MAWDESLEY CRICKET CLUB History Mawdesley Cricket Club is over 130 years old and plays at the picturesque Rectory Field in the quiet village of Mawdesley in Lancashire The first available evidence of Mawdesley having a cricket team is from a West Lancashire Cricket League fixture booklet of 1897. This league was founded in 1894, but we have no record of its founder members, nor whether Mawdesley played in the league prior to 1897. The following were members: Farrington, Brinscall, Mill Hill (Blackburn), Penworltam, Wheelton, Croston, Mawdesley, Barrow (near Whalley) The secretary in 1897 was William Cobham (no address given). Bert Moss (President in the 1990s, born 1910) believes Mawdesley played friendly matches in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Bert’s father, John Moss (born 1877), was a member in the 1890s. Geoff Spiby who died in 1954 was the main instigator in arranging friendly games, and it was mainly due to his efforts that the Club progressed. Geoff was one (the eldest) of four brothers who played for the team. The others being Jack (who was reputed to be the best batsman in the district), Bert (who was secretary for many years, and a fourth brother who was killed in the First World War. Geoff was the father-in-law of John Bridge of Jay Bank (another outstanding Mawdesley batsman) and father of Mrs Peggy Williams (now of Eccleston) and the late Mrs Alice Bridge (organist at Mawdesley Church) and the late Mrs Hugh Marsh. The next written evidence of a Mawdesley team is from a fixture booklet of 1900 showing friendlies against: Standish, Newburgh, Farrington, Haigh 2nd, Standish works, Newton-le-Marks (Wigan), Upholland, Wrightington.Skelmersdale. Geoff Spiby is shown as secretary and Tom Moss as Treasurer. A further fixture booklet of 1902 shows friendly games against: Farrington, Leyland St James, Newburgh, Whittle-le-Woods, Newburgh, Aughton, Coppull, Highfield (Wigan), Newton St Marks, Skelmersdale, Shevington Secretary is J T Southworth (Grandfather of Des Dickinson) and Treasurer G T Rose. It would appear that membership of the West Lancashire League was short-lived or that Mawdesley found travelling to places like Barrow (28 miles away) or Mill Hill (Blackburn) too far or too time consuming. We understand from Bert Moss that Mawdesley were invited in 1908 to join the Southport and District Amateur Cricket League, but there is no evidence of this and the League records for that period have been lost. Mawdesley did however join the First Division of the League for 1909 and except for the war years 1914-1918 and 1940-1946 they were members until 2011. The Southport and District Cricket League was formed in 1898 and in 1909 the Clubs forming the 1st Division were: Dalton, Derby Road, Holy Trinity, Burscough, Blowick Wesleyans. Hesketh Bank, St Pauls, Mawdesley In this year Jack Spiby won the Gold Award for best bowler. The team representatives on the committee are shown as A Spiby (Bert) and Hugh Cowley. The Club secretary was A Spiby a position he held until after the 1914-1918 war. The ground for 1909 was shown as the Rectory Field, the rented ground we have played all home league games on since. In 1910 Jack Spiby was selected to represent the League in the annual fixture against Southport & Birkdale, and many Mawdesley men have been selected for this match since. In 1910 Mawdesley finished second in the League with the record: W11, D3, L2. In 1912 the Club won the League First Division Championship for the first time, and in 1913 they were the first winners of the Sandhurst Shield (the League premier knockout trophy). In the final Tom Moss was awarded the bowling prize – 7 wickets for 14 against Newburgh. Jack Spiby also won the First Division bowling prize with an average of 23.38. At the presentation function, the Reverend Lord of Mawdesley (Rectory Field owner) was one of the guests. From an extract of the Southport Visitor of 29th October 1913 he made an interesting and amusing speech which concluded as follows: “If they were not members of the League they would simply stick in Mawdesley and never get away” In 1914 they again won the Sandhurst Shield and the Club entered a 2nd XI for the first time in the third division of the League. After the Great War years cricket in the Southport & District League started in 1919 but Mawdesley did not enter a team until 1920 when they commenced playing in the First Division. The 2nd XI re-entered the league in 1921. Although Mawdesley retained a First Division place from 1920 until 