OSWESTRY
CRICKET CLUB
Established in 1855
Official home of the Oswestry Branch of the Royal British Legion
Open to Non-Members
OSWESTRY
CRICKET CLUB
Established in 1855
Official home of the Oswestry Branch of the Royal British Legion
Open to Non-Members
Oswestry Cricket Club has a long and distinguished past. Based on archives and records presently available, the timeline below chronicles the origins, growth, and development of Oswestry cricket, in particular, those significant events which helped determine the club’s playing and social history. It includes a miscellany of newspaper reports, biographical details, and individual achievements both on and off the field of play.
The Club’s history spans over 165 years and constitutes five parts, namely, the “Early Years”, “Between the Wars”, “Relocation and Regeneration”, “Birth and Growth of League Cricket” and finally “Redevelopment and Honours”.
It is hoped there will be something of interest for all followers of Oswestry Cricket and those who cherish the rich heritage of our summer game.
The earliest known reference to cricket is recorded in the ‘’Victoria History of Shropshire ‘’ with mention of a match between the Gentlemen of Shropshire and the Gentlemen of Oswestry in 1817. The match took place at Weston (a mile from the present ground) with the team captained by W. Ormsby - Gore.
By 1821 regular matches were being played at the Weston ground by Oswestry Cricket Club which included amongst its players R.A.Slaney of Walford, the Rev. R.J Russell and the eccentric John ‘’Mad Jack Mytton’’ of Halston.
The records over the next thirty years are scant but in October 1852 the Liverpool Mercury reported that one half of a field known as “Cae Carrier” adjoining the road leading from Lower Brook street to the Shrewsbury turnpike road and used for a cricket ground by Oswestry Cricket Club, was up for auction.
The sale of the land at “Cae Carrier”, strengthened by the aspirations of younger members of the club, was to prove the catalyst for the founding of the club, as we know it today, in April 1855, and subsequent move to Victoria Road. This was to remain the home of the newly formed club for the next eighty- five years before re-location to its existing site at Morda Road in 1947.
TIMELINE
1855 Founding of existing Club with matches being played at Victoria Road.
The Wrexham Advertiser on 28th April 1855 was to report:
‘’We are glad to find that the lovers of this truly national and manly game are be-stirring themselves to the formation of another club in this town. The first meeting was held at the Cross Keys Hotel on Thursday last, when the engagements were entered into carry out the wishes of the members during the ensuing season, and we think there is little doubt that Oswestry Cricket Club will maintain that position which it has before attained. The liberality of the neighbouring gentry and tradesmen of the town bids fair to enhance the pecuniary prospects of the members. We wish them success; but trust that the specious favouritism to certain members in the old club will be unknown in this; we mean those whose wishes were to retain the bat and ball while young aspirants fagged until it became too late to practice.’’
1860 End of season Benefit match for Club Professional
The Wrexham Advertiser reported that a return and end of season match was to be played between the Club and Oswestry Riflemen in aid of the resident Club Professional, Mr Hussey, for which there was to be made a charge of sixpence admission to non - members .The Advertiser stated :
‘’If ever a professional deserved well of his club. Mr Hussey does; for he has been indefatigable in his attention to the members, and has by his constant care made the ground second to none in the county.’’
1875 The “Cricket Field”, Victoria Road becomes the home of both OCC and Oswestry Town FC which had been founded in 1860
The fortunes of both clubs were to become inextricably linked over the next 65 years with sharing of facilities and a good number of players representing both clubs
1876 Cricket Concert held in aid of Club Funds
The Wrexham Advertiser reported on 22th April 1876 as follows:
On Thursday evening, a concert was given in the Victoria Rooms in aid of the Oswestry Cricket Club. It would appear that for some time past the club has been in anything but a flourishing condition, and as a resource for the accumulation of a good sound capital, as a start for the ensuing season, was given attended by a very large and fashionable audience. The great attraction was of course the engagement the Newtown Glee and Madrigal Union assisted by several well-known amateurs ,both vocal and instrumental, who, in aiding the society sang and played some beautiful solos, being loudly and enthusiastically encored. We should think, judging from the audience assembled, large returns must fall into the treasurer’s hands, and we hope that with proper application, having regard to unnecessary expenditure that has been the ruin of many otherwise well-to-do clubs ,the O.C.C. will as it ought flourish in the future”.
