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Bentley Cricket Club is a village team, based in the heart of Essex, with its own ground dedicated to cricket. The Cricket Boards of England and Wales, and Essex, (ECB/ECCB), have awarded us Clubmark and Focus Club Community status: confirming that we are a safe, effective, and child-friendly Club, and we will receive their special support in our continued efforts to develop cricket provision in the community.

Bentley Cricket Club is open to all regardless of age, gender, and ability. It aims for all its members to enjoy cricket as a recreational activity within an atmosphere of friendship and encouragement, which will lead to personal involvement in our sport to a level that brings pleasure.

We are renowned to have one of the best wickets and outfields in the area. The club house was completely rebuilt in 2000, with the help of a lottery grant and extensive fund raising by members. Improvements since then include a second pitch with changing facilities, mobile nets and electronic scoreboards for both pitches. A comfortable, well-stocked bar completes the picture.

We have been very successful over the past 20 years in coaching and developing young cricketers, which has meant that, after running two Saturday sides for many years, a 3^rd Saturday team was started in 2001, followed by a 4^th team in 2005. Saturdays are primarily reserved for league cricket, with all sides participating in the T Rippon Mid Essex League, where the 1st team are currently in the Premier Division, the 2nds in Division One, the 3rds in Division Seven, and the 4ths, which is primarily the development team, in Division Eleven. Sundays are a mixture of cup competitions, including the National Village Championship, and friendly games. We now also compete in a midweek Twenty20 tournament.

2009 was one of the most successful seasons in the club's history. The 1^st team finished runners up in the Premier Division, the 2^nd team were runners up in Division 2 and gained promotion into Division 1 (thereby becoming the highest placed 2^nd team in the league) , and the 3^rd & 4^th teams maintained their status whilst introducing a number of young cricketers into the adult game. In addition Bentley won the Essex/Suffolk division of the National Village Cup, only to lose in the 1^st Round Proper to the competition’s eventual winners, Glynde & Beddingham, and also won the local Sunday league. In youth cricket, the U11 and U15 teams won their respective Central Essex cup finals, while the U16 team qualified for the quarterfinals of the County Matchplay competition for only the second time in the club’s history.

2010 was perhaps more up and down, as the 1st team finished 2nd again and the 2nd team challenged for the Division 1 title for much of the season before falling away at the end. While the 3rds and 4ths were both relegated, a large number of colts were given the opportunity to play and learned a great deal in the process. The jewel in the crown for Bentley was making the quarter finals of the Village Cup for the first time in our history, with memorable wins at Dinton and at home to High Halstow.

The colts set up is perhaps the club’s greatest asset. There are currently over 100 colts at the club, ranging from the ages of seven to seventeen years old. There is weekly coaching for all age groups, and weekend fixtures for the under 11's, under 13's, under 15's and under 16's. The backbone of the club has been built around these colts. Indeed, the 2009 1st team often comprised of 11 players who had all made their way up through the colts set up, a feat very few other clubs could claim.