The first-ever Downing Cricket Club

The first-ever Downing Cricket Club 

Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be showcasing and celebrating all things cricket!

And where better to start than sharing a photo from our Archives of the very first Downing Cricket Club team from 1889-90. The photo is from the album of Richard Reece (DCPH/8/1).

James Henry Widdicombe (1888) is seated far left. He later became a Fellow and long-standing Senior Tutor (1911-31) and served as Dean and Bursar.

"Up to the year 1897 we had no ground of our own, playing on other College grounds or on Parker's Piece. In the year mentioned the Governing Body, at a cost of some £300, laid out the field south of the quadrangle, which was previously well studded with trees... For some time, the ground was in a rather unfinished state, the centre only being mown, while a tent afforded the only shelter. A gradual improvement has, however, been effected, and in 1902 the pavilion was built, partly by subscription."

James Henry Widdicombe (1888)

The wooden pavilion was demolished in 2017 and replaced with the current pavilion.

Also pictured are some of the Club's early fixture cards from 1896-98. 

Published 23 July 2025