Cricket was relatively slow to come to Somerset, but by the early 19th century it was being played in a haphazard fashion, mainly on gentlemen’s country-house grounds. (See also the history of Watts House). Founded in 1825 Lansdown Cricket Club is one of the oldest in England.
The original home of the club was on the old race course at Lansdown. However Lansdown, as a club, was preceded by an up-market Bath club that played from about 1817–1824, and many of that club’s enthusiasts went on to become part of Lansdown. The founder of the club, William Cooper Keating being ably assisted by James Pycroft. It is also worth noting that there are scorebooks held by the Club going back to the 1820s.
The club originally played at a ground known either as “Cricket Down” or as the “Racecourse ground” on the summit of the hill called Lansdown to the north of Bath: (not at the site of the current Bath Racecourse but at a little-used racecourse nearer the city, adjacent to Beckford’s Tower). The club badge is derived from the family crest of Sir Bevil Grenville who lost his life in the Royalist cause at the Battle of Lansdown in 1643.
In 1850, Lansdown moved to and played on Captain Thornhill’s Sydenham Field, which was on the south bank of the river Avon now covered by the Green Park complex, from which, in 1864 the club was given notice to quit and took up a lease at Combe Park in 1865.
In these early years, arranging matches was a problem as there was a lack of other established clubs of good reputation to play. Trips to Devon, to take on Sidmouth and Teignmouth, and up to Bristol to play Clifton were much the extent of their calendar. Team selection was based as much on social status as on talent, and the club was even dubbed by someone as ‘the MCC of the West’.
As the years passed, Lansdown’s reputation grew, and their opposition similarly grew in reputation, as they entertained Oxford University and the MCC. An interesting game was played in 1839 between the MCC and Lansdown on the MCC ground. The records state that Lansdown won the match by 26 Runs.
In 1852, they played host at Sydenham Field to an All-England Eleven (the first of eight similar matches), and fielded 22 men and, after three days, the match finished a draw.
The Club is closely linked with the Grace Family and with Somerset County Cricket Club. W.G. Grace first played for the club on July 5th 1861 at the age of 12 (playing two games) and the club enjoyed a close association with the Grace family for many years. In 1863, W.G. Grace, then a lad of 14, appeared for Lansdown in a game between All England XI’s in the company of his elder brothers E.M. and H.Grace. (A photograph of theses sides is hung in the Pavilion). Between the three of them, they took all of the England side’s wickets in the match as Lansdown won by an innings and 113 runs. In 1869, the club moved to Combe Park, where it has played ever since.
Lansdown has had a long association with Somerset County Cricket Club, which in it’s early days, was captained by the Captain of Lansdown staging the first ever Somerset CCC match.
The Club has also had a number of talented professionals through the years. The Somerset opener Tom Young spent some time at the club in 1910, and the brothers Jack and Frank Lee played for the club while qualifying for Somerset in the 1920s. In the postwar years, the mainstay of the batting for many years was Les Angell, whose prolific scoring for Lansdown masked a more modest record in first-class cricket for Somerset. Almost overlapping with Angell, in 1973, Viv Richards turned out for the side while he served his qualification period for Somerset. During his time at the club he not only entertained the crowd with his runs, but also cut the grass for the club.
A number notable players have played at Lansdown, for example Lord Hawke – a boy who became Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer, then Lord Chancellor and the winning owner of the Derby in1855; Matt Horne who played in 1990, since become a New Zealand test player. Lansdown also hosted the first game ever played in the UK by a touring Pakistani team.
From a more recent playing perspective, Lansdown joined the Western League in 1975 and in 1981/82 became the first club to win the title in two consecutive seasons. The club became champions again in 1997, winning all games.
Much greater detail can be found in the recent book chronicling the history of the club – Horse and Cart to Helicopter – https://www.lansdowncricketclub.co.uk/payments/horse-and-cart-to-helicopter-lansdown-cricket-club-18252020-58442.html)
You must be logged in to post a comment.