The Club Today
In 2014 we moved to a new ground and a brighter future at Presentation College Bray where we launched a fresh youth cricket development program, run by Kevin Conroy. We field 3 youth teams in the u13, u15 and u17 age groups
We currently have 2 teams competing in the Leinster open leagues in divisions 9 & 13, as well as a taverners team, and a new team entered into 2017's new development league initiative.
Brief History Of The Club
Cricket started in Bray on 30th April 1861, the first meeting of Bray Cricket Club being chaired by parishioner, church warden and Justice of the Peace P. W. Jackson. The club practiced in a field on Old Connaught Avenue made available by Bishop Plunket. The first match we have a record of was away to Avondale near Rathdrum, captained by Avondale owner Charles Stuart Parnell, later an M. P. at Westminster and leader of the Land Reform movement in Ireland. The game faded out in the 1870s in Bray.
Cricket started again in 1956 with an inter-parish game between Christ Church and St. Paul’s played at Killruddery. This parish club prospered in Junior Leinster Cricket and played on a field behind the Tennis Club on the Vevay Road. Its highest honour was winning the Junior Cup in 1969. Albert Philp was the main driver in this club but after the club lost its ground in Bray it failed to keep going in Dublin and went out of existence in 1976.
The club moved to Greystones Rugby Club in 1986 changing its name to North Wicklow Cricket Club to accommodate a number of new Greystones based members such as Robin Fleming, Frank Kenny and Bobby Cross. We then moved to the rugby club's ground at Farrankelly, near Delgany. Progress in Junior Leinster cricket was made but in 1994 we were on the move again when Greystones put the Farrankelly ground up for sale. We moved to St. Gerard's School bringing our artificial wicket with us. Our stayed was short lived; vandals cut pieces out of our lovely new mat.
Three Rock Rovers became our home for over ten years on a dedicated cricket ground in their complex in Rathfarnham. This became less satisfactory as their mat wore out and the outfield saw use for winter sports, reminding us of the bumpy field in Farrankelly. Terry O'Malley and later Kevin Allwright made us welcome at Aravon giving us a second ground used by our Junior and Taverner teams.
We joined forces with Avondale (formerly Arklow) in 2008, becoming Avondale/North Wicklow. We vacated Three Rock Rovers and Rathdrum Rugby Club became our second ground. We changed name again to become Wicklow County Cricket Club. For a couple of years our first team played at Oakhill, a fine grass track, field and pavilion near Rathnew. The firsts reached Senior 3 in 2009, high point in our playing history.