Marchmont Cricket Club have opened their revamped facilities at Cavalry Park as they get a landmark season underway.

The Edinburgh club, who are based at Cavalry Park and have teams in the Baillie Gifford Eastern Championship, East Division Three and East Division Eight, have just started their 42nd year.

And 42 is an important number in the history of this community club because the players and teams have always used 42 Warrender Park Road as the main meeting place pre-match.

Roger Sardesai, one of the founders of the club, used to live there before he passed away.

And, as a result, last Sunday before the Citylets Scottish Cup win over Glasgow Accies at Cavalry Park they opened the Roger Sardesai Pavilion.

The club in its current form was formed in 1975 out of the former Brunswick Cricket Club. 

The club initially played friendly midweek limited over cricket, generally on the Meadows in central Edinburgh, building up a large playing contingent with predominantly Indian and Scottish roots. 

The club grew in stature and size predominantly under the auspices of Roger Sardesai, Joe Hannaford, Bashir Wadee and Mahendra Chetty, eventually joining the East of Scotland League in 1979 and moving to their now home of Cavalry Park in Duddingston.

Neil Granger from the club explained:  “Over the years club membership has naturally ebbed and flowed, but one constant was the main meeting spot - and occasional lodgings - for the teams; 42 Warrender Park Road, the home of Roger Sardesai.  

“The familiar, stylised ‘42’ of the door number became the logo in 2004, giving the club a much needed and unique identity.

“Given the importance to the club of the 42, it seemed very fitting to do something a little out of the ordinary and celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the club in 2017.

“The Roundhouse Pavilion at Cavalry Park used to be the main shelter and place to host visiting teams, but over the years vandalism and limited investment in maintenance caused it to drift into a poor state of repair. 

“It became a dark, uninspiring place to be and we always felt a bit apologetic to oppositions if a huge amount of time was needed to be spent in there sheltering from the inevitable ‘Cavalry Crosswind’ or inclement weather.”

So, in 2014 the club made the conscious decision to set out a five year development plan for the club, including improving our playing and hosting facilities. 

Working with both Edinburgh Leisure and City of Edinburgh Council, the club invested in new glazing and roller shutter to help brighten up the space, but protect the building. 

“Over the last couple of club maintenance days we have undertaken a lot of aesthetic improvements; painting the internals and externals, laying new carpet tiles, putting up photographs and generally making the building feel more like a place we can be proud of,” Granger added.

“This year we also took the step of signing an agreement for exclusive use of the Roundhouse, giving us a sense of greater ‘ownership’ and more headroom to further develop it. It seems very fitting that it will be the Roger Sardesai Pavilion going forward.

“I would like to think Roger would be proud of where the club is now. 

“Although the club has developed a lot, traditions and philosophies that he embodied in the club are still very much present. The club remains competitive, fair and fun, but ultimately it is about 11 friends and team mates playing a game they love; something he was very much an advocate for.   

“We like to think that Marchmont is much more than just the cricket on the field and a club that embodies a friendly, family feel.  We are competitive, but fair, on the field and can offer a variety of standards of cricket to suit all abilities but very much want to be able to give people opportunity and flexibility to make cricket work around personal, and in a lot of cases, family life. 

“We have a strong social aspect too, with a lot of the players meeting socially, not limited to just after matches either.

“I reckon the foundations, what we can offer and planned development of the club is significantly stronger than it ever has been. 

“We can’t be complacent though. We need to keep considering what the club may need to look like in 5 to 10 years, particularly as the game develops and expectations on what we can offer increases. A thriving junior structure is one of the next things we need to look to develop.”