1877 Wiliam Trevor - Oxford University Rugby Union Blue (1)
1878 Grand Cricket Match and Sword Tilting Contest
On 20th and 21st August 1878, the Wrexham Advertiser reported that a grand cricket match was held between the club and the 96th Regiment followed by a sword tilting contest. The game ended in victory for the home team, repeating its success in the corresponding fixture at Chester Boughton Hall earlier in the month. The match attracted “the great and good” of the local community with over 1,100 spectators present on the second day. Ground admission was charged at sixpence per head. Captain J D Venables who was in rich form for the county that season scored 106, including twelve fours and five run threes. A E Payne returned the remarkable match figures of 12 – 29. At the end of the match the crowd was entertained to a sword tilting contest performed by the Oswestry troop of SYC.
1879 T Owen International Football for Wales (1)
1879 W D Owen International Football for Wales (1)
1881 – 83 C F H Leslie Oxford University Blue (3), Middlesex and England (4)
Leslie was a member of Ivo Bligh’s Touring Party to Australia in 1882 – 83, which regained the Ashes. He took 3 – 31 for the tourists in the first test at Melbourne and scored 54 in the second test, also at Melbourne.
Born in Westminster, London on 8th December 1961, Leslie was the third son of English composer and conductor, Hanry David Leslie (later to be knighted for his services to music) and Mary Betsey Leslie. He grew up at his mother’s home, Bryn Tanat Hall near Llansantffraid and was educated at Rugby School. He was a prodigious sporting talent and considered to be one of the finest schoolboy batsmen of his era.
During the school holidays, Leslie played at OCC and quickly impressed at club level. At the age of 16 he made his debut for Shropshire in 1877. Four years later, Leslie went up to Oxford where his reputation preceded him. There he joined up with his Oswestry and Shropshire colleague, George Robinson (see below).
Leslie’s first year at Oxford was to prove an “annus mirablis”. His early season score of 56 against the touring Australians quickly set the tone for summer in which he never failed and averaged over 57. His consistent good form was to earn him selection to the subsequent Ashes tour.
Leslie’s all-round sporting prowess did not go unnoticed either on the rugby field or racquets court where he gained further “Blues” in both sports.
The Ashes tour was to mark the high point of his playing career and although he continued to play first-class cricket for the next 5 years, Leslie retired from the top eschelon of the game at the age of just 27 to concentrate on his growing business interests in which he was to enjoy considerable success. He became managing director of William France, Fenwick & Co, collier and ship owners before being appointed director of the Baku Russian Petroleum Company. In 1908 he was made chairman of the Kyshim Mining Corporation.
Leslie was to die at the early age of 59 in Mayfair on 2nd December 1921, but the family sporting and corporate dynasty was to live on.
His son, John, played first - class cricket for Oxford University as did his son - in - law, Herbert Pilkington. Another son – in - law, Sir Geoffrey Gibbs, became Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand Bank and director of Barclays International. His grandson, Sir Roger Gibbs, financier and philanthropist, transformed the fortunes of the Wellcome Trust, the UKs biggest research charity, serving also as a director of Arsenal FC for 25 years. His great grandson, Matthew Fleming, (the great-nephew of author Ian Fleming and creator of James Bond) captained with distinction and played one-day cricket for England between 1997 and 1998. Fleming was to be elected the youngest ever president of the MCC in 2016. A remarkable family!
1881 – 83 G E Robinson Oxford University Blue (3)
George Robinson, son of the vicar of Deythur, was born in 1861. He took 80 first-class wickets and also played for Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. He was regarded as one of the finest amateur opening bowlers of his day. In 38 matches for Shropshire between 1880 and 1903, Robertson took 194 wickets. James Lillywhite’s Cricket Annual, however, was slightly less effusive as to his other cricketing skills, describing him as an “apathetic bat and field!” He died at Acton, Staffs in 1944.
1882 – 84 E G Shaw International Football for Wales (3)
Edward Gough Shaw was the uncle of war poet, Wilfred Owen. He was born at Plas Wilmot, Weston Lane, Oswestry, the historic, Grade II listed Victorian gentleman’s residence, the grounds of which, until recent development, adjoined the Club’s present site.
