Woolwich Cricket Club
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| Established | early 18th century |
| Last match | 1806 |
| Home venue | Barrack Field |
| History | |
| Notable players |
William Ayling John Tanner John Ward |
Woolwich Cricket Club was an English cricket club based in the town of Woolwich, Kent. It was formed sometime in the first half of the 18th century, or earlier, and its earliest known record is in 1754 when its team played two major matches against the prominent Dartford Cricket Club. The club, or at least a successor of it, then played a number of matches from 1797 to 1806 against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Montpelier Cricket Club, Croydon Cricket Club and other leading town clubs. After playing MCC in 1806, the club disappeared from the records. Throughout the period from 1754 to 1806, Woolwich's home ground was Barrack Field, part of Woolwich Common, which remains the home ground of the Royal Artillery Cricket Club (RACC). Mainstays of the club in its "Napoleonic" period were William Ayling, John Tanner and John Ward.
Woolwich came briefly to prominence in August 1754 when the team played home and away games against Dartford which at this time was probably the strongest team in England. In both matches, the away team won but no further details are known. Both games were mentioned in the same report by Read's Weekly Journal dated Sat 31 August: "Dartford won away & lost at home against Woolwich on Sat. & Mon., Aug. 24 & 26 respectively". The Woolwich club's ability to successfully challenge Dartford at this time clearly infers that it was a leading club in the 1750s but its new found prominence was short-lived, probably because of the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, during which cricket was impacted with few matches recorded.
In the years around the turn of the century, club cricket was very fashionable in London and matches between the town clubs were very popular. They generally held important match status, depending on the quality of the teams. Woolwich reappeared in 1797 with two victories against Croydon, both at Barrack Field.
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