Hazard Colliery Cricket Club

The village cricket club of East Rainton, near Hetton-le-Hole, first recorded in 1849, which played on the Hazard field ringed by the colliery railway, borrowed a Hazard pit pony each summer to pull its mower, and took the name Hazard Colliery CC from 1929 until the pit's closure scattered its players.

The mining history in this record

The Rainton club played its first recorded matches in August 1849, against Moorsley and Hetton. After losing its field near Rainton Bridge to a sewage farm in 1893 it moved to the Hazard field, beside the Hazard pit of East Rainton, where it has played since about the turn of the century. The pitch was partly ringed by the embankment carrying the railway from the Hazard pit, and each year, about May, a pit pony was brought up from the Hazard and lent to the club to pull the grass-cutting machine, living in a small shed beside the pavilion.

The club's players were drawn from the pit, and one of them, George Matthews, its secretary and opening bat, was killed in an accident at the Hazard. During the 1929 season the club changed its name from East Rainton to Hazard Colliery CC. When the colliery closed, in 1932 by the club's own history, putting 620 men out of work, so many players left that the second eleven withdrew from its league, and the club returned to the East Rainton name.

People

George Matthews, club secretary and opening batsman, killed at the Hazard pit.

Legacy today

East Rainton Cricket Club still plays on the Hazard field, whose pavilion is the Hazard Community Pavilion; the old railway embankment is now a footpath.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The Rainton club first played on 17 August 1849, against Moorsley. (documented fact) ¹
• The pitch was encircled by the embankment carrying the railway from the Hazard Pit. (documented fact) ^2,1
• Each year, about May, a pit pony was brought out of the Hazard pit and loaned to the club to pull the grass-cutting machine, stabled in a shed beside the pavilion. (later recollection) ^2,1
• During the 1929 season the club's name changed from East Rainton to Hazard Colliery CC. (documented fact) ¹
• The closure of Hazard Colliery in 1932, with 620 men thrown idle, cost the club players and its second eleven. (documented fact, disputed) ¹
• The club was known as East Rainton Cricket Club when the pit closed in 1935. (later recollection, disputed) ²

Mines

• Hazard Colliery — Tyne and Wear
  The village cricket club played as Hazard Colliery CC from 1929 on a field ringed by the pit's railway embankment, mown each summer by a Hazard pit pony.

Sources

1. (secondary) History — East Rainton Cricket Club
2. (secondary) HER 15733: Hazard Colliery Cricket Club — Sitelines (Tyne and Wear HER)

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026