This coming Monday, July 21st, marks the start of the 2014 Horsham Festival of Cricket. After some doubt about whether it was actually going to go ahead or not, it has been confirmed that everything is still going to kick off as planned. Sussex County Cricket Club will be returning to Cricketfield Road where county cricket has been held frequently since 1908.

The charming cricket ground, situated only a five minute from walk from Horsham town centre and overlooking the delightful Denne Hill, is the perfect place to hold the Cricket Festival. They will be hosting a four-day LVCC game where they will welcome Warwickshire. Following that will be the Royal London One-Day Cup where Sussex Sharks will play Nottinghamshire Outlaws on July 27th.

It is no wonder there is a great buzz around the festival this year. The town has always loved cricket and Horsham Cricket Club is thriving with three Men’s Saturday League XIs, a Saturday Development XI, a Sunday XI, two Women’s XIs, Thursday XI and a junior section for boys and girls from U9 to U16. The club also runs mini cricket for 5-8 year olds.

Southwater also has its own cricket club that often hosts games and holds the annual meeting for the West Sussex Invitation Cricket League. Even the schools in the Horsham area play a big part in the town’s cricket scene. Tanbridge School’s under 13 girls’ cricket team came second in the county this spring. In February of this year, The Forest School’s under 13s team won the indoor cricket tournament at the Weald.

Horsham is also home to the IDentilam Horsham Cricket Academy – the largest grass roots Cricket Academy of its kind in the UK – and Colts Cricket League. Both of these are sponsored by local company IDentilam. Click here to find out more about how they support cricket in the community.

With the weather set to be mainly dry next week, Horsham Cricket Festival should be an exciting time for lovers of the sport. For information and tickets visit http://www.sussexcricket.co.uk/tickets.