A Brief History of the Frogs
Foundations and Early Years
The Frogs came into being in the Edwardian era when in 1903 a few undergraduates set out to play touring cricket in the university holidays. The outbreak of war in 1914 put an end to that carefree time and nearly led to the end of the club. Most players joined up and casualties were grievous. When peace came the founders felt that the heart had been ripped out of the club. It was 1926 before the Frogs were revived.
The club rebuilt successfully and flourished through the 1930s. The focus switched to the London area, a regular Sunday fixture list was developed and tours were re-established to Devon (Western Tour), Hampshire and Dorset (Southern Tour) and a new tour to Yorkshire. By the early 1930s the number of fixtures had grown to fifty per season. The playing strength, drawn mainly from public schools and universities, was augmented by attracting a flow of 'Blues' and others with experience of first class cricket.
Post-war
WW2 interrupted club cricket again, but this time the Frogs were better placed to bounce back on the resumption of cricket. By 1947, a summer of glorious weather and brilliant cricket (Compton and Edrich), a fixture list of over 30 games, including three tours, had been restored. Cricket thrived at all levels in the immediate post war period, and so did the Frogs. At that time it was difficult to take overseas holidays, public transport was plentiful and roads were uncrowded, though car ownership was becoming more widespread; and constraints on post match drinking were minimal. Fixtures grew in number but the club was able to field strong sides, with many new young players coming through the universities blending with survivors from the pre-war period.
The 1950s and 60s represented a halcyon era for the Frogs but by the end of that time changes in leisure trends were having an impact on recreational cricket, and league cricket had arrived in the south-east. Those who had combined playing for a home club with wandering cricket now found they were under pressure to commit to playing regularly for their home club in the leagues; and increasing pressure on those with domestic commitments, coupled with the spread in the range of leisure pursuits available, caused wandering cricket clubs to find raising strong sides on a regular basis more difficult. Saturday matches virtually ceased and for the Frogs the number of tours decreased to one and the total of fixtures fell by half.
1970s - present day
So from the 1970s the club has continued to play some twenty or so matches a year against well-known clubs in the London area and south-east. Contacts with leading universities have been maintained in the recruitment of good players but the pool of young active players from which we can draw needs continual strengthening, as it does for most wandering clubs. A glance at our fixture list shows that we maintain a balance between playing home clubs like Hampstead, Hurlingham, Hampshire Hogs, Ashtead and Amersham and nomadic sides like Sussex Martlets, Cryptics, Grasshoppers and Oxford University Authentics, and strong 'old boys' sides. The club also has a long-standing fixture against the Cross Arrows at Lord's every other year. A highlight of the season is the Western Tour first undertaken in 1907, with matches against Wiltshire Queries, Devon Dumplings, North Devon and Somerset Stragglers. The Frogs have generally met with success on tour with extended runs of victories in the 1990s matching those in the inter-war and post-war years. The tour is especially popular with younger players and students, who can get away to enjoy what often is a week's memorable cricket on some incomparable grounds.
Frogs enjoy meeting on and off the field, though in common with other wandering clubs opportunities for social gatherings are limited. However the club has occasional Dinners in London. We celebrated our centenary in style in 2003 and we held another successful Dinner two years ago attended by over one hundred Frogs, young and old.
G.L.P