AS controversy rages over plans to site a large school on the former Essex County Ground in Leyton, CARL BROWN decided to find out more about the venue, which holds a special place in cricket history.

THE large green cricket pitch which straddles Leyton High Road is today used by amateur cricketers, including Leyton Cricket Club, and the general public.

But for decades it hosted first class county and international matches, and today only the splendid mock Tudor pavilion stands as a reminder to its former glories.

Essex County Cricket Club was formed in 1876 and originally played in Brentwood before moving to the more accessible Leyton site in 1885.

A year later the pavillion in Leyton was built at a cost of £3,500, becoming the headquarters of the club until 1933.

A number of international matches were staged at the ground, with Essex beating Australia in 1899, the West Indies in 1906 and New Zealand in 1927.

The famous WG Grace, who is widely held to be one of finest all-rounders of all time, played at the ground in 1898 and the then world-record opening stand of 555 by Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes of Yorkshire was made in 1932.

In an interview for the Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop, ground staff member and later player Frank Rist described the "terrific" atmosphere as people phoned from all over the country to ask whether Holmes and Sutcliffe had broken the record.

He said: "We had the scoreboard, as you came in the ground it was on the far side of the ground. Then you used to have a tent more or less attached to it and the scorer could check the score."

The stand was the world-record opening partnership for 44 years and is still the highest ever partnership in English domestic cricket.

The Essex players would buy equipment from Breeden's, a bat manufacturers under an arch at Leyton Midland station.

Mr Rist said: "We had great big heavy boots, leather things, but now what they play in are like slippers."

In 1933 the club moved its headquarters to Chelmsford, partly because it could not afford to keep the lease at Leyton in the midst of a financial crisis.

Although former club president Doug Insole said the decision was taken because "there was not the sort of interest from the county or the surrounding population of Leyton."

But the club continued to play some matches at Leyton until 1977.

The council is currently consulting on changing the use of land at the site so it can be used for a new 1,700-pupil school.

The authority insists only a small amount of green space will be lost as a result, but the site will nevertheless be altered forever.