CRICKET: Priory Set to Return to Horntye for 2024
Sussex Premier League cricket is set to return to Horntye Park for at least one more season following the withdrawal of plans for the Hastings & St Leonards Priory club to relocate permanently to Claremont School (see page 3).
Priory at Claremont, 2023
The club last played at Horntye in 2021, taking its home fixtures to Claremont over the past two years in anticipation of the move, and its second, third and junior teams will continue to enjoy the school’s hospitality there in 2024. However, Claremont’s main ground is not regarded by the Sussex League authorities as big enough to host Premier matches.
In 2022 the Priory first team was allowed to use it as a one-season concession pending the establishment of a new full-size ground. The team was then relegated to Division 2, where the existing ground qualified as adequate. Last summer, somewhat unexpectedly, Priory won the Division and were promoted back to the Premier League, but that promotion was threatened to be suspended unless another home ground was found.
The Horntye Park Management Company, acting as trustee for Hastings and Rother Trust, has stepped in to help, preparing four wickets on the old cricket square at Horntye which can host up to 12 games in aggregate over the course of the summer. Priory has nine home league fixtures, so up to three cup or other matches can also be accommodated.
The offer is strictly for 2024 only. The trust members remain hopeful that the cricket arena will be dug up for housing construction well before the following summer, and that Priory will then be on the move again.
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