WITH history dating back to the 19th century, the Armidale and District Cricket Association is trying to preserve some of its records.
President Mike Porter said he was afraid many scorebooks, trophies and photographs had ended up in landfill, but called on the region’s public to bring forward any historic items from bygone eras.
“There’s so much history in this association and anyone who has lived here for a long time and followed the cricket would know that it’s changed a lot over the years,” Porter said.
“We used to have teams from Hillgrove, Dumaresq and even Wollomombi,” he said.
The association president said he thought more than 20 different clubs had played in the ADCA since the 1860s.
“We had teams come out of the colleges at the university and even the Teachers’ College had a side,” he said.
One of the first recordings of a cricket match was when Guyra played Inverell for regional honours.
“The matches were made up of four innings, but they were timeless,” Porter said.
“Guyra went across to Inverell over three weekends – presumably by horse and cart – but they didn’t get a result so they said they had to forfeit as they couldn’t go back for a fourth weekend.”
Porter said scorebooks were underrated pieces of history and encouraged any people with cricketing memorabilia from the region to contact him.
“We have a good storage area at the Sportsground and it would be good to piece some of the history together,” he said.
To add to the collection or for more information, contact Mike Porter on 0427 004 377.
