Medstead & District Knockout
(contd)
After this slightly confused start the competition fell into the familiar pattern of the Finals being played on Medstead Green towards the end of July. In the early years some 18 to 20 teams entered the Knock out , and the final was enthusiastically supported with 200 or more spectators lining the boundary.
It became the tradition to take a collection box round to help swell the fund of whichever Hampshire County player had been awarded a benefit season.
Chawton had their name on the Cup three times in the first six years of the competition, Hyde Ramblers from Winchester were the front -runners in the 1960s, courages(Alton) were three time winners in 1970, 1971 and 1972, and Alton repeated this feat in 1976, 1977 and 1978.
Oakhanger became well-known as the "champion runners-up of the 1970s and 1980s, reaching the final and losing on six occasions before fortune smiled on them in 1987.
For its first eleven years the Knockout was organised by John Holloway, Medstead's secretary who first came up with the idea for the Competition. In 1968 the organisation was taken over by Ken Kercher, who has kept the Knockout running up to the present time.
Grayshott first entered the competition in 1980, and reached the final for the first time in 1982, when they beat Oakhanger by the decisive margin of 46 runs. They retained the Cup in 1983 and have gone on to win the Cup on eleven occasions making them the most successful club in the competition, along with Alton who have also won the Cup eleven times.
Local newspapers have always given valuable support to the Competition. In the early years this was the Hampshire Herald, which later changed its name to The Alton Gazette. Since 1996, the Herald Newspapers have provided much appreciated sponsorship, and the medals presented to the winners and the runners up at the Cup Finals are due to their generosity.
