History of Hillgrove Cricket

This document has been copied from the Publication “Fifty Great and Glorious Years” which is available on this site.

Armidale Cricket 1850-1898

Armidale has always been prominent, from a cricketing point of view, and for a town of its size has taken a leading position.

1. In the early days, as back as the fifties, several of the pioneers were cricket enthusiasts, notably the Marsh family of Salisbury Court and the Taylors of Terrible Vale. These stations each had a cricket team, and matches between these country teams and the town team were frequent, and in later years these contests still went on. Salisbury Court and Terrible Vale were the first to use the matting wicket, which was the means of materially improving the game, as good cricket was impossible on the old chipped, bumpy wicket which did duty before the introduction of the mat.

2. Some time after the gold discovery at Bakers Creek Gold Mine in 1887, Hillgrove took an active part in cricket, and Mr George Smith offered a valuable cup, to be played for between teams in Armidale, Hillgrove, Uralla and country teams. This competition, which was extended over 3 years, was the means of giving the game a fillip, and ultimately the Armidale team won the Cup, which was presented to the club at Hillgrove, at a dance given by Mr Smith and the Hillgrove cricketers.

                From The Jubilee Souvenir of the Municipality of Armidale 1863-1913 (p.64)

1. The Armidale Cricketers Association was formally birthed on the 1-Sep-1899. The first competition was organised in two divisions:

   1. Town: Armidale, Orientals, Hillgrove, Dumaresq,  Uralla, T.A.S., West End

   2. Country: Black Mountain, Ollera, Guyra, Wandsworth, Booralong

For 1911-12 the Junior Competition included a Hillgrove side. As well as sides from Brick Villa, De La Salle College and T.A.S.

1. In the 1947-48 midsummer competition, additional teams were entered by Armidale Timber Co. And Hillgrove.

(Association Records)

It is now that Our Story begins……………

“As told to John Boundy by his father, Andy.”

The formation of the Hillgrove Cricket Club came about in a somewhat accidental fashion.

Andrew and Esme Boundy had two daughters who played tennis and through this, they met the young Frost boys, Keith, John and Elvin.

Andy had watched these and other boys playing at the Hillgrove recreation ground with tennis balls and home made bats. He said he recognised a great deal of potential for a cricket team and they showed interest when he spoke to them.

Andy put a notice in Sam Martins shop window and a number of the locals attended a meeting on the following Sunday morning. Hillgrove Cricket Club was effectively formed that morning.

When he lived in Newcastle, Andy had dealings with a sports firm called Reg.A. Baker. He contacted this firm and Reg.A.Baker agreed to supply all the gear needed on a hire purchase agreement. Total cost of bag, bats, balls, pads and gloves was 80 pounds. About $170 in todays (1997) money.

Matting for the wicket was also purchased. Money to pay off the gear was raised through raffles, dances, sweeps on own games and Test Cricket, and the sale of cakes and hot soup sold at the dances.

The first game Hillgrove played was against a team from Richardsons, and was played at Hillgrove. In those days a great afternoon tea was supplied to the visiting team, set up by ladies bringing a plate of sandwiches or cakes.Hillgrove was in “B” Grade the first year and won the competition undefeated. To celebrate and for the presentation, a dance was held and all players were presented with a cap, dark green with the N.E.D.C.A. emblem.

Apart from the players, there was a number of other people who showed a lot of interest in the Club and gave support. Among them were George Smith, Old Bill Frost, Ernie Edgar, Tom Faint and Alf Milner, who drove most of the cricketers to games when they played in Armidale.

A wicket already existed, The Recreation Ground had been there for decades and a pitch laid down. Surrounding the pitch was an old bike track, and this became the boundary. The pitch was very old and not very even. It had been in existence for so long it was in a hollow. A fence surrounded the Recreation Ground and cows and sheep grazed on the pitch. The cow dung would be picked by the team on the morning before the game, using shovels and wheelbarrows.

The team decided a new pitch was needed and built one themselves after the first year. The ground was dug out to a depth of about one foot, and the dirt replaced with ant bed material and puddled in water. The material was dug from alongside the road from Hillgrove to the main road from Armidale to Wollomombi, and trucked to to the ground in Alf Milners truck. It was good wicket, but got marked by the stock which grazed the ground. Andy built a grader made of wood with a piece of angle iron on the bottom, to smooth the pitch before the mats were laid.

Esme Boundy was official scorer for the team and cooked the soup for sale at the dances in a four gallon kerosene tin.

The shed to house the gear was built after several years, and was designed and built by Old Bill Frost, with all team members help.

Apart from himself, Andy remembers the original team to be:

Jim Frost

John Frost

Keith Frost

Elvin Frost

Herb Edgar

Jim Witherdin

Jack Sewell

Laurie Sewell

Alf Wayte

Bob McGregor

Mick McGregor

Norm Waters

Jack Waters

He admits he may have missed some people, and lists the following names as those he played with. School teachers Tom Bowler, Gordon Baker, Bob Blevin and Tom Lambert, Harold Upson, Bill Frost, Les Lawrence, Brian Lawrence, Brian Charter, Stan Ross and a brother, Keith Martin and Tom Dye. There are undoubtedly others, but at his age after 50 years and three strokes the memory is not as good as it was.

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