About Cowbridge Cricket Club
Cowbridge Cricket Club’s first recorded fixture took place in 1840 against Bridgend. Today the Club runs three senior and four junior teams, playing on a beautiful ground.
It was not until 1913 that the cricketers of Cowbridge had a permanent home when the Cowbridge and District Athletic Club was established. What is now our ground had been created by Mr E H Ebsworth in 1895 on a field called Cae Wyndham. It was used by Mr Ebsworth’s XI, the Cowbridge XI as well as the Glamorgan Gypsies. The Cowbridge Wanderers were established in 1906 and when Mr Ebsworth retired to Scotland this Club created the Cowbridge and District Athletic Club and bought the ground for £700. The Cowbridge Athletic Club remains the parent body.
The standing of the Club was recognised in the 1930’s when Glamorgan played four matches at Cowbridge. England captains Douglas Jardine, Cyril Walters and Tony Lewis have played for the Club and test players J C Clay played regularly over many years and Hugh Morris began his career with the Club.
Officers & Committee Members
Messages and Information
Chairman's Message
Hugh Williams
2020 was the year of the Coronavirus; where the world came to a stop at one point or other. Very little community sport was played, but in the latter part of the summer cricket had an opening. This pandemic stopped our ambition of playing premier cricket for the first time in our history, but all was not lost as I'll tell you later.
The loss of playing cricket was insignificant compared to the passing away of two stalwarts of our club. Life was taken away from Jon Smart far too early and we will all miss him enormously in the future. He had held all administration posts at the club in the 20 years after finishing university.
Latterly he was instrumental in gaining "Clubmark" Accreditation to satisfy Premiership status. He was so looking forward to his new role at the club of 1st XI manager. There will be many fond memories of Jon, but one lasting memory I will share. While driving to the ground one morning I saw this 6 foot plus giant on his hands and knees with a decorator’s scraper, removing moss from the artificial strip. He was there hour after hour until the wicket was restored to normal. The juniors did benefit from his endeavours. We look forward to hosting the M.C.C. match on the 3rd September in a celebration of his life. More details will follow in due course.
When government permission was granted for cricket to be played, it was our juniors that benefited the most by being able to start much earlier than the seniors. Local leagues and festivals were organised with moderate to excellent results gained. The 1st Xl had home and away matches against Malpas, Newbridge and Penarth. It was a chance for captain Chris Willey to blood some youngsters, and give them valuable experience for the future. The 2nd XI and T20 midweek team were competitive in their 8 matches, The newly formed Ladies team gained the experience of playing in festivals.
The Bernard Cook and Jeffrey Davies scorer’s hut was completed and erected on the "Mound". This was also used for some junior and senior International matches. Improvements to the ground are ongoing with a new project underway.
As always, I would like to thank our small committee for their continued hard work. Thanks also to our sponsors, Vice Presidents, captains, and parents for their continued support. Special mention must go to Andrew Walker and wife Claire who organised the junior section so professionally and thriving in numbers. We will re-establish the Under 15s next year along with 2 teams at Under I3s and Under 11s. Thanks also to Chris Willey, Jack Cropper, and Ben Wright for organising the coloured clothing that the teams will be playing in next season.
As I write there is a glimmer of hope that a full season might be on the cards for next season. We look forward to the coming season with high expectations. We will miss those who have left us, but let's hope that a normal life is around the corner, and that we can share a few beers with friends while watching a game of cricket on this delightful ground.
Come Join Us
Join the fastest growing club in Wales where you will always get a warm welcome