Micklehurst Cricket Club

Micklehurst Cricket Club is based in Micklehurst, Mossley near the border with Stalybridge in Tameside, north-west England. Their home ground is on Castle Lane. The club are currently members of the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League . The 2010 season will be their 6th playing cricket in Yorkshire having been long time members of the Saddleworth and District Cricket League. The 1st and 2nd XI's were promoted to their respective premierships in their first year in the Huddersfield League, however both were relegated in the 2009 season. They will compete in the Frank Platt Championship 1 & 2 in the 2010 season.
History
The club was formed in 1890 by employees of George Lawton and Sons, Woollen manufacturers of Micklehurst. When you look at 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 batsmen changed ends.
In 1898 Micklehurst became members of the Oldham and Ashton District League along with New Hey, West Oldham, Oldham Independents, Ashton Albion and Mossley Brow. The club joined the Saddleworth and District League in 1900. Throughout the ensuing 100 years, Micklehurst always featured consistently as League or Cup winners.
One of the lowest times for the club was on the 9th September 1984 when fire destroyed much of the clubhouse. Thanks to the generosity of townspeople, member clubs of the Saddleworth League and cricket clubs throughout the country £3,348.16 was raised, sufficient to replace the damaged building. Sadly most of the club’s photographic history was lost forever.
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, at an average of 73.86. This included one weekend with successive innings of 167 not out and 243. Omar went on to become the first non-white player to represent South Africa at international level and later became chairman of selectors for the South African Cricket Board.
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 succesful as the 1st and 2nd XI’s finished top of their leagues at the first attempt, both winning promotion from their respective Conference divisions. From the 2006 season they played in the Drakes Premiership 1 & 2. In 2008 the both XI's finshed in finished 6th in their leagues, their highest finshes to date.

During the 2009 season a number of players left the club and both XI's struggled. Both were relegated from the Premiership and they will play the 2010 season in the newly created Frank Platt Championship 1 & 2.
Junior Cricket
The club is represented by three teams at junior level: Under 17s, Under 15s and Under 13s. They play in the Sellers Huddersfield Junior Cricket League.

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