In 2009 Armagh CC celebrated its first 150 years with a number of events on and off  the Mall.
The main event took place on 12th August when the Mall hosted  a feature match between an Armagh President's Select XI and a KUKRI All-Stars Select followed by their 150th Anniversary Gala Dinner .
But surely the  main highlight of Armagh Cricket Club's sesquicentenary celebration was the comprehensive history of the Club  written by their long-serving scorer Brian Weir. 
Brian selects  some of the major events and  stars in the Club's history.


Notable Events

1845 – The Mall first used as a cricket ground
1859 – Armagh Cricket Club formed
1889 – first competitive game (NCU Senior Cup)
1890 – reached first Senior Cup Final
1899 – entered NCU Senior League1931 team
1902 – left NCU Senior League
1911 – First pavilion built
1912 – returned to NCU Senior League
1928 – NCU Senior League champions for the first time
1931 – NCU Senior League champions for the second time pictured right (players only)

Back : Harry McCauley, Billy McKinley, Dr W J A McMahon, Rev Frank Bennett, Bob McKinley, Russell Scott.

(Front): George Livingstone, David Thompson, Wilfred McDonough, Bobby Barnes, Paddy McCaffrey
1939 – NCU Senior League champions for the third and last time
1952 – reached NCU Senior Cup Final for the last time and relegated from the Senior League for the first time
1958 – Leslie Spearman scored 140 not out in a Senior league game against Milford (the highest score of all time by an Armagh player)
1969 – New Pavilion opened
1972 – Hampton Ewart recorded Armagh's best bowling figures, 9 wickets for 10 against Portadown
1975 – Relegated to Section Four for the first time
1980 – Section Four Champions
1982 – Section Three Champions
2008 – Armagh's 1500th competitive match
2009 – Section Two (old Section Three) Champions in sesquicentenary season
2009 – Reggie Stinson announced his retirement after scoring 7754 runs and taking 1169 wickets (71 in his best season) in 597 NCU games; all four figures are club records.

150th Anniversary match

Armagh President's Select XI pictured right:

Back: Brian Weir (scorer), Harry Doyle, Philip Doyle, Stuart Lester, Colin Russell, Andrew Bratten, Michael Villiers, Lloyd Hamilton.

Front: Matthew Steenson, Kyle McCallan (guest), Charudatta Kulkarni, Gareth McCarter, Reggie Stinson, Mark Stinson,

International Players

1926 – Charles Raynor became the first Armagh player to play for Ireland
1930 – Wilfred McDonough and Bobby Barnes capped by Ireland. Ex-Armagh player Tom Ward also played for Ireland.
1937 – Jackie Barnes played for Ireland
1968 – Ivan Anderson selected as captain of Ireland while playing for Armagh

Billy Irwin, Lloyd Armstrong, Wesley Ferris and Paul McCrum joined Armagh after being capped by Ireland while playing for Waringstown; Armstrong and McCrum gained further caps while with Armagh.

Lawrie Millar played for New Zealand after playing for Armagh

Armagh professionals Ashok Malhotra, Ashok Mankad, Azhar Khan, Yash Pal Sharma and Zahid Ahmed played for their respective countries before playing for Armagh.


Club Publications

  • 1963 – Programme for Opening of the current Pavilion
  • 1984 – Programme for the 125th Anniversary of the club
  • 2000 – Match Programme for each home game
  • 2009 – Programme for the 150th Anniversary of the club
  • 2009 – Club History Book

NCU Trophies won by Armagh

Senior League: 1928, 1931, 1939 Senior Qualifying League: 1961
Section Three: 1982   Section Four: 1979
Armagh II: Minor Cup 1972   Intermediate Cup 1989, 1993
Armagh IV: Minor Qualifying Cup 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005
Under-19: Colts Cup 1993, 1994
Under-15: Graham Cup 1933, 1946, 1963, 1990, 1991, 2003

Unlike many clubs which have played on more than one ground, Armagh CC is unusual in that the ground pre-dated the club by 14 years.  The Mall was first used for cricket in 1845 while the club itself was formed in 1859. 
For 30 years it played only friendly games which broadly fell in three categories:

  • matches against clubs from local towns and villages
  • games against military opponents  and
  • prestige fixtures against touring sides and Belfast clubs, sometimes of two days' duration. 

When the Senior Cup began in 1888 Armagh CC was among the entrants for the first competition and reached the final in 1890 and 1892.  The club entered the Senior League from 1899 to 1902 and the County Armagh League in 1903 before reverting to a programme of friendly games and occasionally a Senior Cup match.  Since 1912 Armagh CC has played in an NCU League in every season apart from the War years.


2009 league winners2009 League Champions
Back Row: Matthew Brownlee, Colin Russell, Andrew Bratten, David Bullick, Matthew Steenson
Front Row: Michael Villiers, Michael Hoey, Charudatta Kulkarni (c), Gareth McCarter (vc, wk), Philip Doyle, Mark Stinson.
Missing: Stuart Lester and Reg Stinson.
 


 


Brian Weir's book "Armagh Cricket Club 150 not out" is available directly from Brian at £25 including postage (Brian Weir, 30 Linsey's Hill, Armagh BT61 9HD).  It is also available from Lion Sports in Holywood.