The earliest known photo of Delph & Dobcross CC, taken in the 1910's.
Delph Cricket Club was formed in 1873, with its original ground being based at Gatehead, Delph New Road. The name of the club was changed, however, in 1874 to, also, include that of its neighbouring village Dobcross. The club joined the Huddersfield Cricket Association in its first year in 1886 and the Huddersfield Alliance League in 1893. In addition, the club had a team operating in the East Cheshire League and in the following year, 1894 decided to join the formation of a new league, the Saddleworth & District League.
It was at Gatehead that Harry Morris in 1913 made 232 not out against Newhey, which remains a Saddleworth League record. There were no sixes, with every boundary recorded as a four. The innings included eighteen boundaries from successive balls.
In 1915, Delph & Dobcross Cricket Club moved to its current ground here at Huddersfield Road. A new pavilion, the present one, further extended in 1981, was opened in 1930 to replace an inadequate wooden hut. The current tea room was opened in 1956.
It was over twenty years from joining the Saddleworth League before the club won its first honours but made up for it prior to leaving the league in 1999. In all, there were fourteen first division league championships and twelve Tanner Cup wins, out of nineteen final appearances.
Another early team line-up. This was from our first Saddleworth League Title winning team in 1936.
1XI Saddleworth League championship team in the long hot summer of '76, featuring the great Sonny Ramahdin
In the 1980's and 1990's Delph & Dobcross 1XI featured a very strong lineup captained by Nigel Cooper (who sadly passed away in 2016) and featured a supremely quick bowler in Allison Johnson (back row, centre). They won both the Saddleworth league and Tanner Cup in 1991.
The all-conquering treble winning side of 2016. The most successful team in Delph's long and proud history winning the Byrom Shield, Sykes Cup and T20 Trophy in an unbeaten season.
The club was, to some extent, pioneers of bringing guest appearances of professionals into the league including Gary Sobers, Frank Worrall, Roy Gilchrist, Conrad Hunte and Sonny Ramadhin, who was the club’s professional in the 1970’s.
Professionals in the later years of the Saddleworth League have included Bob Arrowsmith (Lancashire),Martin van Jaarsveld (South Africa and Kent) and Pierre Joubert (record cap holder of South Africa U 19’s).
In 1934 a Saddleworth League record was established for an opening partnership of 295 between Bill Schofield and H Bardsley. A record Saddleworth League low score was equalled in 1964 when Delph dismissed Austerlands for 7 runs, with the club’s current President, Peter Gledhill being one of the opening bowlers with figures of 4 wkts for 1 run. The other bowler Harold Guest (the professional) had figures of 6 wkts for 6 runs. In 1970, a record second wicket partnership was made, with a stand of 339 between Doug Clarke (the professional) and Phil Whitehead, ironically against Austerlands. In 1979, Mike Richardson recorded the highest number of runs scored by an amateur at the time, when he scored 1273 runs at an average of 50.92. It was only beaten in 1998, Grant Jones, who scored 1367 runs at an average of 65.01.
The bowling section was formed in 1923 when the bowling green was first opened. The club, in 1924, was a founder member of the Saddleworth & District Bowling League and have remained members up to the present day.
Since joining the Huddersfield League, promotion was achieved from Section B in the first season, with the team remaining in the Premiership ever since.
In 2003, the Byrom Shield (1st X1 League),was won on the last match of the season. Brandon Nash, the club's South African overseas player, in 2004, broke the batting record for the Sykes Cup with an innings of 235 against Shelley. Season 2012 saw the winning of the Sykes Cup in a thrilling match against Shepley, at Honley.
Season 2016 saw the 1st X1 break all sorts of records by going the entire season undefeated, including Sykes Cup and T20 matches. The T20 title was secured, beating Broad Oak in the final at Delph, whilst, once again, Shepley were defeated, this time in a one sided final at Honley. The treble was achieved by winning the Byrom Shield with a game to spare. During the Sykes Cup 2nd Round match the batting record for the competition was broken with Delph scoring 525 for 5 off 50 overs against Marsden.
Season 2017 saw the T20 Trophy retained and success continued in 2018 by the 1st X1 regaining the Sykes Cup again against Shepley in a re-run of the 2016 final. Major contributors in Delph’s Huddersfield League career, in addition to Brandon Nash, have included Grant Jones, who skippered the side for over 17 seasons, Bruce Cruse, who scored the highest number of aggregate runs and Arron Lilley (pictured),a County player (Lancashire recently moved to Leicestershire) who combined his County career with turning out regularly for Delph.