Oswestry Cricket Club is an amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

club based in Oswestry,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. The club was formed in 1855 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005 with a fixture against

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC). Oswestry Cricket Club has four teams which represent them on Saturdays during the cricket season, a "friendly" team that plays on Sundays, and the "Aardvarks" team which plays midweek fixtures. Its home venue is Morda Road in Oswestry. The club has a number of junior teams from which the bulk of its players are traditionally drawn. The club is associated with "The Bedouins Cricket Club" who also play at Morda Road. Oswestry Cricket Club also has its own successful football team which was formed in 1993. Recent successes have included winning both the Wem Sunday League and League Cup in the 2009/10 season.

History

Until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the club's ground was at Victoria Road, Oswestry. The ground was shared with Oswestry Town Football Club. During the first two decades following the war, many of Oswestry’s friendly matches were against Welsh opposition, and games with Welshpool, Newtown and Brymbo were particularly keenly fought. Football took precedence at the ground after the war, and in 1947 the club moved to its present site in Morda Road. The pavilion was the former canteen of the Coventry Climax factory, which was initially sited in Victoria Road and transported to Morda Road. It served on that site as the club's pavilion until a major redevelopment of facilities in 2005–06. During the winter of 2005, a £350,000 pavilion was built at Morda Road. The club was one of twelve founder members of the

Shropshire Cricket League The Shropshire Cricket League was a cricket league for clubs in Shropshire, United Kingdom. Founded in the 1960's, the league was succeeded by the Shropshire County Cricket League 2012 Format The 1st XI winners of Division 1 of the league were ...

in 1970. Two years later Oswestry shared the Division One title with Shifnal. Having won the Shropshire Premier Cricket League in 2007 the club was elevated to Division 3 of the Birmingham & District Cricket League for the 2008 season. They were immediately relegated, but regained Birmingham League status in 2009 by securing the Shropshire Premier Cricket League title for a second time.

Notable players

This list is compiled of cricketers who have played representative cricket before, during or after their time at Oswestry, therefore making them notable to the club, county and international cricket scene. England * Andy Lloyd * Joe Clarke Canada * John Davison Andy Lloyd went on to play for and be captain of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

and also represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. John Davison, Canadian-born but raised in Australia, was the club's overseas player in 1993. Several Oswestry players have represented

at minor counties level, including Digby Owen, John Hare, Ramesh Sethi, Dave Vart,

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

, Jim Phillips, Mark Robinson, Alex Huxley, Joe Clarke, Jonathan Miles, Joseph Carrasco, Robbie Clarke, Charlie Morris and most recently Matt Gregson.

First XI Honours

* Shropshire Cricket League Division 1 – Champions 1972 * Shropshire Premier League Division One Championships – Champions 2007, 2009 * Shrewsbury Chronicle Kockout Cup – Champions 2004 (runners up 1989, 1990, 2005) * BDPCL Division 3 Champions 2012 * BDPCL Division 2 Champions 2013 * BDPCL Division 2 Champions 2017

References

{{Reflist Club cricket teams in England 1855 establishments in England