Club History
Micklehurst cricket club is situated in Micklehurst, Mossley on the border with Stalybridge, Tameside. The Richmond Hill ground on Castle Lane, which is nestled in the foothills of the Pennines and overlooks the town of Mossley boasts some of the best views in any league the club has entered over the years.
The club was formed in 1890 by employees of George Lawton and Sons, Woollen manufacturers of Micklehurst. When you consider the contours of the surrounding land, you realise what a labour of love it must have been to create the playing area. In those early days the ground was much smaller than it is today, and boundaries only counted as three runs, after which the batters changed ends.
In 1898 the club became members of the Oldham and Ashton District League along with New Hey, West Oldham, Oldham Independents, Ashton Albion and Mossley Brow.
After two years in the league the club joined the Saddleworth and District league in 1900 and over the ensuing 100 plus years featured consistently as League or Cup winners.
The most fruitful time for the club came between the years of 1952 and 1971, when the club tasted division one title success on six occasions, and in all but two seasons (1953 and 1964) finished in the top three. During that time the club won five Tanner Cups in nine appearances in the showpiece competition for the Saddleworth League.
Whilst being able to boast the services of many fine players during its history, one of the most notable was Omar Henry, who in 1978 scored 1172 runs and in 1979 scored 1108 runs, at an average of 73.86, this includes one weekend with successive innings of 167 not out, and 243 (a long-standing record in the Saddleworth league) in the Tanner Cup Semi Final at Richmond Hill. After playing at Micklehurst, Omar became the first non-white player to represent South Africa in international cricket.
One of the lowest times for the club was in 1984 when fire destroyed much of the clubhouse. Thanks to the generosity of townspeople, member clubs of the Saddleworth League and the further cricket community throughout the country over £3000 was raised which was sufficient to replace the damaged building, but sadly most of the club’s photographic history was lost forever.
Senior and Junior success continued in the years that followed, but in the latter years of the time in the Saddleworth League, the junior teams (including future Lancashire and Leicestershire County player Arron Lilley, Greg Buckley and a host of others) took up the mantle of keeping the trophies rolling in. With league titles at u13 and u17 levels, and an u15 cup win in a game hosted at Richmond hill.
At the end of the 2004 Season the club resigned from the Saddleworth League and was accepted into the Drakes Huddersfield League for the 2005 season. The move proved to be a success as the 1st and 2nd XI’s finished top of their leagues at the first attempt, both winning promotion from their respective Conference divisions into the Drakes Premiership 1&2. That trend continued with the u17 team (the majority of the u15 side from the cup win prior) won a hard-fought game in the cup final against Clayton West at Broadoak Cricket Club.
A couple more league titles followed over the years at the u13 level, along with top 3 placings in the other age groups showing our continued ambition to develop our juniors for the future. That ambition turned to be a reality sooner than expected, as during the 2009 season, amid financial struggles, several players left the club and both XIs struggled with the increase in quality and subsequently were relegated from the Premiership to the newly formed Frank Platt Championship. A further relegation followed, and the club found their new level back in the Conference leagues in what turned out to be the final season in the Huddersfield League in 2011 before the club returned ‘home’ to the Saddleworth League. Consolidation followed in the following years, the notable moment being a Tanner cup semi-final appearance in 2015.
The club since spent a single season in the newly formed Pennine League (a merger of the Saddleworth League and The Central Lancashire League) which disbanded after its sole season. The club joined the Greater Manchester Cricket League where they have continued to play to this day. Success has been hard to come by, but year by year the club continues to build and improve for the future. Helped by the star players the club managed to attract in the form of younger players Rico Hurley and Shamar Marshall from Barbados, along with Rizwan Hussain, who over his time at the club single handedly won many games with bat and ball, the club has consolidated its position in Championship Division 2. A 1st XI cup final appearance and a title win in the Sunday East League have been the crowning glories of the time in the GMCL so far.
Going into the 2024 season the club aims to improve on a 6th place finish last season, along with making strides in the Sunday XI to bring more junior players into the fold to return the club to former glories focusing on junior development. With Junior teams from u9 to u17 we hope this trend of focus on junior development will make sure the club continues for many years to come.