This history was researched and written by Iain Fraser, January 2000.

The Club is re-organised in 1908.

Although cricket was played at Kirkby Malzeard in Mowbray Park around the turn of the century, in the early 1900's the club had ceased to function. However on 4 March 1908 a meeting was held in the Mechanic's Institute in order to re-organise the club.

The meeting was chaired by Major Frank Cathcart and was attended by the following interested gentlemen : Mr H Cockshott, Mr Cookshaw, Mr Croft, Reverend V J Davies, Mr J R Ellis, Mr A Gilbank, Mr W Harrison, Mr Harsley, Mr Hill, Mr E Lambert, Mr Lockwood, Mr W Mills, Mr G Prest, Mr R Prest, G D Richmond, Mr T Richmond, Mr W Richmond, Mr G Thirkill, Mr T Thirkill, Mr G J White, Mr Wilcox, Mr W R Wood jnr and Mr Whytell.

The club was reformed with funds of one pound, one shilling and sixpence (carried forward from the "old club") and the following gentlemen were elected to serve as officers : President - Colonel The Hon Augustus Cathcart of Mowbray House Vice-presidents - The Marquis of Ripon, Major Cathcart, Reverend V J Davies, Dr Mossman, Dr Bishop, Mr Mills and Mr G J White; Captain - G D Richmond, Vice Captain & Secretary - W R Wood jnr, Treasurer - G Thirkill; Committee - Mr W Richmond, Mr Harrison, Mr Hill, Mr Gilbank, Mr Lambert, Mr Harsley.

The First Meetings.

The Minutes of the initial meeting and subsequent meetings were recorded in a book donated by the Hon Mrs Cathcart. This splendid book is still in existence and was used to record meetings right up until 1963.

By kind permission of Colonel Cathcart the team was able to resume playing in Mowbray Park. The first Committee Meeting was held on 9 March 1908 and plans were made to repair and paint the pavilion, re-new the posts around the ground, make a scoring board, re-paint the numbers on the scoring tins and ensure that the ground was well rolled. The Treasurer was instructed to purchase bats, pads, gloves, balls, bails, a scorebook and a treasurer's book which has survived the passage of time, although unfortunately there are some pages missing. The Secretary was asked to write to the following cricket clubs to ask for fixtures; Sawley, Winksley, North Stainley, Studley, Tanfield, Ripon Young Men's Club, Masham and Ripon Trinity. When the matches were arranged, large fixture cards were posted in the pavilion and the Mechanic's Institute.

There were 40 members of the club in 1908 (of which 28 were playing members) and Committee meetings were held each Tuesday before a match to select the team. During the summer, both Mr Harsley and Mr Hill left the district and their places on the committee were taken by Mr G Kirk and Mr J R Ellis.

The First Match.

The first match was at Ripon Young Men's club on Saturday 9 May, although the first scorecard reproduced in the Ripon Gazette was for the match played at Winksley on 6 June. Alas Kirkby were heavily beaten as they were destroyed by the bowling of W Banton who took 6 wickets for only 8 runs. The full scorecard was as follows:

It should be noted however, that in the return fixture, Kirkby gained their revenge by defeating Winksley 66 runs to 58.

The First Season.

In all in this first season the club played 15 matches of which 8 were won, 5 were lost, 1 was drawn and 1 match against Sawley was tied (both sides 52 all out).

Travel to away matches was organised by hiring horse-drawn "wagonettes", mostly from Miss Almack , usually at a cost of 10 shillings and sixpence.

Some indication of the playing conditions may be gained by the fact that H Walker won the batting cup with an average of only 9 runs per innings. G D Richmond won the bowling cup for his performance in one match of taking 4 wickets for only 1 run. However, the most notable playing feat of the season was that recorded by R Prest who took all 10 wickets at Masham for a cost of 21 runs, including 5 wickets in 6 balls. This performance allowed him to share the Leeds Mercury (now the Yorkshire Post) bowling prize of the week of Two pounds and 5 shillings.

The A.G.M. and Annual Ball, 1908.

At the AGM of 1908 (held 18 December at the Mechanic's Institute), the club officials were all re-elected to serve again in 1909. The exception to this was that Dr Walker was elected as a Vice President to replace Dr Mossman who had left the area. The Treasurer, G Thirkill, reported a deficit of just under £4 for the year. To boost funds, therefore, a Cricket Club Ball was arranged to take place in the Mechanic's Institute on 15 January 1909. The entrance fee to the ball was two shillings for gentlemen, one shilling and sixpence for ladies or three shillings for a couple. For entertainment Mr White (presumably G J White who was a member of the cricket club and who was also the church organist at the time) played the piano and Mr Wilson played the violin.

