Newton Poppleford Cricket Club was formed in 2003 when a couple of locals decided to see if there was enough interest in the village to put together a club. Mr David Jeffrey and Mr Kenneth Clay put some signs up around the village to gauge interest and a meeting was held in the Cannon Inn sometime in March 2003. From this meeting the embryos of Newton Poppleford Cricket Club were born.
Cricket had always been played in the village in some form, the previous cricket team - Riverside - had folded in the late 90's having played both league and friendly games throughout the 70's and 80's. The new club members decided it would not be in the clubs best interests to play league cricket and therefore only play friendly games against local opposition.
NPCC's inaugural season should have kicked off with a match against our nearest neighbours Tipton St John but, as usual, the weather intervened. Officially, T20 as a cricket format did not exist until the 13th June 2003 when the English Counties played eachother in the T20 Cup. However, Newton Poppleford's first fixture played was a T20 game at Woodbury on 12th June 2003. This T20 match lived up to its exciting reputation as it went all the way to the wire, finishing in a tie with runs and wickets equal on both sides. NPCC went on to enjoy mixed fortunes that year, but the main winner was the social aspect, with many a late night session in the garden of the Cannon Inn being enjoyed by all.
Newton Poppleford continue to enjoy their cricket and play the game in the right spirit. The result is not important (except when playing Tipton!). Under new Chairman Mr Matthew Raistrick the club is continuing to develop.
All this would not have been possible without the drive and leadership of our first Chairman, Mr David Jeffrey, and the club wishes to express it`s sincere thanks to David as, without him, what would we all do with our Sunday afternoons?!
Since those early days, NPCC have enjoyed four tours to the Dorset region, hosted a number of touring teams to the "Riverside Oval" as well as welcoming a plethora of new players to the club. We continue to be supported by The Cannon Inn, who provide post-match food and refreshment. They recently enabled the purchase of personalised club kit through the company Serious Cricket.