Ideas to Phone 01-2867054 Welcome to North Wicklow Cricket Club HISTORY PAGE 3 a strictly amateur club NORTH WICKLOW CRICKET CLUB History Page 1 History Page 2 History Page 3 History Page 4 History Page 5 History Page 6 History Page 7 History Page 8 Continuation of Bray Parish Cricket Club's Story as told by Albert Philp to Bruce Chandler These new arrangements worked well but came to a disastrous end. The tennis club was the venue each year for the East of Ireland Lawn Tennis Championships. The club had a fine flower garden. Their members were well used to compliments from important tennis visitors on the courts and surroundings. Then one night the sheep broke through the hedge from the cricket field and ate all the flowers right down to ground level. Thereafter a certain frostiness was maintained by tennis to cricket; the sheep returned to Windgates, the Atco was reinstated and the tennis club seriously investigated new uses for their field. Cricket on this field finished in 1964 when the tennis club sold the field for building. Lord Meath then found Bray a flat field at Killruddery and they had this field on a grace and favour basis for a few years until his lordship needed it again for farming. Bray Parish had successes on the playing field culminating in the winning of the Minor Cup. In the early days Albert Philp opened the bowling at a steady slow medium pace. He was 45 when he revived his cricket career by founding the Bray club; his greatest feat with the bat came at Anglesea Road some years later. Batting against Merrion Thirds Albert reached 86. With plenty of time left his sights were on a century. However Bray's captain Jim McKell thought Bray had amassed enough runs. Oblivious to Albert's score he declared. Eddie Whitten was a fine bat. Eddie had been accepted for the Royal Bank on leaving school but was placed on a waiting list. He went to England and became a teacher, spending his long summer holidays improving his cricket. Four years later he reached the top of the waiting list and joined the Royal. As the club moved through the 1960s older players hung up their boots and Albert found it hard to get new members locally. His sons Clive and Ivan turned out for the club.Fred Lee, who later revived cricket in Bray, joined. Albert's daughter Valerie scored every week for some years. Albert looked to the Royal Bank for new recruits and found a stream of Pembroke Wanderers hockey players with good eyes for a cricket ball. David Petrie, Charlie Hovendon, Graeme Moffatt and Geoff Simpson carried on the fortunes of Bray Parish. They even arranged for the club to play at Pembroke's ground at Serpentine Avenue after the club left Killruddery. Yours truly was playing hockey for Pembroke in the mid 60s and got a last minute call to play for Bray against Man of War. The match was on their ground in north county Dublin. We were soundly beaten; I managed two runs with the bat. Albert Philp played his last match for Bray in 1972 at the age of 62. Charlie Hovendon held the club together for a few years after that but Bray Parish C.C. fizzled out around 1976. Charlie may have some old scorebooks. Previous Page