie's Field, in the middle of the village and they stayed there until 1885, when they moved to Kent Hills.
In the early 1900's a small hut was added and a refreshment cabin was constructed during the 1920's. A new refreshment room was later built on to the side of the changing rooms.
1946 saw Audley become champions of the Senior B section of the North District League but were not promoted to the Senior A section.

The 1952/3 season saw the first professional cricketer at the club - H. Hancock.
A decade later the rent of the ground was £10.00 per annum which was paid to the farmer, who in turn rented it from the County Council. The Club was not allowed to develop or extend the buildings only replace existing ones.

In 1961 the farmer wanted his field back (there was obviously a youth policy and he couldn't get in the team) but in 1962 the club bought a field next to the club for £3000 and the farmer was happy to have that in exchange for the land that he owned.
By 1963 a new pavilion had been built with help from the Lords Taverners & Playing Fields Association. The all important bar was added a year later.

The pavilion was refurbished and extended in 2000 and again refurbished in 2010.

After many years in the North Staffs and District League which included 3 championships Audley moved to Division 1 B of the North Staffs and South Cheshire Cricket League in late 1983.

In fact at the time we moved both ourselves and Ashcombe Park were left in limbo for a period as we were without a league for a while having resigned from our current one. We were thinking of 22 matches against them for a while!

To give you a flavour of the club I will concentrate on some of the professionals employed throughout this time. Along with a few of the other players and characters involved

We had Mark Davies, a young Shropshire batsman for the first two seasons and we held our own comfortably. Mark was a lover of practical jokes and there was an interesting incident in the dressing room at Crewe Rolls Royce where Mark and an unnamed player ended up rolling around on the floor before the game after a prank that went wrong. Mark then got a first ball duck but all was well after the game.

John Potts was engaged in 1987 and stayed for 4 successful seasons. John was an honest fast bowler and a great club man. During his time we won Division 1B in 1987 and followed this with a Talbot Cup win in 1989.

This was also the year Alan Griffiths joined us. He was Staffordshire keeper at the time and a great signing who was made captain immediately. Alan was a very positive captain and expected high standards from his team. He brought out the best in players and everyone wanted to win for him. He was undoubtedly the best and most successful skipper the club has seen remaining in that role until 2005. Our honours during his reign were as follows, 2 Championships, 3 Talbot Cups and 1 Staffs Cup. Added to that we were 7 times winners of the league’s most sporting Club. A truly remarkable achievement.

Back to the professionals and we had our first ever overseas pro in 1992 with an Aussie pace bowler named Peter McPhee. Now Peter didn’t set the world on fire but he did some crazy things and certainly livened the place up. By the way, his wife could drink anyone under the table!

Two of the best professionals in the clubs history followed in Guyana’s Barrington Browne and Keith Semple.

In 1993 we took on Barrington having been impressed with his wicket taking for Sneyd. He was the most feared paceman in the league. In his three seasons with us he took 243 wickets. He was a model pro and a really nice guy too.

Keith Semple took over in 1996 and stayed for 4 seasons. Keith also was a perfect gentleman, superb batsman and more than useful seam bowler.

We had a left arm off spinner named Aamer Wasim for 2000 and he was a revelation. We won the league with a record total of points. Aamer got a hatful of wickets including many with his mystery legger. (His age was a mystery too!) He was a talented player although his sense of humour was difficult to fathom. Many members also remember his famous curry night. Plenty of runs followed the next day!

For 3 seasons we had an Indian batsman/spinner named TP Singh. He was a quality player and superb fielder. Famously in the 2003 season Alan Griffiths ran on to him at Porthill with a glass of water telling to stop scoring runs so quickly. He was hitting them onto the marsh for fun! Later in that same year the current skipper Andy ‘Tracker’ Johnson took all 10 wickets for 32 runs in a home game against Caverswall

Alfonso Thomas was the pro in 2006 and 2007, leading us to our 3rd title in 2007. ‘Alfie’ went on to play for South Africa and is currently in county cricket with Somerset. He was a great example to the team during his spell with us.

The last big overseas player we had was ‘Rusty’ Theron in 2008. He never quite settled in league cricket although went on to play 20/20 games for South Africa.

Since then we have had a succession of English based players due to the restrictions put on clubs engaging overseas players. Of these Roger Sillence was the most successful although we could not quite snatch the title with him in 2010.

There have been numerous stand in pro’s notably Roger Harper, David Steele, Morne Morkel to name but 3. That option has now been taken away and I am not sure if it is for the better.

Over the years Audley has been known for positive cricket, sportsmanship, great teas and an excellent social scene. Each club has its fair share of characters and Audley is no exception with the likes of the late groundsman John Hinks and our band of loyal spectators. I’m sure the league will continue to thrive with clubs such as ourselves.