HISTORY OF LUTON INDIANS CRICKET CLUB

Hon. Chairman :   D.Panchal
Hon. Secretary :   V.Patel
Hon. Treasurer :   M.Siyodia

The Club was founded in 1963 by a group of ex-East African Asians. It was the first Overseas Club participating at village Club level in and around Luton.

Following a reorganisation in 1972, a policy was adopted to encourage and support students and youngsters in their teens to be the backbone of the Club's playing teams. And it was the results of this strategy that the Club enjoyed a record membership of 103 players during the peak period between 1980 and 1990. This included 55 junior members (under 15).

Our youth training programme has paid dividends in way of recognition of our youngsters in higher standard of the game. Kiran S Patel has played for Luton Town and Bedfordshire; Monty Panesar is on Northamptonshire staff and has also represented England under 19's and was selected for Australian Academy. A number of young players have also represented Bedfordshire Colt's teams.

The Club had participated in weekend leagues such as Mandhatta, West Herts and Millman and a local Luton and District Midweek league since 1975. There were three teams representing the Club in the Midweek league; with the Colt team joining the L & D League from 1992 season.

In 24 years of Luton & District League's history, Luton Indians had participated for 17 years and to date have won 21 major trophies which in itself is a League record.

It was a dream come true for many dedicated players such as Dipak Parsooth, the Club Captain; star batsman Arun Patel, Subash Jani, Anil Patel and Mahendra Patel; star bowler Satish Patel, Hitu Naik, Kanu Patel and Dinesh Patel and an excellent wicket-keeper batsmen Lalit Patel to win a ' Treble ' in the midweek league in 1989 season (i.e. Luton News Cup, Pre Star Cup and Ralph Oliver Shield). To win the West Herts league as well in their first season was like an icing on a cake.

The Club's proudest moment was in 1978 when a team of sixteen members went on a one month Cricket playing tour of Kenya, country of origin for many of them. All the funds were raised locally, organising musical shows, stage plays and other fund-raising activities.

In 1994, a similar one month cricket playing tour to India was organised when Luton Indians played against teams in Gujarat and Mumbai.

The Club has reciprocated similar hospitality to overseas touring sides such as Pangani Sports Club from Kenya in 1989. During 1992/93, Dilipsinhji Cricket Club of Baroda, India and Khar Gymkhana of Mumbai, India, which included Indian Test player Vinod Kambli.

The Club had strived for a home ground for many years to enable the Club to join more competitive Leagues. After extensive negotiations with the Parks Division of Luton Leisure & Amenities, the Club was granted an exclusive use of Lancaster Avenue as their home ground. This enabled the Club to join Beds & Bucks Millman League. With the support and assistance of the management of Luton Recreation services the Club invested in improving the facilities in the pavilion, installed practice nets at Lancaster Avenue and with the help of ECB, an artificial wicket was also installed. During winter, the Club used to organise indoor net practice at Hatfield Polytechnic and more recently, at Ashcroft High School. Two separate sessions were arranged beginning from January to April; Saturday morning for coaching junior members and Sunday afternoon for senior members. The Club's traditional role has always been to uphold strict adherence to discipline, sportsmanship and comradeship. Following is the brief summary of the Club's achievements:

1975

Winner of best sporting team trophy - Mandhatta Weekend League

1976

Winner of Mandhatta Six-a-side competition

 

Winner of 3rd. Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Vauxhall Plate. L&D Midweek League

1977

Winner - Mandhatta Six-a-Side

 

Winner - Murphy Trophy

 

Winner - 1st. Division L&D Midweek League

 

Runners-up - Mandhatta League

1978

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1979

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Pre Star Cup L&D Midweek League.

1981

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1982

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

1983

Winner - Pre Star Cup L&D Midweek League.

 

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

1984

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

1985

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1986

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1987

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1989

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Pre Star Cup L&D Midweek League.

 

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

 

Winner - West Herts Weekend League

1990

Winner - West Herts Weekend League

 

Winner - Pre Star Cup L&D Midweek League

 

Run-up - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1991

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

 

Winner - Pre Star Cup. L&D Midweek League

1992

Winner - Premier Division L&D Midweek League

1993

Winner - West Herts Weekend League

 

Winner - Premier Division. L&D Midweek League

1994

Winner - Luton Inter-Community Shield

 

3rd - Millman Trophy

 

3rd Team Winner – 3rd Div L&D Midweek League

1995

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

 

R/Up - West Herts League

1996

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

 

Winner - Luton 7-A-Side Competition Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15

 

R/Up - West Herts League

1997

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

 

Winner - Under 15’s League

1998

Winner - Ralph Oliver Shield

 

Winner – Millman Trophy

 

Winner – Forum Cup – L & D League

 

Winner – Colts Under 13's League

1999

Winner – Colts League Triple Winners Under 11's, Under 13's, Under 15's