Annabel Croft named ambassador for Surrey pickleball club expansion

Annabel Croft’s arrival at Hurlands Pickleball & Padel Club gives Surrey’s newest racquet-sport venue something most expansion projects cannot buy: instant recognition. The former British tennis No. 1 and longtime Wimbledon broadcaster has been named ambassador at the Farnham club, which is pitching itself as the UK’s largest indoor pickleball and padel venue with nine pickleball courts and five padel courts.

The real question is not whether Croft is a familiar name. It is whether that name will change who walks through the door. Hurlands is clearly betting that it will, because the club is built for more than committed players. Its model includes social play, coaching, leagues, holiday camps, school partnerships and corporate events, with free welcoming membership and several activities open to non-members. That kind of structure matters in pickleball, where the fastest growth comes from people trying the game once, then returning for a social hit, a lesson or a league night.

Croft fits that funnel better than a pure celebrity appointment would suggest. Her background spans the old and new worlds of British racquet sports: BBC material says she was the youngest Briton to play at Wimbledon for nearly 100 years when she was 15, and she later debuted as a Radio 5 Live summariser at Wimbledon in 2000. In other words, she brings credibility with tennis traditionalists, while her new role links her to sports that are easier on the body and more accessible to players coming back after time away.

That crossover is the business story behind the headline. Pickleball England says individual membership is free and uses registration to track growth in England, a reminder that clubs and governing bodies are still building the player base one newcomer at a time. Pickleball England also describes the sport as fun, social and easy to learn, exactly the pitch Hurlands is now amplifying with Croft attached.

The club’s scale shows how far the racquet-sport boom has moved. Earlier plans for the Farnham Trading Estate site called for a £2.75 million development with 13 indoor courts, ten for pickleball and three for padel, and Waverley Borough Council had said the centre was expected to open in January 2026. Hurlands now presents a larger footprint, and that evolution suggests the venue is trying to meet demand, not merely host it.

Croft’s appointment also lands as padel keeps surging. The Lawn Tennis Association said in May 2025 that padel participation in Great Britain had more than trebled in 2024 and passed 400,000 players. With Pickleball England planning its 2026 English Open at the NEC Birmingham on a 60-court venue, the direction of travel is clear: the sport is scaling, and clubs such as Hurlands want to be the place where that next wave starts.