Sefton Park Cricket Club in south

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England was formed as Sefton Cricket Club in 1860. As well as being used for Sefton's senior, women's and junior teams' home fixtures, the club hosts

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

age group and junior sides, Liverpool City junior representative games,

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

cricket and Last Man Stands.

History

The club's original ground was on Smithdown Road bounded on one side by what is now Langdale Road. With pressure on the land for development, the club moved to its present ground in the north-eastern corner of

Sefton Park Sefton Park is a public park in south Liverpool, England. The park is in a district of the same name, located roughly within the historic bounds of the large area of Toxteth Park. Neighbouring districts include modern-day Toxteth, Aigburth, ...

shortly after the park's opening in 1876. Sefton became Sefton Park Cricket Club in 1998 and in 2003 the club's second ground with its own pavilion was opened adjacent to the main ground by the city's Lord Mayor. The club is a founder member of the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition, which became an ECB

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 2000, and currently plays in the Competition's First Division. Since league fixtures were standardised in 1949, Sefton have been L&DCC champions in 1967 and 1972 and have since won the First Division (2000) and Second Division (2013) titles as well as winning the Liverpool Echo Knockout in 1978 and reaching the Lancashire Knockout final in 1999. The club fields six sides in the Competition, five on a Saturday and one on a Sunday plus an occasional Midweek XI. The junior section fields seven sides from Under 9s upwards.

Honours and achievements

* Liverpool and District Cricket Competition Champions: 1906, 1932, 1967, 1972; Runners Up: 1912, 1955, 1964, 1978, 1996. *First Division Champions: 2000; Runners Up: 2003, 2019 *Second Division Champions: 2013 * National Knockout Best Performance: Sixth Round (Last 16): 2001 *Lancashire Knockout Finalists: 1999 * L&DCC Ray Digman Knockout Finalists: 1982, 1996 * L&DCC Ray Tyler Knockout Finalists: 2018 *

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

Knockout Winners: 1978; Finalists: 1976, 2000, 2010 2nd XI *2nd XI L&DCC Champions: 1955, 1975, 1977 (joint), 1983, 1988, 1999 *First Division Champions: 2004 *Chester Cup Finalists: 2007, 2010, 2012, 2018 *Chrysalis T20 Cup Winners: 2018; Finalists: 2016 3rd XI *Saturday 3rd XI L&DCC Premier Division Champions: 2013; Runners Up: 2004, 2008 *Embee Trophy Winners: 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2013; Finalists: 2007, 2012 4th XI *Saturday 3rd XI L&DCC First Division Champions: 2016; Runners Up: 2001, 2004, 2009 Sunday XI *Sunday 3rd XI L&DCC First Division Runners Up: 2004 *Sunday 3rd XI L&DCC First Division (South West) Champions: 2014

Notable players

* Edward Roper was first mentioned for taking a team of Seftonites to Redcar in 1863 at the age of 13. Two years later it is recorded that he played for Sefton at Smithdown Road in a game against Birkenhead Victoria. Roper captained Sefton from 1880 to 1893 and played for both

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

between 1876 and 1880 and continued to play until 1893 when he received a testimonial of £500 subscribed to by 212 members of the club. After his death in 1921 a memorial tablet was presented to the club and unveiled on 22 April 1923. The names of the clubs who subscribed to the tablet are inscribed around its edge. * William Findlay kept wicket for the club for a short time at the beginning of the 20th century before playing for

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. He later became well known as an administrator and was secretary of

Surrey CCC Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London. ...

until 1920 and then of the MCC during the 1932-3 Bodyline Tour. * Ray Digman, one of the finest fast-medium bowlers the Liverpool Competition has produced, joined Sefton as his first club and made his 1st XI debut in 1950. He returned to the club in 1970 and was a key member of the club's 1972 title-winning side. He represented

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

from 1955 to 1972. A long-standing secretary and later vice-president of the L&DCC, the Competition's 1st XI Knockout Trophy is now named in his honour. * Noel Cooke joined Sefton as a schoolboy and made his 1st XI debut in 1952 whilst still at school and topped the Competition bowling averages in 1953 and 1955 despite missing games due to national service in 1954 and 1955. In 1956 he became the first player to score 500 runs (532 at 34.31) and 50 wickets (52 at 10.92) in the same season, including taking four wickets in four balls in the last over against Bootle, and was invited to play for Lancashire 2nd XI, scoring 74 not out against

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land o ...

. Cooke played 12 first-class games in 1958 and 1959, scoring 242 runs with a highest score of 33, held two catches and took three wickets with a best analysis of 2-10, the only Sefton player to play for

between 1912 and 2004. *Sydney-born Paul Horton joined the club for his second season in English club cricket after moving from Winstanley Park to play a higher standard of cricket and made his 1st XI debut in 2001. He was quickly picked up by the

youth set-up, captaining their Under 17 and Under 19 teams before becoming Sefton club captain for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. He passed 1000 league runs for Sefton in 2003 and in 2005 broke the L&DCC league record for the first wicket with Ben Moore when they put on 240 against Leigh. Horton, who continued to play for Sefton when availability allowed, became vice-captain at the county in 2014 but left at the end of the 2015 season to join

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. * Chris Whelan came through the schoolboy ranks at Sefton, making his first team debut in 2001, before taking a hat-trick at Lytham aged 16 in 2002. Chris was signed by

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...

