Crosby Cricket Club - Winners

Crosby Cricket Club established their home ground at the Marown Playing Fields in 1946
Records of the early days of the Club were not kept, as no formal competitions existed. Instead, a series of friendly matches were played. Crosby Cricket Club was one of several new Clubs formed to provide opposition for the few Clubs in existence. (Cronkbourne, Fencibles, Castletown, Ramsey and K.W.C).

The players who first established Crosby as a Club were Jack Fargher and Stuart Callister (Fencibles} and Ernest Ackary (Cronkbourne); these experienced players were joined by a band of enthusiastic fit young men from the Crosby area. Alfie (Appy) Richmond, Jack and Stuart Gelling, Ron Richmond, Alf Kissack, John Gelling, Jock White, Eddie Corkill, George Gelling, Tim Watson, Ronnie Summers, Clair Gelling and Harold Tasker. Charlie Richmond was the first Treasurer of the Club.

The first success
In 1958 Crosby gained its first title by finishing joint top of the Forrester Cup League with R.A.F. Jurby’s 2nd XI. The team continued to play throughout the 60’s, earning a reputation for being the best fielding team in the Island and few batsmen would chance a quick single at Crosby! The wicket was described by the most generous critic as “Sporting”.

Individual awards were won by Jack Fargher in 1960 when he was the first recipient of the H. P. Nicholson Trophy for the Best All Rounder, and in 1965 a youthful Harley Shimmin won the R.A.F. Trophy for the best under-21 player.

The Forrester Cup was again won in 1966 (when it was shared with Peel) and in 1967.

Success and failure in the Eighties
On the field in 1984, the enthusiasm generated by the new pavilion was reflected by the winning of the Forrester League, thanks to some keen bowling from Clair Gelling, and a young David Kinley, and supported by typically tight fielding. Runs were made by most batsmen during the season, although the opening pair of Keith Hewson and Colin Kniveton could usually be relied upon to get the innings off to a round start.The Forrester Cup was recaptured in 1987, with David Kinley being named as the recipient of the Ernest Ackary Shield for Forrester Division 1 Player of the Year. Again the step up to the Cain Cup was too large, and Crosby returned to the Forrester in 1989, having failed to win a match during 1988.

The Nineties
As the Club moved into the nineties, a number of new players joined Crosby prompting the establishment of a second team who joined what had now become the third of three evening leagues. Players such as Mike Walker, Ronan Bell, Rupert Worsdale, Simon Robinson and Glen Bannister helped to strengthen the 1st XI, and in 1992 Crosby ended the season as joint winners of the Forrester Division One League, along with Finch Hill B and Cronkboume B.

At the Isle of Man Cricket Club Dinner held in October 1992, Crosby players received two individual awards in addition to the team’s share of the Forrester Trophy. David Kinley won the Creg Coulter Trophy for Best Bowler, and Club Captain Colin Kniveton received the Forrester Millennium Shield.

1993 The Tinker Cup Final
The main objective of the 1993 season was to secure Crosby’s place in the Cain Cup League.

This was comfortably achieved, as the Club finished the year in a comfortable mid-table position. The 2nd XI also challenged for honors in Forrester Division 2, and came close to gaining promotion.

However, it was the 1st XI’s progress in the main knockout competition, the Tinker Cup, which provided one of Crosby’s most memorable achievements. The semi-final involved a visit to Ramsey, who were the current Tinker and Cain Cup holders from 1992. Batting first, Crosby piled up the runs, 186 for 5 – Ramsey being bowled out for 98. This enabled Crosby to reach the final for the first time in the Club’s history, where they would face Finch Hill, who beat Malew in the other semi-final.

Crosby went into the 1993 Tinker Cup Final as the biggest underdogs of all time. The situation seemed even worse due to the absence of Crosby’s leading run scorer that season, Rupert Worsdale, while Finch Hill welcomed the return of Jamie Tomlinson, who had spent the season with Northamptonshire.

The venue for the Final was Cronkbourne’s ground at Tromode, and a large crowd gathered, mostly from Crosby! After winning the toss, Crosby decided to bat first, an unexpected decision which seemed to surprise Finch Hill.

Crosby’s early batsmen played well, with Rona Bell again in good form, making 44 and receiving support from Nick Watson and Glen Bannister. However, from 94-3, Crosby collapsed to 109 all out; a very modest total in view of the Finch Hill batting which had produced 238 runs in the semi-final without Jamie Tomlinson!

Finch Hill started confidently, but wickets started to fall as all the Crosby bowlers and fielders did their part. The turning point of the match came after Finch Hill’s skipper, Jack Yardley, had been adjudged not out when the ball was “caught” just over the boundary, and the resulting 6 runs moved Finch Hill’s score to 88-6.

The next ball he tried to emulate the feat and was caught, with another wicket falling next ball. In fact, Crosby took the last 4 wickets without conceding a run to win the Tinker Cup for the first time in the Club’s history by 21 runs. An added bonus was that Ronan Bell received the Man of the Match award for his fine batting and an excellent catch.

The cup winning run continued, as the 2nd XI won Division 2 of the Forrester Cup and moved up to the middle of the three evening leagues, further establishing Crosby’s position as one of the top six clubs on the Island.

Click here to view a photograph of the Crosby Tinker Cup Winners.

2000 and beyond
Year 2000 was another successful year for the Club where under the leadership of Dave Picken the B team overcame Castletown A to win the Blincoe Cup for the first time. 

In 2005 the Club reached the final of the Tinker Cup which is the premier cup tournament for the senior sides.  The match which was played at Tromode proved to be a tense and volatile game which Crosby lost by 4 wickets. Crosby, batting first scored 149 runs with Ricky Kniveton scoring 50 not out. The match will be remembered by the Crosby fans for the controversial “not out” decision given by the umpire when to St John’s star batsman Jaco Jansen edged the ball to the Crosby keeper – Ricky Kniveton.  Jaco had only made a few runs at the rime and went on to score 88 not out in St Johns score of 150- 6. 

In 2006 Crosby B under the leadership of Kevin Quine achieved the “”double” – winning both the Forrester One League and the Blincoe Cup. This win resulted in the B team being promoted into the premier midweek league – Cain League playing against teams such as our A team !!! Despite a valiant effort it was no surprise that the B team got relegated at the end of the 2007 season. However, the B team will be firing on all cylinders in 2008 in Forrester One league.

2006 also saw Crosby enter a C team in the Forrester Two League. The C team was primarily set up to develop and nurture our young players after they graduated from the under 15 side. The C team is largely made up of Under 18 players with a sprinkle of experienced older players. A number of our junior players that now play for the A team starting their senior careers in the C team. In 2020, a further senior side was added, with the D team taking over the role of the historical C team development side above.

2020 saw the introduction of a B team for weekend matches as well, which was mainly made up of up and coming Juniors and a sprinkling of the Club’s elder gentleman to guide the young ones in Saturday league cricket.