There are very few organisations with a history as long and successful as the Camden Cricket Club. The club is celebrating its 175th birthday next week and will host a special day of matches to mark the occasion.
Camden Cricket Club secretary Greg Little said the club members were feeling pretty chuffed to reach such a big number. “There’s a great sense of achievement,” he said. “It’s the continued development of our club over the years that has ensured people feel a sense of loyalty toward Camden Cricket Club.
“There has been excellent support of both junior and senior players over the years. “People at the club have a great community attitude.”
The first recorded game played by the Camden Cricket Club was held at Campbelltown’s Mawson Park against Campbelltown Cricket Clubs, on Boxing Day, 1843. The scorecard from the original game was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on December 30 that same year.
Researchers Greg Pinnington and Lynda Pinnington-Wilson said the club grew quickly as the population in the Macarthur area developed in the mid to late 1800s. “The Onslow Silver Challenge Cup, a local competition rewarded by a silver cup presented to the team with superior success, was an indication of the thriving nature of the sport in the Camden district in the 1880s,” they wrote.
“By the 1890s, most villages around Camden gathered a team and played in the local competition. “On December 11, 1891, a Camden District side played and English touring team. The Lord Sheffield’s Eleven played to a crowd of some 600 spectators at Onslow field. ” The researchers found that ‘intra-club’ matches between seniors and juniors dated as far back as 1905 and had become a tradition lasting to this day.
The tradition will be carried on this public holiday Monday, January 28 from 9am, with a T20 match at Raby Cricket Ground. The main event, a 175th anniversary match between Camden and an invitational Campbelltown team (comprised of various players from the district) will kick off at 12.30pm