, making his second team debut in 2003, List A debut in 2004 and County Championship debut in 2005, a year in which he was named

Young Sports Personality of the Year and was also his last playing for Sefton. His best bowling figures for Sefton were 5-40 against Leigh in 2004. Whelan left Middlesex for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see ...

in 2008 where he played until 2011.

Prominent overseas players

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

all-rounder Ashley Noffke played for Sefton in seasons 1996 and 2000, scoring 1460 runs at an average of 42.94 and taking 103 wickets at 14.91 in 49 Liverpool Competition League and Cup games before playing one ODI and two T20s for Australia in the 2007-08 Australian season. *

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

and future

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater ...

fast bowler Marlon Black played for Sefton in 1999 taking 46 wickets at 15.89 and scoring 282 runs. *

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

and Indian international spinner Ramesh Powar arrived as a late replacement for Vin Mane in July 2005. He scored 325 league runs at 32.5 in ten games and took 25 wickets at 21. *

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

wicketkeeper and future captain

Brendan Taylor Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean former international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Z ...

joined for the 2006 season. He scored 452 runs at 45.2 from 12 league games.

Lord Gavron Scholarship

Since 2010, Sefton has received young players from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

on the Lord Gavron Scholarship, an agreement between the

Lancashire Cricket Board The Lancashire Cricket Board is the governing body for all recreational cricket in the historic county of Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in ...

and

Barbados Cricket Association The Barbados Cricket Association is the ruling body for cricket in Barbados. The BCA was established in 1933 by an Act of Parliament to replace the Barbados Cricket Challenge Cup Committee, which had administered Barbadian cricket since its format ...

. *2010: Spartan CC,

and

Under 19 wicketkeeper-batsmen Rashidi Boucher was the first recipient of the scholarship to play for Sefton. He scored 514 runs at 42.83 from his 14 league games with a high score of 114 not out plus 41 from 22 balls in the

T20 Knockout semi-final win against Irby. Boucher returned to Barbados before the end of the season and missed the final defeat against Ormskirk. *2011:

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican had played alongside Boucher for the West Indies at the

2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2010 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was the eighth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and took place in New Zealand. Since 1998, the tournament has been held every 2 years. This edition had 16 teams competing in 44 matches between 15 ...

and enabled Sefton to recover from a poor start to the season to finish seventh with 45 league wickets at a cost of 17.6 and three 50s. Warrican made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in October 2015, taking four wickets in the first innings. *2012: YMPC, West Indies A and Barbados first-class wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich became the third member of the 2010 West Indies Under 19 World Cup squad to join Sefton; he scored two centuries in draws against local rivals

as he totalled 733 league runs at an average of 52.35 despite returning to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...

midseason to play for West Indies A. Dowrich made his

debut for

against Australia in June 2015. *2013: Barbados Youth and

Under 19s all-rounder

Justin Greaves Justin Pierre Greaves (born 26 February 1994) is a Barbadian cricketer who has played for both Barbados and the Combined Campuses and Colleges in West Indian domestic cricket. He made his international debut for the West Indies cricket team in ...

had a successful season with Sefton scoring 109 and taking 4-32 on debut against Old Xaverians and finishing with 742 runs at 67.45 and 31 wickets at 15.00 in 18 league games as Sefton convincingly won the second division. Greaves made his first-class debut for Combined Campuses and Colleges in April 2014 and his Barbados List A and first-class debuts in early 2016. *2014: Jerome Jones *2015: Jonathan Drakes *2016: Jameel Stuart *2017: Shakeem Clarke *2018: Jermain Davis

Captains

Club records

1000 runs in a season *D. J. Heyes 1104 runs in 1996 * C. L. Jones 1062 runs in 1888 *P. J. Horton 1021 runs in 2003 *W. H. Bangs 1009 runs in 1954 Highest individual scores *S. Vandome 180* v Wavertree 2014 *B. Percival 177 v Fleetwood Hesketh 2022 *D. J. Heyes 179* v Ormskirk 1995 * C. L. Jones 170 v

Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. Th ...

1888 *H. Blease 167* v Huyton 1912 *B. W. Moore 167 v Wigan 2007 *C. J. Mitchell 162* v Huyton 1983 *W. H. Bangs 158* v Southport and Birkdale 1952 *R. W. Osborne 158 v Northern 1963 *D. J. Heyes 157* v Chester Boughton Hall 1996 *A. G. Liggins 151* v Huyton 1950 *P. J. Horton 151 v Northern 2005 *J. Jackson 150* v Elton 2008 (National KO) Best bowling figures *H. S. Redhead 9-10 v Bootle 1947 *E. Davies 9-17 v Boughton Hall 1930 *G. Hazell 9-17 v Huyton 1963 *J. S. Curtis 9-24 v Oxton 1914 *Wilkinson 9-28 v Formby 1898 *W. Johnstone 9-28 v

1960 *W. Oakley 9-30 v Huyton 1894 *A. H. Boswell 9-34 v

1907 *E. Davies 9-39 v

1928 *H. Parker 9-39 v St Helens Recs 2003

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official Club Website

Sefton Park CC Play-cricket Website – for all the stats

Official Liverpool Competition website
Sports organisations based in Liverpool English club cricket teams Cricket in Merseyside Cricket in Lancashire Cricket clubs established in 1860 1860 establishments in England