There will be a special exhibition commemorating 150 years since the England cricket tour of Australia led by W G Grace. Mitcham player James Southerton was part of Grace’s touring party. The exhibition is based on James Southerton’s dispatches from the tour to The Sporting Life newspaper. They tell of the divisions between the “amateurs” and the “professionals” in the team and how these played out through the tour. There will be a chance to pre-order a copy of a forthcoming book of the full set of Southerton’s Sporting Life articles from the Grace tour with annotations from Mitcham Club Treasurer Adrian Gault.

This exhibition also includes a section challenging WG Grace’s view that “cricket is not a game for women”. This celebrates the involvement of women in cricket at Mitcham. With the support of a grant from the Wandle Valley Forum, a booklet has been produced to accompany this part of the exhibition which acclaims the female volunteers and players associated with the Club over the last century. Find out more about the Mitcham member who played cricket for England, the women’s match on the Green which attracted the biggest crowd of any game and how we finally set up a women’s team of our own.

Ask our volunteers about the other memorabilia on show in the pavilion and the history of the Green.

Why not visit other Mitcham venues open for Heritage Day on 9th September, plan your day here

Wandle Fortnight runs from 9th to 24th September and you can find more activities here