1938 it is understood that in the mid-1920s they just about survived. In 1927 at the age of 17, Bert Moss took over as Treasurer of the Club with less than £3 in the kitty. The old pre-war stalwarts had retired and the running of the Club was left to those in their teens and early twenties with some assistance from Bert Spiby and one or two older members. Bert Moss remained Treasurer until 1958. One championship (1934) was won in the years between the wars and the Sandhurst Shield was won in 1933 and again in 1935. It is said that about this time Mawdesley had a very good team, and at their annual cricket dances they were supported by Jack Iddon the Lancashire and England cricketer who was born in Mawdesley. After 1935 several of the Mawdesley 1st XI players were tempted away with offers of jobs at Leyland Motors. These we understand included John Bridge, J Eaves, Bob Southworth and Ralph Southworth. The latter two were cousins of Jack Iddon, and brothers of Mrs Dickinson (Bob Dickinson’s grandmother). Ralph Southworth later became a professional player in the Lancashire League. The Sandhurst Shield winning team of 1933 and 1935 included the well known Bill Leyland who was groundsman at Mawdesley and Wigan for nearly 30 years. Mawdesley 1sts were relegated to the Second Division in the 1939 season and did not play league cricket again until the 1947 season. Two members of the 1939 Mawdesley 1st XI, John Bridge (farming) and Jon Glover (coal mining) did not leave the district and throughout the war years played friendly matches for Croston and representative XIs against army and other service XIs. The Southport League commenced a restructured league programme in 1946 and Mawdesley did not re-enter until 1947 when they were accepted into the second division with the 2nd team playing in the third division. The first year back was difficult with players still in the forces and other still playing in other teams and the Rectory Field not fit to play on. Apart from the square, the land had been ploughed and Bill Leyland with others spent hours repairing it. In 1947 they played the last two games in August on the Rectory Field. Previous to then a meadow behind Blackmoor Hall had been used for league matches, and practices (every night of the week except Saturday and Sunday) were held at Lane End Farm (Caunces), Home Farm (Cummings) and Spencers Farm Bispham (Ashcrofts). From a scarcity of players in 1947, there was an abundance of them in 1948 and 1949. The 1st XI won the second division championship under the captaincy of Bert Southworth and the 2nd XI won the third division title under Bert Moss. 1950 and 1951 was spent in the first division by the 1st XI but they were relegated to the second for 1952 and 1953. In 1953 they again won the second division title and between 1954 and 1957 spent four years in the first division. After 1957 many of the war veterans packed up and for the 1958 season the only stalwarts playing were John Bridge and Tom Glover in the 1st XI and Bert Moss, Norman Marsden, Frank Finch and Eric Rimmer in the 2nd XI. It was about this time that HH and Melvin Gaskell took on the secretary’s and treasurer’s duties – jobs they both did for over 25 years. Several promising young players were emerging in the late 1950s and in 1961 the junior league was formed (under 17s). Mawdesley, captained by Tommy Cummings, won the junior league championship with a team comprising: T Cummings, K Burton, M Carcorran, J Mawdesley, H Caunce, M Hitchen, T Grisdale, G Bridge, A Burton, W Christopher The first nine listed all progressed to 2nd XI cricket, and seven of those to 1st XI with T Cummings, K Burton and M Carcorran all playing higher grade cricket. This 1961 championship winning team was soon followed by another championship team of 1965 captained by A Yates and included L Ashton, H Jackson, H Thompson and V Higham. In 1961 besides winning the junior championship the 2nd XI under the captaincy of John Singleton won the 3rd division. In 1963 the 1st XI won the second division title under the leadership on John Bridge (his last season as a first teamer). This team included: M Gaskell, W Norbis, A Hitchen, H Shawnock, H Smelt, A Mawdesley, T Cummings, T Gaskell, T Holmes. The 1st XI played in the first division in 1964 and remained there over the next 30+ years into the next century, with a very successful period in the 1970s and 1980s. Les Ashton had an excellent record as captain during this period winning the title four years in a row between 1985 and 