The following report of this event appeared in the Ripon Gazette: "On Friday, the Kirkby Malzeard Cricket Club held their annual ball in the Mechanic's Institute, there being about 50 persons present. The room had been very tastefully decorated. The dance was very much enjoyed by all, and terminated about four o'clock, an excellent programme of music being supplied by Messers White and Wilson. The ball left a balance of £2 and this along with proceeds from Christmas singing clears off the deficit of last year and leaves a balance of about 15s to start the coming season."

The 1909 Season.

In 1909 there were 34 cricket club members and in an attempt to improve playing conditions, Mr H Brotherton was paid 7 shillings to roll the ground for 1 day. Matches were played against Ripon Grammar School, Swinton, Glasshouses, Winksley, Studley, North Stainley and Mr Braithwaite's team from Galphay. Fixtures against Littlethorpe and Sawley were not arranged as these sides were not considered strong enough. A total of 12 matches were played in all (although none were reported in the Ripon Gazette), with the team winning 4 and losing 8. This was not thought to be too bad as the opposition this year was considered to be stronger than the sides played in 1908. The bowling averages were again won by G D Richmond, who took a total of 16 wickets at a cost of 86 runs, and the batting average was won by Mr Whittaker with an average of 10.4 runs per innings (74 runs in 7 innings). At the AGM held on 21 December 1909, the President and Vice Presidents were all re-elected for 1910 with the exception of Dr Bishop who had left the area. The Captain, Secretary and Treasurer were all re-elected, but Mr B Evans was newly elected as Vice Captain. The committee comprised of D Ellis, R Ellis, A Lobley, R Prest, W Stelling and W Richmond. It was agreed at the AGM, that in subsequent seasons, cricket bats should be awarded to the winners of the batting and bowling averages.

The 1910 Season.

In 1910, Dr Robert Harvey moved into Kirkby to replace Dr Bishop and he also replaced him as a Vice President of the cricket club. This was very good news for the club as Dr Harvey was himself a very keen cricketer. Indeed, after the figures had been officially scrutineered by G Thirkill and B Evans, Dr Harvey was presented with the first bat for winning the 1910 batting averages. R Prest, was awarded the first bat for winning the 1910 bowling averages.

The match played against Ripon Young Men's Club at Ripon on 28 July 1910 received a good write up in the following week's Gazette: "The match between Kirkby Malzeard and Ripon YMS was rather remarkable. YMS won the toss and went into bat, their innings lasting about three-quarters of an hour and resulting in a total of 13 runs. E Lonsdale was the highest scorer with 3 runs. Kirkby then went in, thinking they had an easy victory, but four wickets dropped for 2 runs, corresponding exactly with the Young Men's innings. However, Kirkby made a total of 24 runs, W R Wood showing good form by scoring 14. G D Richmond accomplished the remarkable feat of taking 6 wickets for 2 runs. After the match, the Kirkby team were entertained to tea at Wright's café by the captain (Mr G D Richmond), which was greatly appreciated by all."

The scorecard from this match is shown below:

The 1911 Season.

For the 1911 season there were again only a few changes to the officials of the club. Dr Harvey was elected as Vice Captain and B Evans and H Cockshott joined the committee in place of R Ellis and W Stelling. The only match reported in the Ripon Gazette that season was the one played against Studley Royal on May 6. The report read "A good match was seen at Kirkby Malzeard where Studley Royal were the visitors who secured the verdict by 4 runs". The Kirkby side and scores were follows: B Evans 8, W Stelling 4, A Lobley 5, H Cockshott 5, W R Wood 10, W Richmond 1, E Richmond 0, Beaumont 6, R Prest 8, H Wilcox 11, G D Richmond 0 not out, Extras 1. Total 60. In Studley's innings of 64 all out, G D Richmond claimed 4 wickets.

On Thursday 22 June, as part of the village celebrations marking the coronation that day of King George and Queen Mary, an unusual cricket match was played. This was detailed in the Gazette the following week: "At 6 p.m. a cricket match between ladies and gentlemen was a great feature of amusement to the large concourse of people who had assembled in the park. The ladies proved by far the winning team, the gentlemen being somewhat handicapped, having to bat, bowl and field with the left hand only, using broomsticks for bats and each wearing a silk hat".

Also in 1911, the team was invited to play a against Grewelthorpe on their "Feast Day" and the players were entertained to tea afterwards. The Grewelthorpe side were invited to a return match on Kirkby "Show Day" and Mrs Harvey and Miss Richmond provided tea for both teams afterwards in the Mechanic's Institute.

The bat for the best batting average in 1911 was again won by Dr Harvey (average 13.7 runs per innings) and the bat for the best bowling average was won by G D Richmond (5.7 runs per wicket).

