Two villages, one club and many years of success.

That’s the story of Corse and Staunton Cricket Club, a club that date all the way back to 1895 and one which have come a long way in the past 40 years or so.

Chairman Graham Bruce is in his 41st season with the club so is well placed to talk about the progress that the club have made in the last four decades.

“I like to think we’ve grown as a club,” he said. “When I first started in 1978, we had one Saturday side and one Sunday side. There was no league cricket, no juniors and we’d be rolling the wicket two minutes before everyone turned up to play a match.

“Now we’ve got three Saturday teams, a Sunday team, two midweek teams, a ladies’ team and a junior set-up.”

And as you’d expect at such a go-ahead club that junior set-up is pretty impressive too because they run boys’ teams at under- 11, under-13, under-15 and under-19 age groups as well as a girls’ under-15 side.

“It’s fantastic,” added Graham, “we’re definitely punching above our weight.”

They certainly are and it’s not just on the field that the club have grown and grown.

“When I first started we had one shower for both teams,” said Graham. “Now we’ve got massive changing rooms for each team, there is a changing room for the umpires, we’ve got sightscreens, we’ve got covers – it’s incredible.”

Much of the credit for the huge improvement is down to long-serving club member Charlie Hulls who has been able to secure Lottery funding of some £400,000 over the years. “He’s been brilliant,” said Graham.

The improvements have also benefitted the football club who play their home matches at Corse and Staunton playing fields in the winter.

Interestingly the football club are known as Staunton and Corse, which is the opposite way round from the cricket club.

“I think there was a little bit of rivalry between the villages so they swapped the names round to keep everyone sweet,” chuckled Graham.

And like the cricket club – who have a bat from 1905 on display in their pavilion – the football club have a proud history too, and celebrate their centenary next year.

And in more recent times the playing fields have also become a meeting point for Leadon Vale Cycling Club, a club that were formed out of the cricket club five or six years ago.

Clearly the playing fields off Gloucester Road are a hive of sporting activity and as far as the cricket club are concerned, while winning is important, having fun is just as important too.

“We have a very active committee,” said Graham. “And one of the things they’ve introduced is that once a month one of the teams must hold a themed evening.

“The 2nd XI have just held a Caribbean night, that was very good.”

Talk to Bruce for a few minutes and the stories soon flow.

“We always struggle to fulfil fixtures on the August Bank Holiday weekend,” he chuckled. “That’s because a lot of us go down to Padstow for one week or two at that time of year. It can be as many as 40 of us.

“Mind you, quite a few of the players drive back from Cornwall just so they can play cricket on the Saturday before driving back down!”

And that’s not something that has just happened in recent times.

“I remember driving back myself,” Graham added. “It was a 2 o’clock kick-off and my car broke down in Plymouth. I managed to get back in time but the match was cancelled because of rain!”

Graham was captain of the 1st XI for some 17 or 18 years in the late 70s, 80s and early 90s – “I’d like to think I was a batsman,” he said – and remembers doing plenty of prep work ahead of the matches themselves.

“My daughters always remember sitting on the back of tractor while I mowed the outfield,” he laughed.

All three – Gemma, Ellie and Katy – are very much part of the club with Ellie and Katy having played for them.

That’s not really surprising because above all else the club are a family club.

“Very much so,” added Graham. “We’ve got lots of father and sons who play. Paul Tyrer plays for the 2nds and his son Jack plays in the 1sts and there’s Adrian Cox who plays in the 3rds and his son Matt plays in the 1sts.

“Adrian coaches the juniors and his wife Debbie is a very good cricketer. She works at Hartpury Colllege and is a level 2 coach.

“We’ve even had a grandfather and grandsons playing together. That wasn’t this season but Stan Cotten played with his two grandsons Ben and James Morton.”

And there are others too.

“Colin Gittings is our groundsman and he’s brilliant,” said Graham. “He puts so many hours in. I worked out that in a season he must walk 30 miles behind his mower doing the wickets!

“He plays a bit of cricket too and his son Mike opens the bowling for the first team.”

The 1st XI are captained by Tim Dannatt, a hard-hitting opening batsman/wicketkeeper who hit the ground running at the start of the Gloucestershire League Division One season with his run feast including a 71-ball century against near neighbours Apperley when he hit a six and a four off the first two balls he faced.

“He’s a class act and he’s a local lad,” added Graham. “Most of our players have come through the junior set-up. We’ve got a young team and they’re all nice lads. It’s very much a village set-up.”

The club were relegated from the Gloucestershire Division of the West of England Premier League last season but that has done nothing to damage the feelgood factor around the place..

“We were a bit unlucky because we finished third from bottom,” said Graham. “It was the second time we’d played in WEPL and the last time we were relegated we went straight back up and that’s the aim again.”

These days Graham spends his Saturday afternoons umpiring, something he very much enjoys.

“I played just the one game last year,” he said. “I was determined to play one game in my 65th year. I’ll play if we’re really short but touch wood that’s not happening.”

And to be fair he’s had the odd champagne moment when umpiring.

“It was a girls’ match and there was a ‘caught Bruce, bowled Bruce’,” he laughed. “Ellie took the catch off Katy’s bowling. I couldn’t not give that one!”