The club has been in existence for over 20 years, starting life as Scicon Cricket Club, a company team for staff of Scicon, who have premises in Kiln Farm and Wavendon, in Milton Keynes. Over the years the name of the club changed with the name of the company, to SD-Scicon, EDS-Scicon and EDS (the club’s bank account is still in the name of Scicon Cricket Club!). In 1994 a combination of events lead to the current name: firstly, the club had adopted Crownhill as its home ground, and secondly it recognised the fact that membership had already been opened up to non-employees many years before. Although we no longer receive any financial aid from EDS there is still a strong connection with the company with a number of the club members still working there.
In its early days the club joined the Milton Keynes Midweek League. We stayed in the First Division for several years, playing against teams such as Wavendon, Open University ‘B’, Milton Keynes City and Shenley Church End. In recent years it has been difficult for players to make the start of matches so soon after finishing work, therefore we withdrew from the Midweek league.
The club also played weekend friendly fixtures for many years against both local, London-based and other teams. In 1992, in order to play more competitive cricket, the club joined the Milton Keynes and District Cricket League. In our first season we finished runners up in Division 3 to Little Horwood and gained promotion. The next season we were relegated. Following various reorganisations of the League, we finished the 1996 season as Division 2 champions and in 1997 season we finished 4th in Division 1. We currently play in Division 3 of the South Northants Cricket League.
We only run one team in the Weekend League, and we have no plans to change this at present. Our current playing strength is 25, of whom 14 are regularly available.
In the winter we have played indoor 6 a side cricket for many years, in the league organised by the Milton Keynes Cricket Association. When interest has been high we have run two teams.
Philosophy and Membership
The club’s approach to cricket is one of competitive enjoyment - we play cricket hard and we play to win, but we try to remember that it is a game and that we are playing it so that ourselves and our opponents can gain pleasure from the experience. We have welcomed new players to the club, including some "refugees" from other clubs where there was less emphasis on enjoyment. We have encouraged new players into the game, including both teenagers and some late comers to the game. in their 30’s (also 40's, etc). We welcome players from anywhere in the area, irrespective of their social, racial, religious or any other background - the only criterion is their desire to play cricket in the right spirit.
Participation
The club have been active participants in many aspects of cricket in the Milton Keynes area. We have provided committee members in the past for both the Midweek and Weekend Leagues. We have participated in initiatives to improve playing standards and we currently have 3 members of the club who have been on coaching courses. We also have 2 members of the club who have umpiring qualifications.