A cricket club formed of newcomers to the sport and lapsed players has sprouted from an arts centre in Derby. Within the bowels of Quad works a group of cricket fans who are now part of the so-called friendliest club in England. Kirby Meehan, herself a part of the team, takes on the story.
In Derby’s city centre, surrounded by a brick-paved market place on one side and a row of bus stops on the other, is a strange building that resembles a big, glass cube. Opening in 2008 and styling itself as “a creative hub that connects people and business to art and fi lm” Quad, as it is called, comprises an art gallery, a cinema and a café that hosts events from knitting groups to film quizzes and also boasts the city’s best onion rings.
Somewhere in its depths work a group of cricket fans and from their love of the game the Quad XI Cricket Club was born. Adam Buss, the CEO of Quad, started the club in 2010 after discovering the hard way that returning to cricket after a long break is none too easy. Buss is Sussex-born and grew up around cricket, but his preferred sport to play was football. When injuries ended that pursuit, he decided to try cricket again. “When I went back to try and get into some of the league teams, there was obviously a massive gap in ability because I hadn’t played for so long.
“I thought if I’m in this position other people must be as well, so I decided to set a team up.” The experience of its founder really set up the ethos of the Quad XI team – ability is no issue. The club aims to be the friendliest cricket team in the world, allowing anyone to play and limiting sledging to within members of Quad XI only.
As Buss had suspected, there were other lapsed cricketers out there wanting to return to the game and with some advertising and some word of mouth, the side started to gather players. In fi tting with the Quad XI motto, some come along for just one match while others are more regular; some are new to playing while others just hadn’t played for a long time.
One such is a gentleman in his 50s who hadn’t played cricket since he was at junior school. Many clubs wouldn’t have a place for such a player, but that is where Quad XI differs. Others of note on the club’s books include a 68-year-old, now retired, and an 11-year-old who has since gone on to play league cricket.
The club is unique in that it originated from an arts organisation, but its players now come from a range of other backgrounds as well, including some of Derby’s major employers, Rolls Royce and Toyota, and other industries like finance and teaching. One of their players is even a former Yorkshire CCC mascot, known to the Twitter world as ‘Lloydzilla’.
In the club’s short history, Buss notes a handful of special moments. The one that stands out strongest, however, is its first win. Quad XI’s first win was its first ever match and is described by the founder as “unexpected”. Citing his key angle as “a re-invigoration of social cricket”, Buss sets up the fixtures for the year aiming for like-minded opponents of similar ability. “Over the three years I have worked out which teams are roughly a similar standard so the games aren’t too one-sided – we got tonked a few times in the first year – but also played in the right spirit; that is very important.”
The friendliest cricket team in the world plays around a dozen matches every season at some of the most picturesque grounds in the Midlands. On many a summer weekend, you can spot a bunch of blokes from Derby chasing a red ball around on grounds as far afield as Youlgreave in the Peak District and Beeston in Nottinghamshire. They may differ greatly in age and ability, but they will always wear the whites with pride and, as their motto, ‘Fervidus sed vacuus’ states with a tongue-in-cheek twist, they’re all gear and no idea.