Shaw, a talented sportsman, scored twice against Ireland in his second match for Wales at The Racecourse, Wrexham in 1884, only to be dropped after the match against Scotland the same year when it was decided he was ineligible to play, having been born in England.
Shaw was to benefit from a great uncle’s inheritance in his early twenties and was soon to enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle, indulging in heavy drinking, wild parties and womanising! In the late 1880s, Shaw left Plas Wilmot to make a fresh start, running away to America. In 1893, he was known to be living in the mining city of Denver, Colorado which had grown rapidly following the silver boom. He was, however, never to be heard of again.
1883 R T Gough International Football for Wales (1)
Tom Gough was born at Marton, near Oswestry in 1859. He enjoyed a long cricket and football career both on and off the field. He played for Shropshire between 1884 and 1903. His two brothers Walter George and Herbert (Bert) Gough also played for both Oswestry and Shropshire.
The son of the Deputy Chief Constable of Salop, Gough played for Oswestry Town FC between 1877 and 1887, first as a half-back before eventually becoming a goal-keeper. He won the Welsh Cup with Oswestry in 1884. After retiring from playing, Gough, a teacher, became a referee and took charge of 2 international games. Gough also became president of the Shropshire FA and in 1911, elected president of the Football Association of Wales. In 1929 he was awarded a long service medal by the Wales FA. He died in Oswestry in 1934.
1883 A E Payne W G Grace’s England XI -v- Lord Sheffield’s XI
Reverend Alfred Payne was educated at Cheltenham Grammar School and Oxford University where he was a keen rower. He captained the club between 1881 and 1888 and made 7 first class appearances for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He played for Shropshire between 1870 and 1904 in 118 matches for the County, totalling 3,386 runs including 4 centuries. He took 231 wickets and captained the County XI in 1888.
After graduating from Oxford, he was a student of the Inner Temple, but was never called to the Bar. Payne was a Justice of the Peace and made an Alderman of Shropshire County Council in 1898. He was also one time President of the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture and became owner of the Pentre Ucha Estate. He died at Ruabon aged 77 in June 1927 and was buried at Kinnerley Parish Church.
1885 Guarantors / Sponsors sought for end of season match against England XI.
In July 1885, given the club’s continued success, at the request of members and friends, the treasurer sought guarantors to underwrite the staging of a match against a ‘’ United England X1” including Mr W G Grace, at the end of the season. The estimated outlay for the proposed match was £70, (the equivalent of £11,650 in today’s money). The game, however, was cancelled possibly owing to the treasurer’s reluctance to pay the good doctor’s match fee!
Footnote
Grace was cricket’s first superstar. Although normally an amateur player, he was a cricketing mercenary, earning considerably more from the game than any career in the medical profession might have offered.
The cost of sending Grace, his wife and family on the 1891 – 92 tour to Australia was believed to be £3,000. More than £100,000 in today’s currency.
1887 H W Sabine International Football for Wales (1)
1888 Club first play host to MCC, but lose by an innings.
1889 ? Creation of original club colours: ‘’prune and sky blue’’.
The interesting combination of colours, believed to be in sporting vogue at the time, was to be revised at an unknown later date.
Footnote
After facing the threat of insolvency the club’s financial position in the 1880’s improved to the extent it was able to afford the services of R. Peel, a Yorkshireman, as professional coach for at £3.00 per week for the last 3 weeks in April when he was available to bowl at the gentlemen daily between 4.30pm and 7.00pm.
There is strong evidence to suggest that the Oswestry guest coach was, in fact, Bobby Peel the Yorkshire all - rounder who took 101 wickets in just 20 Tests, all against Australia. His bowling average of 16.98 remains the seventh-best in Test cricket. Peel was to play an integral role in helping Yorkshire win the County Championship in 1893 and 1896 only to be effectively sacked by his captain Lord Hawke in 1897 following an incident at Sheffield on the last day of the match against Middlesex. Peel who was not averse to the odd yardof ale was supposedly dismissed for urinating on the pitch, mid - match whilst drunk! Others claimed he was so intoxicated that he bowled a ball in the wrong direction. Whatever was the correct account, he was never to play for Yorkshire again.
