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The Twenty-Twenties, 2020-Present
The 2020s opened with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing cricket to a standstill for the first time since the Second World War — and the club responded with the same quiet determination that has defined it for over 175 years.
President James Ross galvanised members and vice presidents with personal letters, raising over £3,500 in donations. Grants were secured from Sport England and the ECB. The pitches were tended, the pavilion maintained, and the community held together until cricket could return. What followed was a decade of renewal: a 175th anniversary celebrated with records and silverware in 2022, pioneering community tournaments that made Rectory Park a stage for cricket's most inclusive events, the launch of girls' cricket, and — in 2025 — what the club itself called the finest all-round playing season in its history.
Back at Rectory Park — the club resumed competitive cricket in 2021 after the pandemic interruption
Lockdown and the Long Return
When the Government's lockdown instructions arrived in March 2020, the club moved immediately to protect its finances. With no subscriptions coming in and no bar income, the committee held video meetings to manage the budget. The GPC secured a £10,000 grant for the pavilion's fixed costs; the cricket club received £7,000 from Sport England. These funds kept the club solvent through the long months of uncertainty.
President James Ross wrote personally to all life members and vice presidents, explaining the club's situation with characteristic candour. The response was generous: over £3,500 in donations arrived by post. While awaiting cricket's return, the President spent thirty hours painting the fence panels between the two grounds — only for a storm to break a branch and damage a section the very next week.
When the season eventually resumed with a compressed programme, the club's players, parents and volunteers returned to Rectory Park with a renewed sense of gratitude for what they had. The first ball bowled after lockdown was, as one member put it, the most welcome sound any of them had heard.
175th Anniversary Dinner — 8th April 2022, Moor Hall Golf Club, marking 175 years of cricket at Rectory Park
175 Years and the Story Continues
In April 2022, the club celebrated its 175th anniversary with a gala dinner at Moor Hall Golf Club — bringing together players, officials and supporters from across the generations. The occasion reflected on a club that had survived two world wars, financial crises, vandalism and a global pandemic, and had emerged from each with its values intact.
On the pitch, the 2020s 1st XI continued to compete in the Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League, with Aaron Thomason returning to captain the senior side and Raul Ram — one of the most loyal servants in the club's modern history — remaining a cornerstone of the batting order. Over two consecutive Saturdays in April 2022, the side scored 994 runs for the loss of just 26 wickets, a remarkable early-season spell.
The strategic questions facing the club are those facing all amateur cricket clubs: how to retain players in an era of competing demands on time; how to develop coaching pathways; and how to remain financially sustainable. What is not in question is the club's identity — founded in 1847, still playing on the same Rectory Park ground, nearly 180 years on.
The first Inter-County LGBTQ+ cricket tournament, hosted at Rectory Park on 11th June 2023
A Ground for the Whole Community
In the 2020s Rectory Park became a stage for cricket far beyond the club's own fixtures. On 11th June 2023 the club hosted the first-ever Inter-County LGBTQ+ cricket tournament — five county sides, national media coverage and international umpire Sue Redfern among the officials — an event so successful it became annual, growing to eight teams by 2026 when Birmingham Unicorns lifted the hardball title on home soil. Weeks after that first tournament, the Warwickshire Bears arrived for a T20 roadshow against a Best of the Warwickshire League XI, drawing a crowd of up to 500 to Rectory Park, with Bears players coaching juniors and signing autographs into the evening.
The most significant new chapter opened on 15th June 2024, when girls' and ladies' cricket began in earnest: fifteen girls received blue club shirts at the first Saturday-morning session of a grass-roots programme sponsored by Life Member Peter Bell. Two years later, on 9th June 2026, the club's first-ever girls' hardball team — the Under-11 Academy, with guests from Kings Heath — played their first match, and a week after that contested the first girls' hardball game ever staged at Rectory Park: a final-ball tie against Harborne, 132 runs apiece.
Junior cricket meanwhile went from strength to strength — over 100 youngsters at Friday night sessions, the Under-13s winning the Warwickshire championship in 2023, and a steady stream of juniors graduating into the senior XIs, several via coaching qualifications funded by the Andy Biddle Foundation.
The 1st XI of 2025 — part of what the club called the finest all-round season in its 178-year history
2025 — The Finest All-Round Season
After the difficult 2023 season, in which both the 1st and 2nd XIs were relegated, the club rebuilt around its own young players — and in 2025 the recovery bore remarkable fruit. The Chairman described it as 'probably the most successful playing record across all teams the Club has ever had'. On Saturday 31st May, all four Saturday XIs won on the same afternoon for the first time since the 1980s — the 2nd XI dismissing Solihull Municipal for just 20 runs, with Jack Allen taking 6 for 11.
The 3rd XI won the Division 8 West championship, Jim Little carrying his bat for 142 not out in a record 218-run third-wicket stand with Darren Fry along the way; the 4th XI were promoted as runners-up in Division 10 West; and the Sunday XI — Arden Division 1 champions in 2024 under Ben Dunnington — consolidated in the Premier. On Presidents Day, Phil Dunnett struck 116 and shared a club-record last-wicket stand of 74 with James Dalton to set up a 15-run win over Harborne.
Underpinning it all was investment: a new artificial pitch on the lower ground, comprehensively rebuilt practice nets and new covers — more than £20,000 committed to facilities in a single winter — and a new generation of leadership, with Rob Haines elected Chairperson in 2026 following Nick Baker's retirement after six years of service that earned him Life Membership.
Key Moments
2020
Cricket Suspended by Pandemic
COVID-19 halts cricket for the first time since WWII; the club raises £3,500 in donations and secures £17,000 in grants to stay afloat
2021
Survival on the Final Day
Victory over Walmley preserves Premier League status and denies the rivals the title; Martin Ball's 7 for 11 skittles Old Edwardians for 20; the 3rd XI win their division by 66 points
2022
175 Years — Records and Silverware
The club's 175th anniversary brings a commemorative ale, a dinner archived at Lord's, a record 314-6 and 211-run win over Attock, and the 2nd XI's Division 5 championship
2023
First LGBTQ+ Tournament and the Bears at Rectory Park
The first Inter-County LGBTQ+ cricket tournament and a Warwickshire Bears T20 roadshow bring crowds of hundreds to the ground
2024
Girls' Cricket Launches; Sunday XI Champions
Fifteen girls receive their first club shirts as girls' cricket begins; the Sunday 1st XI win the Arden Division 1 title; the Annual Dinner returns to the pavilion for the first time since 1987
2025
The Greatest All-Round Season
All four Saturday teams win on the same day; the 3rd XI are champions, the 4th XI promoted — the club's finest collective season in 178 years
2026
The First Girls' Hardball Team
The Under-11 Girls' Academy plays the first girls' hardball cricket in the club's history — including a final-ball tie in the first girls' match at Rectory Park
"No cricket being played and no indication of when it might return — yet still we found a way to hold together. This club has endured far worse."
Jump to New Decade
Foundations Before Formation
1837-1847
The First Fifty Years
1847-1899
A Time of Change and Uncertainty
1901-1909
A Decade of Transition and Challenge
1910-1919
The Golden Resurgence
1920-1929
The Thirties
1930-1939
Wartime and Renewal
1940-1949
The Fabulous Fifties
1950-1959
Transformation and Tradition
1960-1969
Dixon's Decade
1970-1979
Trophies and Tragedy
1980-1989
Champions at Last
1990-1999
The New Millennium
2000-2009
The Twenty-Tens
2010-2019
The Twenty-Twenties
2020-Present