A spot of rain gets ignored during this iconic match, as there is already water on the pitch, the “crease” is at best marked through bits of seaweed, and the stumps are a tad wet. Only when the tide comes in and the waves start properly rolling across the playing area, does the annual Bramble Bank Cricket Match get abandoned.
It might not be No. 1 on the sporting calendar for most, but the Bramble Cricket game has been the most quintessentially English feature since the 1950s.
For about an hour every summer, two teams in full cricket whites play a game of soggy, potentially wave-lashed cricket, knowing beforehand who will pick up the trophy. One year the Island Sailing Club Cowes will prove victorious, the following year the Royal Southern Yacht Club Hamble.
Bramble Bank sandbank is usually avoided by everyone on the water as that “perilous shallow bit” in the centre of the Solent. However, for about an hour once a year, it emerges long enough to become the world’s most unusual cricket pitch. This year that will be on the 2nd of September at 6 a.m. – and with dawn at 05:47 and sunrise at 06:21, water won’t be the only challenge facing the players!
The Island Sailing Club will come away as the proud Bramble Bank 2023 winners – after a serious, short game of cricket of course!
Images courtesy of the Island Sailing Club – credit Christina Beasley – Beautiful Wight Photography
The only way to get close to the action is by shallow draught boat – why not charter a Rib for the morning and go watch the game from the water – after all, it won’t last as long as most cricket matches…
Call us on 01590 674900 or email admin@solent-events.co.uk if you are an early riser and want to witness a game with a difference.
