150th ANNIVERSARY
A SHORT HISTORY OF SOUTHPORT & BIRKDALE CRICKET CLUB
In 2009 S&B will celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the creation of Birkdale Cricket Club in 1859 and a series of events to mark the occasion is planned throughout the year. Here, Club Chairman Ken Standring presents a brief synopsis of the main events in the Club's history.
Organised cricket was first recorded in Southport in 1859, when a meeting was called to found the Southport club. Games were played at York Road near Birkdale station. The first fixture was in July against Preston CC. There was a shower of rain as the game was due to start! Southport lost - 120 to 87 all out. Players and friends adjourned to the Park Hotel where “cricketers dined as only cricketers know how”, according to the local paper.
The first victory was over Ormskirk in the same year - scores 51 to 38! Bootle and Wigan were added to the fixture list in 1860. 1863 saw a Croston player “cautioned by the umpire as to the style of his delivery (over the shoulder)” and the Croston captain threatened to terminate the game. The player then bowled underarm, hitting the stumps six times!
The club had to change grounds to Manchester Road and then to Scarisbrick New Road and eventually ground problems led to their demise and amalgamation with Birkdale CC.
Between 1866 and 1868 the All England XI came to play 3 matches against 22 of Southport & District - and won them all!
The Birkdale club’s origins are not known, but it rapidly became the premier club in the town and has always played on the same ground at Trafalgar Road. Birkdale first played a match there on 23 May 1874, against Crosby. A tent was provided, followed by a pavilion 7 years later. The first game produced a victory 124 to 46 and, by 1877 there was a full fixture list.
Southport finally joined Birkdale in 1901 - to be known as Southport & Birkdale Cricket Club - but there were ‘teething troubles’ when, in 1903, 75 members were struck off the club register. With trams only running as far as Weld Road many former members thought the long journey to Trafalgar Road irksome and the thought of a new club intolerable! However the tram network was extended to Smedley Hydro in 1906, the same year that the hockey club joined up with the cricket club.
The Club closed down during World War I and were then admitted to the Liverpool Competition in 1919 but it was not until 1948 that there was co-ordination of fixtures.
An ‘Extra XI’ was established in 1925 and, in 1932, a Committee minute recorded “That a motor mower as exhibited on the ground the previous week should be purchased and the horse sold forthwith”. The horse (Ginger) had frequent tantrums which damaged the turf and a miniature rodeo would develop as groundsman & volunteers tried to restrain him!
Surprisingly cricket flourished at the club during World War II and cricket teas were provided in spite of food rationing. New teams included Merseyside West Indians, Army, Navy and RAF sides. The Club’s first major playing success was in 1954 when they topped the Liverpool Competition.
The square was enlarged in 1951 and Southport Corporation provided tiered terracing in front of the scorebox and on the Harrod Drive end to accommodate 2000 spectators. The new scorebox was designed to meet County cricket requirements and by 1959, the Centenary Year, County Cricket had come to Trafalgar Road. The first match against Worcestershire was drawn - Lancashire 422 for 9 dec and 137 for 1, Worcestershire 231 and 388. There was not a drop of rain in the 3 days.
In 1963 an appeal was launched for a new pavilion, the first brick was laid in January 1969 and it was opened on 19 July at a cost of £28,000. In the same year 10,500 spectators squeezed in for a Sunday League match - Lancashire –v- Glamorgan. In 1970 the club hosted a Lord’s Taverners –v- Old England game.
1974 saw the Centenary of the ground and Ken Porter (Secretary for 47 years!) published his book “A Century of Cricket” - which has been invaluable for this potted history. S&B reached the semi-final of the National Knockout before narrowly losing to Sunbury-on-Thames. Squash courts were added to the pavilion.
The 1970s, from 1974 onwards, were a successful period at the club. The Championship was won in 1975 and 1979, with S&B runners-up in 1976 and third in the remaining seasons. In the 1980s the 1st XI ended in the first 5 for 7 of the years. It was at this time that professionalism was introduced into the Liverpool Competition with the recruitment of overseas Test players & budding Test players. The 1989 County match saw Warwickshire beaten by 10 wickets, after scoring 523 for 4 dec in their first innings. Also in this year Birkdale Tennis Club joined us.
Ladies cricket was established in the early 1990s and reached a peak in 2003 when the team won the National League (North) Division 2, the Lancashire League Division 1 and the Lancashire Cup.
In 1996 S&B employed its first professional, Abey Kuruvilla, an Indian fast bowler. His 111 wickets were a significant part of the team’s Championship success. Expansion of the Competition was followed by the establishment of 2 Divisions, with promotion and relegation. This coincided with the start of a difficult period for the club, with the loss of numerous senior players.
2000 saw the First XI relegated and struggling. The team had 8 under 18s in one game, but they battled on and slowly improved. Promotion was achieved in 2003, with the help of Nilesh Kulkarni - another Indian - left arm spin bowler. Financial pressures caused a rethink of policy and the establishment of a 5 lane artificial practice area, electronic scoreboard, mobile & supplementary covers, a waterhog and ‘Koro-ing’ of the square are the very visible results.
We are delighted that the ECB has recognised the standard of the Club’s facilities with the award of a Deaf ‘Ashes’ Test in 2008 and we aim to have Lancashire 1st team return in the not too distant future.
Ken Standring
April 2008