Everything begins with Alan Haselhurst.

Alan is cricket mad. Just look at his prodigious Wisden collection. Or pick his brains about Yorkshire’s season (any season). Or count up the official roles he’s served in cricket clubs, from village to county.

So when he decided to chance his arm at novel writing, cricket would clearly be at the heart of his endeavour. The result is a series of novels following the farcical adventures of a fictional, wandering cricket team – The Outcasts CC.

Fast forward to a boozy evening in Suffolk. A family gathering of sorts was sliding into the fuzzy hours. Alan wasn’t in attendance, so the topic of what to get him for his upcoming 80th birthday was safely on the table.

An unthinking joke was made to bring his books to life. 

More wine was consumed, and the joke became a serious suggestion. 

Whiskey was offered and accepted, and the suggestion became a plan. 

Once the hangover had gone the next day, the plan had become a commitment.

Fast forward again to the big day. Alan arrived at Felsted School expecting a birthday lunch, given in honour of his time as a School Governor. He passed through the gate and was unexpectedly welcomed by a crowd. Twenty-two of his family and friends were in cricket whites. Many more were toting picnic baskets. 

The realisation slowly dawned that the lunch was a rouse, and instead, he’d walked into one of his books. The Outcasts CC was alive and kicking, and ready to take on the team they played at the start of debut novel Occasionally Cricket – Little Gradholm CC. 

Both teams were kitted out with new shirts, featuring logos designed for the occasion. A large trophy had been procured for the winners. The whole family, and more besides, had conspired over a number of weeks to bring it together. The day was long, bright, and memorable.

So much so that they did it all again the next year. And twice the year after that. The annual battle for the Alan Haselhurst Cup between the Outcasts CC and Little Gradholm CC became a fixture in dozens of diaries. Alan’s end of game speech and trophy presentation was a yearly landmark.

Before long, though, a nagging thought started to grow. The annual game against family and friends was all well and good, but to really be a proper cricket club, they needed to play other proper cricket clubs.

This begged an awkward question. Which team should carry the torch into the wider world? The Outcasts CC and Little Gradholm CC could each raise a team for a fixture or two a year, but could either stand up to the rigours of playing bigger boys?

Meetings were held, negotiations entered into, and a solution was found. The two rivals were amicably merged. The Outcasts CC and Little Gradholm CC became “The Gradcasts CC”, ready to look outward. 

The first proper fixture was set for the summer of 2020, which obviously went the way of the rest of that summer. But the delay was short. In 2021, The Gradcasts CC debuted again St. Anne’s Allstars CC. 

Today, the Alan Haselhurst Cup remains a highlight of the summer, an intersquad game keenly contested under the two original banners. Meanwhile, The Gradcasts CC tour the spirit of Alan’s books far and wide (so long as it’s in Essex or London) as their fixture list grows.

The cricket team Alan brings to life on the page are an enviable group, and bear many of their creator’s attributes. They are cricket focussed, full of personality, and warm to all they meet. The real-life Gradcasts CC works hard to live up to the same ideals.