A cricket devotee, his diary records that he enjoyed a game with members of his family at the park in 1824.
But that wasn't the end of it and, as it turned out, cricket gradually caught on to the point when the estate was able to put together a team.
According to his records, an estate team had turned out against one from Worksop in 1881, and for some reason the match had been played on a frozen lake.

Around this time it was rumoured that the club had contact with the legendary batsman W. G. Grace, who was eventually consulted as to the best location for a permanent estate pitch.
Whether this was true or not, soon afterwards a cricket team was organised and the odd matches played.
These helped fill leisure time during the summer months and created opportunities for participants to play sport and to travel.
Interest in the game grew and, in 1893, the chaplain noted in the church magazine that regular matches were being introduced for the benefit of the Clumber choirboys.

The first of these was against the boys of Ordsall Cricket Club, resulting in a win by eight wickets for the Clumber team.
This team also played against teams from the estate school at Hardwick, Ashley House School in Worksop and against choirboys from Blyth, Harthill, Thoresby, Welbeck and Grimsby.

Around this time the adult Clumber Park Cricket Club suddenly came to life under the keen direction of the Duke's chaplain the Rev Frank Hawkins, who was an excellent player himself.
He remained at Clumber until 1932 and never lost interest in the team.
In the meantime the Duke gave permission for the players to lay out a permanent cricket ground and erect a pavillion, with the stipulation that the building had to be thatched with heather.

He also provided bowling screens to hide the shadowy trees around the ground and ensured that the team turned out in navy blue caps with a white medallion-shaped badge with CP (Clumber Park) emblazoned on them.
The early team didn't play in leagues but chose instead to take part in friendlies against select teams from Firbeck, Walesby, Wheatley and Worksop Police.
These eventually increased to include teams from Budby, East Markham, Rufford, Whitwell and even the National Telephone Company.

IN 1928 Henry Edward Hugh Pelham-Clinton became Lord Lincoln after the death of his uncle, the seventh Duke of Newcastle.
He spent much of his youth at Clumber House with his childless uncle and aunt, his mother having died when he was five-years-old.

He was well-liked on the estate and soon established a reputation for sporting prowess which extended to Eton, where he lost no time in becoming captain of the prestigious school's cricket team.
Throughout his studies his main interests were always of a sporting nature. He was said by some to have been good enough to play for his county or even his country if he had wanted to.

Throughout the 1930s the club flourished, mainly due to his active support and leadership.
The team at that time was mainly made up of estate tenants.
There was no shortage of volunteers for the games and no class attitude – the captaincy being taken over by the house joiner when the Duke was away on business.

Since the war, friendly cricket has continued to be played at Clumber every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday throughout the season.
The club pays the National Trust a nominal rent each year and, because of this, each season starts with The Peppercorn Trophy game between a National Trust XI and a Clumber Park CCXI.

In more recent years the club has developed a successful youth programme with junior teams and Kwik Cricket, and employs 24 coaches.
As a mark of its success and vision in recent years the club has been awarded the prestigious ClubMark Award – the first club in Notts to achieve this – plus the Focus Club Status from Notts CCC.

And to mark the club's achievements, members recently celebrated the opening of a brand new pitch just a few yards from the existing ground.
Officially opened by Rachel Slater, the mother of the former player Adam Booth, the pitch has been named The Paddocks.