The Hamilton & District Cricket League (H&DCL) will be
celebrating its 100th Anniversary this year. As one of
Canada’s oldest cricket League H&DCL currently boasts
46 clubs listed as active on its website roster.
Cricket was first played in the Hamilton area by British Military officers in the
early 1800s. The earliest documented game was played in Hamilton
between Toronto and Guelph. In this time period a number of
towns and companies had cricket teams, who would play against
each other on a friendly basis.
Records show teams from Guelph, Paris, Dundas, Burlington,
Brantford, Niagara Cricket Club, Simcoe and a number of teams
from the city of Hamilton. The Hamilton and District Cricket League
was formed in 1921. The original clubs appears to be, St.George,
Holy Trinity, Sons of England, Ontario Hospitals, Grimsby and
British West Indies. Other established clubs such as Hamilton CC
came on board in the League’s second year of operation. They were
quickly joined by Brantford, Dundas, Welland, Niagara Cricket Club,
West Niagara Cricket Club, Guelph, Niagara falls and Wentworth
County.
Score sheets from these early games can be found in the
Archives of the Hamilton Public Library (call number
796.35809713 mil). The newspapers published detailed
results of the games. It could be due to the fact that the players
were usually prominent citizens. The League has played host
to a number of touring parties. One of the most prestigious
was a visit from the MCC in 1959. George Archer captained
the H&DCL and Dennis Silk captained the MCC. The Mayor
of Hamilton, Mr Lloyd D. Jackson, made the toss to start the
game.
One of the League’s oldest clubs, the Hamilton Cricket Club
(HCC), this year celebrated its 175th anniversary and has
become part of the province-wide cricket boom. HCC was
formed in 1847 and is one of the oldest still in existence. The
club, which currently plays on a converted baseball diamond
at the Mohawk Sports Park, has nearly doubled in size since
2019 and it has been a struggle to accommodate the number
of new players.