The 1912 Season.

1912 saw the first change in the captaincy of the club, with B Evans being elected to succeed G D Richmond.. In addittion H Cockshott replaced W R Wood as Secretary and B Marsh took over from G Thirkill as Treasurer. The three outgoing officials were all elected onto the committee with A Lobley, J R Ellis and Mr Beaumont. Dr Walker and The Reverend Davies resigned as Vice Presidents and Mr Thomas Richmond was appointed as umpire for the season. Club funds were reasonably healthy as carol singing at Christmas 1911 had made two pounds and eleven shillings and a whist drive and ball held on 10 February 1912 made a profit of five pounds and 10 shillings. Matches were arranged against Glasshouses, Winksley, Studley, Swinton, Masham, Tanfield, Ripon Young Men and North Stainley and the team continued to use Miss Almack's wagonettes for transport to away matches. There must have been some dissatisfaction, however, regarding this, as a Mr Taylor was asked for a cost estimate before Miss Almack was subsequently asked to provide better horses for her vehicles !!

Matches against Grewelthorpe were again played on Kirkby "Show Day" and Grewelthorpe "Feast Day". The matches at Studley on 12 May and at home to Glasshouses on 22 June were the only matches reported in the local press and unfortunately both proved to be heavy defeats. At Studley, H Wilcox took 4 wickets and R Prest 3 wickets, as the home side were shot out for just 45. Kirkby in reply however were dismissed for only 23, the team and scores being as follows: D Ellis 3, A Lobley 9, G D Richmond 3, W R Wood 0, W Harrison 0, H Cockshott 0, B Evans 6, R Prest 1, H Wilcox 0, W Richmond 1 not out, Beaumont 0.

The game at home to Glasshouses was even more disastrous. Batting first the visitors piled up a total of 100-2 declared before their opening bowler, Bell, took 7 wickets for 5 runs as Kirkby were skittled for a paltry 17 runs. D Ellis, Dr Harvey, G D Richmond, A Lobley, R Prest, B Marsh and L Ellis all made ducks. The other scores were W Harrison 5, H Wilcox 3, W Gill 1, H Cockshott 2 whilst extras were the highest score with 6 !! The Captain, B Evans, obviously had a successful season (missing the Glasshouses match probably helped) as he won both the batting and bowling averages and thereby the bats.

The 1913 Season.

Despite his own personal success, B Evans, was relegated to Vice-Captain for the 1913 season and Dr Harvey took over the captaincy of the side. W T Richmond took over as Treasurer of the club and the committee comprised of H Lobley, T Richmond, W R Wood, D Ellis, R Prest and G D Richmond. C Thirkill was appointed as the club's first official scorer. The Hon Edward Wood M.P., Reverend C White and Mr J Richmond of Newcastle (who the previous summer had generously donated gifts of a set of pads and a bat) were added to the list of Vice Presidents. It is recorded in the Minutes book that in April 1913 the club invited tenders for cutting the ground weekly or when required. Miss Almack's tender of 2 shillings and sixpence per time was accepted. However the accounts, documented in the Treasurer's book, records that J Cartman and not Miss Almack was subsequently paid to cut the grass. On the playing field, Dr Harvey, with a batting average of 15.0, won his third bat and R Prest, with a bowling average of 4.0, won his second bat. Kirkby's secretary clearly did not send any match reports to the Ripon Gazette as only the home and away matches against Studley were reported. The match at Studley on May 17 was a very close game, Studley (52) only winning by 3 runs, whilst at Kirkby on 23 August, Studley (73-7) won by 15 runs.

Kirkby's teams and scores were as follows:

The 1914 Season.

For the 1914 season most of the club officials stayed the same, although it should be noted that W R Wood returned for his second spell as Secretary and Mr D Ellis and Mr Pennock were elected Vice-Presidents in the place of Mr G J White. The bats were won by W R Wood for his batting average of 13.27 in 11 matches and by H Lobley for taking 33 wickets at an average of 5.69. 2 matches against Studley were again both reported plus a match played at home against Tanfield. The players who featured in one or more of these games were B Evans, D Ellis, W Richmond, W R Wood, W Harrison, R Prest, E Richmond, J Langstaff, A Yates, H Cockshott, T Richmond, H Lobley, G D Richmond, J Swires, G Lofthouse, R Frankland and B Jackson.

Colonel Cathcart died in the summer of 1914 and consequently at the AGM held in October, Major Cathcart was elected as the new club president. There was also be a new captain in 1915 as Mr T Richmond was chosen to lead the side. Unfortunately he never did have the honour of leading the team out to play because there were no official cricket matches played in Kirkby Malzeard between the years 1915-1918 due to the outbreak of the First World War.