1894 A.E Clapp Albert Clapp succeeded William Griffiths as the club’s professional, proving to be a consistent run - maker
Clapp was born in Chelsea in 1867, and shared professional duties with Somerset CCC and Shropshire CCC from 1891 to 1896, alternating between both counties. He made his final first-class appearance in June 1895 against Middlesex at Lord’s. In his history of Somerset Cricket, David Foot, the distinguished cricket writer and west country journalist, described Clapp as an “amiable but undistinguished pro”.
His benefit match in 1901 was between sides captained by the legendary Sammy Woods (Somerset, Australia and England) and Dr E H Cooke. The match was notable for the 142 runs scored in just 22 minutes by Sammy Woods’s team.
Clapp also served on the First-Class Umpires list. He died in Bristol in June 1936.
1892 R T Jones Oxford University (i)
1893 Founding of Oswestry United FC after Oswestry Town FC disbanded in 1891
1893 R T Gough captures over 100 wickets in a season
1898 R T Gough returns the remarkable figures of 8 – 1, including two hat-tricks, against Welshpool.
At Powis Castle Park, the home side were skittled out for just 4 runs in their first innings. On a sporting pitch, Oswestry won by an innings and 9 runs. Gough’s overall match figures were a mesmerising 16 wickets for just 7 runs.! He was to receive an award from a Sunday National Newspaper for his efforts.
1898 – 99 Oswestry United FC Reserves winners of the Welsh Amateur Cup
1900 – 01 Oswestry United FC winners of the Welsh Cup
1902 L J Sheather Cricket for Canada
1906 – 07 Oswestry United FC winners of the Welsh Cup
1912 A special Benefit Match was played in aid of the popular groundsman and former Everton and Welsh International footballer Charlie Parry, on 2nd June 1912. It was between the club and arch rivals, Newtown RWW. Deprived of a number of players owing to county commitments, Newtown were defeated comfortably.
Born in Llansilin in 1870, Parry grew up in Arthur Street, Oswestry and was quickly spotted at local level as being a highly talented footballer. He signed for Everton FC and became a member of the first Everton team to win the Football League Championship in 1891. He went on to win 13 caps for Wales. Upon leaving Everton, Parry played for Newtown and juggled his football commitments with being licensee of the Old Vaults, Newtown. Parry returned to his roots in 1900 and kept goal for Oswestry United FC. He was , however, beset by financial difficulties for most of his life, being awarded 2 benefit matches by Everton FC and one by Liverpool FC. He died from tuberculosis and in destitution at the age of 52, leaving a widow and 6 children. He was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Oswestry cemetery.
1915 G R Venables Whilst serving with the KSLI, Gilbert Venables was killed in action at Voormezeele, Belgium.
Venables who was educated at Rugby School and Oxford University was brought up at the family home of Oakhurst Hall which was later to become a boarding house for Oswestry Girls High School. He was club captain for a number of seasons and played for Shropshire, Herefordshire and MCC. A keen sportsman, he also captained Oswestry Golf Club. Both his father and brother played for Oswestry and Shropshire. He practised as a barrister and served on both Shropshire County Council and the Oswestry Board of Guardians, the local authority for administering the Poor Laws providing social welfare benefits of the day for the deserving and needy. He was also a Justice of the Peace. A popular and well-liked man, his funeral was attended by many who travelled far and wide to pay their last respects .
The Great War was to see the club cancel its fixtures as many of the team were on military service with the Birmingham Post on 22nd June 1915 reporting :
‘’ Oswestry Cricket Club have cancelled this season’s fixtures in consequence of their playing members of military age having joined the forces. Of the eight first team players who enlisted Lieut Gilbert Venables of the Shropshire Light Infantry and Lieut D.H.Field of the RFA have been killed in action whilst Capt.J D Venables of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers has had his left arm amputated . ‘’
The war was to impact also upon the football club. In September 1914 it was reported that the club had lost five players due to the conflict. A month later the club had only played two fixtures in the Lancashire Combination and were forced withdrew from the League. Failure to raise a team to play Shrewsbury Town in the Shropshire Cup in March 1915 hastened the club’s demise, being ejected from the competition. Shortly afterwards Oswestry United FC was finally dissolved.
As hostilities worsened and began to extend well beyond the Western Front, the ‘’Cricket Field’’ at Victoria Road was to remain fallow. It was a further four years before club cricket returned to the ground.
To be continued by Part 2 and also maybe Part 3 - coming in 2026