1988. In the 2000’s the 1st XI were promoted to the newly formed Merseyside and Southport Cricket Alliance and played a few seasons before the Club made the decision to play only in a League with no provision for professional players. Returning to the Southport and District League the Club enjoyed a period of sustained success from 2006 to 2009. From 2011 the Club moved its senior sides to the Palace Shield League to raise the standard of cricket played and grounds visited. This decision wasn’t taken lightly after 101 years in the Southport League, during which the Club won the League a record number of times. The 1st XI entered the Moore & Smalley Palace Shield Cricket League in Division 2 and made a promising start to life in the new competition. They reached the final of the Loxham Cup in their first season and claimed the Division 2 title in 2012. The 2nd XI began at the bottom of the Palace Shield structure in 2011 and won the Division 6 title in 2014. Back-to-back promotions as divisional runners-up in 2016 & 2017 moved the side to the middle of the league pyramid. Currently the 1st XI are in Division 1A whilst the 2nd XI compete in Division 3. The club also has a team in the Palace Shield Sunday league, with the aim of introducing some of their promising youngsters to senior cricket. The Sunday XI won the Division 2 South Title in 2018. In 2008 the Club was achieved Clubmark status and in 2010 was made a Focus Club by Lancashire Cricket Board. Mawdesley CC were re-accredited for the Clubmark Status in 2014 & 2018. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Mawdesley Cricket Club were one of seven Lancashire based Community organisations presented with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service at a Ceremony held at County Hall in Preston last Monday (16th July 2018). The award was presented by The Lord Shuttleworth, the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, with the Chair of Lancashire County Council, Cllr Anne Cheetham and representatives of other Boroughs in attendance. The accolade was created by The Queen in 2002 to celebrate the anniversary her coronation, recognising excellence in voluntary activities carried out by groups in the community. It is the MBE for volunteer groups. The work that the Club does for the community was very much admired by the independent Assessment Committee, chaired by Sir Martyn Lewis CBE who recommended that the Club should be a recipient of the award. The award reflected the Club’s achievements over recent years in promoting and providing cricket opportunities to a diverse audience, including not only junior players through the Club’s work with local schools, but also women through its newly created women’s section who now compete successfully in soft ball tournaments, and to those with disabilities with the weekly programme run in conjunction with Galloways Society for the Blind for those with visual impairment. For the interest of the wider community, the Club also holds each year a classic car show and hosts the annual Ecumenical Walking Day Tea Party at its Rectory Field ground in Mawdesley. In addition, in 2018 the Club will supported a number of local and national charities including the NSPKU (The National Society for Phenylketonuria) and a Dentaid project in South Africa, with events being held on its field. The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service Team advised the Club that the Award represents a tremendous achievement for the organisation and they hoped that everyone involved, and particularly the Club’s volunteers, feel immensely proud of the recognition that the Award represents. About Us Officals, Playing Facilities, Affiliations and Sponsors Trophies Trophy Name Awarded For Won in Fylde Cup Division One (B) Winner 2022 Barcroft Cup Division Two (C) Winner 2012 William Sharples Cup Division Two (C) Runner Up 2017 Bernard Vanner Trophy Division Five Runners Up 2016 Tom Croft Trophy Division Four (E) Runner Up 2017 Carr Trophy Division Six Winner 2014 British Aerospace Cup Runner Up in Loxham KO 2011 Taylor Trophy Sunday Division (F) Runner Upsun 2018 Bob Millward Trophy Fair Play Winners 2015 Peter Metcalfe MBE Trophy Ground of the Year 2022 Key to notes sun - The Sunday Competition has had various formats. 1996-2005 - Divison F, 2006-2007 - Two Sections, 2008 Decided by Playoff, 2009- Two Divisions jw - Joint Winner Directions Mawdesley Cricket Club Rectory Field School Lane L40 3TG Tel.

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