Cricket has been played at Steyning since 1721, when the earliest report of a match is in a diary of Thomas Marchant a farmer from Hurst. On June 3rd he writes “a cricket match was played in ye Sanfield (at Hurst) between Stenning and our parish, the latter won in one inning”. A return match was scheduled three days later but the weather was so bad they could not play. Players would have travelled by horse and cart to these matches. This was almost thirty years before the first known laws of cricket were formulated. in 1772 James Irish a clockmaker of Steyning distinguished himself by scoring 70 notches (runs) in a cricket match.

The Club was probably formed around 1771 as with village cricket being played regularly the games were being described in local newspapers as, between clubs.

By 1856 Steyning was regularly recording results. The first detailed scorecard for 29th July against Horsham shows that Steyning scored 34 and 33, needless to say they lost. During a home game in The White Horse Field against Worthing. Mr R Skinner a master tailor was much admired for his bowling 17 maiden overs in succession, 5 balls to an over. Club accounts indicate that he would in all probability have been paid 5 shillings as the best player.

The 1870’s were a time of change for Steyning Cricket Club. Numerous receipts, scorebooks, accounts and photos survive and are stored in The Steyning Museum in Church Street.

So we know 300 “turfs from the hill” were purchased to re-lay the pitch with close cropped downland grass. This was then cut by mower drawn by brewery horses wearing leather boots (now in the Museum), to minimise pitch damage.

The scoring and changing took place in an old tent and then replaced with a dressing shed built opposite the present location. By then players used leg guards and gauntlets patched and owned by the Club. The days of two stump wickets and underarm bowling with no pads or gloves as in the games with Hurst in 1721 were long gone.The Club has never been strong on record-keeping, until more recently, and so most of our history has been sent to The Steyning Museum where can be found evidence of activity during the 19th and 20th centuries .. these include balance sheets, accounts, from 1866 to 1879 etc., Subscription lists for the same period as well as numerous team photos which in some cases feature well known family names. A rather strange listing is for the Steyning CC production of “Christy Minstrels” and concert receipts from 1881.

Very little is known of cricket in 1900’s especially between the wars, but we do know that the changing room was over the far side of the field until a purpose built thatch roof hut was built roughly were the present facility is. The scorebox remained for a while and was in front of a high hedge and trees running the length of the field separating it from Newham Nursery and green houses with an orchard. Drinks after the game were taken at The Norfolk Arms. After the second world war, recreational cricket grew in popularity and matches were played every Saturday, Sunday (with time allowed for church) and Thursday (early closing day in Steyning.) This resulted in over 50 games on the square with fixtures all through September.

Rivalry was quite intense with local clubs particularly, Henfield, Findon, Storrington and Petworth Park The Parish employed a full-time groundsman to look after the pitch and field (Ted Boyd) Rolling with a very heavy roller as well as a lighter one, was done by hand. In 1949 Trevor Adcock started playing after leaving The Grammar School, he would go on the achieve the feat of scoring a hundred centuries playing for the Club on Saturdays and Henfield CC on Sundays through three decades, many felt he was desperately unlucky not to play county cricket.