#30 Acme Cricket Club
50 stories from The Acme Archive
From Devons Road in East London, in 1975 a short while after founding Acme Studios, David Panton and Jonathan Harvey were to combine the perhaps unlikely pairing of art and cricket by setting up the Acme Cricket Club - the idea stemming from Jonathan’s love of playing cricket at university. Hiring a pitch cheaply from what was then the GLC (Greater London Council) at Victoria Park and later at Blackheath in South London, they were joined by other cricket loving Acme artists, and within two years they had put together a decent team. Although women weren’t playing at this time, they were involved as scorers as were Rita Harris and Claire Smith one of the founders of Acme, and the writer of The Acme Echo newsletter. David was Captain until moving out of London in 1986, with Jonathan then taking over, followed by a new generation of artist cricketers who continue to play to this day.
During the early years, the Acme Cricket Club or ACC would play fixtures against other arts organisations such as Space and the Art Council England. In the 1970s and 1980s the team was made up of young visual artists, a dancer, choreographer, a photographer, a radio producer and several architects, many of whom have gone on to become firmly established within the arts, receiving OBEs, knighthoods and become Royal Academicians.
The ACC is still going strong, playing around 25 games per season and continuing the tradition from 1980 of an annual Cornish tour every summer.