Southern Districts Cricket Club is a community sports club based at Beckenham Park, 20 Norwood Street, in Christchurch. It was formed in 1979 when the Beckenham and Waltham clubs merged. The website says the club has been based at Beckenham Park since Beckenham Cricket Club began in 1926. It exists to give people of all ages the chance to enjoy and grow through cricket. Alongside cricket, it runs Southern Districts Football Club for winter, Southern Districts Indoor Cricket, and South East Ōtautahi, a female pathway club run in partnership with neighbouring clubs. The club is now governed by the Christchurch Metro Cricket Association and the Christchurch Junior Cricket Association, having previously been part of the Suburban association.
2026 marks 100 years since Beckenham Cricket Club was founded. The club's Centenary Project is digitising its records and nearly a hundred photographs, and visiting rest-homes to reconnect with former players and local families. The website invites stories to add to the photographs and gives an email address for contact. The club sees itself as a sports club rather than only a cricket club, and it builds its plans around ongoing support for families. Our pick in Beckenham for cricket with a long local history.