Grafton United Cricket Club is one of New Zealand's oldest and largest cricket clubs, catering for around 700 senior members and 600 juniors (as of October 2017) from its clubrooms at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

, in

central Auckland The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus ...

. The club was founded as the United Cricket Club, on 18 September 1862 by players from existing Auckland clubs and was often referred to as 'the United' because of this. The club aimed to acquire more regular and more challenging competition than that which was on offer in Auckland at the time. The club's first ground was a field in Newmarket donated by local farmer, James Dilworth, but its distance from the city prompted the administration, on behalf of the cricketers of Auckland, to apply for the use of the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

and it began practicing and playing there in 1863. When the

Auckland Cricket Association The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

's first District Scheme came into effect in 1903, the club became the Grafton District Cricket Club. It was so-named because, under the terms of the scheme, it was allocated the area surrounding the Auckland Domain to draw players from. The Scheme was abandoned in 1920, at which time the club paired its original and district names to form Grafton United. This remained in place until the second District Scheme of 1952 when the club became Metropolitan District Cricket Club for three seasons and thereafter Grafton and Districts Cricket Club. The Scheme ended in 1967 and the club returned to the Grafton United name. Victoria Park has been the club's home since the Auckland Cricket Association shifted clubs away from

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

in the early 1950s and, when the City Council leased the Campbell Free Kindergarten to it for a clubroom in 1960, it came to be thought of as Grafton's home ground exclusively. In partnership with the council, a new clubroom and indoor net facility were opened on the site of the old grandstand in 1993 and this continues to be the club's home. The club celebrated its sesquicentenary in the 2012/13 season.

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* {{coord, -36.846129, 174.754965, region:NZ-AUK_type:landmark, display=title Cricket in Auckland Auckland cricket clubs