History
Cardiff Cricket Club was established in 1819. [1] The club initially played on various cricket grounds, mostly in eastern Cardiff, due to better drainage. [1] The club then moved to Cardiff Arms Park, but it was more of a gentlemen's club, rather than a sports club. By 1867 the Bute Estate agreed that the cricket club could rent the eastern part of the Arms Park at only one shilling per annum. By April 1875 the Bute Estate decided to restrict access to the Arms Park to Cardiff Cricket Club and other recognised clubs.
In 1922 Cardiff Football Club, later renamed Cardiff Rugby Football Club and Cardiff Cricket Club amalgamated to form the Cardiff Athletic Club. [2] There had been previous attempts to merge the clubs, in November 1892 and between 1902 and 1904, when the two clubs worked closely to fund a new pavilion to serve the needs of both clubs, [2] but it was not until 1922 that the merger finally took place. Later the Cardiff Arms Park Company Limited was formed by Cardiff Athletic Club, Arms Park (Cardiff) Greyhound Racing Company Limited and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) [2] [3] acquired the land from the Bute Estate for £30,000 (GBP), but on the understanding that the Arms Park was only used for recreational purposes and was not sold for building. The cricket section of the Athletic Club acquired a 99 lease from the company at a rental of £200 per annum, with Glamorgan County Cricket Club paying rent for the use of the park for county cricket. [2]
The existing wooden cricket and rugby pavilion had been demolished and new changing rooms included in the new North Stand. In 1937 a new cricket pavilion was built for the cricket section of Cardiff Athletic Club. [2] By the mid 1950s improvements meant that the capacity of the cricket ground had increased to around 15,000, although the ground was still very small and often visiting teams agreed to the boundaries being shortened so that people could sit on the grass. Cardiff Athletic Club however wanted to develop new facilities for both the bowls and tennis sections, and did not allow new seating to be erected just for county games. [2] A new scheme was developed to change the existing rugby ground into the National Stadium, and creating a smaller ground for Cardiff R.F.C. on the existing cricket ground, with the cricket section of Cardiff Athletic Club moving to Sophia Gardens. Cardiff Cricket Club played their final game at Cardiff Arms Park against Lydney Cricket Club on 17 September 1966. [2]
In 1998, Cardiff Athletic Club sold the Sophia Gardens ground to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and the cricket section of Cardiff Athletic Club (Cardiff Cricket Club) for many years had no fixed cricket ground, while they were looking for a suitable cricket ground. [1] In 1997 the club moved to their permanent home of the Diamond cricket ground at Forest Farm, Whitchurch, Cardiff and by July 2007 a new pavilion had been built on the ground. [2] [4]
Cardiff Cricket Club have won the South Wales Premier Cricket League in both 2009 and 2011.
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021, forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff, and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the south-east of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Cardiff Arms Park, also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the third-place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97.
Pontcanna is a district and community in the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is located a short distance to the west of the city centre, and its borders are approximately indicated by Western Avenue, the River Taff, Cowbridge Road East, Llandaff Road and Cardiff Road.
Whitchurch is a suburb and community in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is approximately 3 miles north of the centre of the city on the A470 road and A4054 road. It falls within the Whitchurch & Tongwynlais ward. The population of the community in 2011 was 14,267.
Bute Park and Arboretum is a park in Cardiff, Wales. It comprises 130 acres (53 ha) of landscaped gardens and parkland that once formed the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The park is named after the 3rd Marquess of Bute, whose family owned the castle.
The Cardiff Wales Stadium, which is part of Sophia Gardens Cardiff, is a cricket stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in Sophia Gardens on the River Taff. It is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club and is listed as an international Test cricket venue.
Rugby is played in Cardiff in both rugby league and rugby union forms.
Wilfred Wooller was a Welsh cricketer, rugby union footballer, cricket administrator and journalist.
St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground, commonly known simply as St Helens Ground, is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales, owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea Council. Used mainly for rugby union and cricket, it has been the home ground of Swansea RFC and Swansea Cricket Club since it opened in 1873.
Cricket is a popular sport in Wales; it started in the late 18th century, and has been played in Wales ever since. All cricket within Wales is regulated by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), making it effectively part of the English cricket system. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is Wales' only first-class county team, and Welsh players are eligible to represent England as Wales does not currently have its own Test cricket team or cricket body. Cricket is played within the Welsh schools system, and is considered one of the country's main summer sports.
The timeline of Cardiff history shows the significant events in the history of Cardiff which transformed it from a small Roman fort into the modern capital city of Wales.
Sophia Gardens is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket matches and county cricket matches are held in the Sophia Gardens cricket ground, the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. The gardens are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
The Leckwith development is in the Leckwith area of southwest Cardiff, Wales. Work started in Autumn 2007 with the construction of a new stadium for Cardiff City F.C.
Hugh Murray Ingledew was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff. Ingledew also played cricket for Glamorgan and was instrumental as a solicitor, in helping the local Cardiff cricket and rugby clubs purchase the Cardiff Arms Park in 1922.
Lisvane (CAC) Tennis Club, also known as the Cardiff Tennis Club, is a tennis club based in Lisvane, Cardiff, Wales. Lisvane Tennis Club amalgamated with the tennis section of Cardiff Athletic Club in 2003 to form the Lisvane (CAC) Tennis Club. It has its headquarters at Cardiff Arms Park.
Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club also known as the Cardiff Bowls Club and the Cardiff Athletic Club – Bowls Section is a bowls club based at Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales.
Cardiff Greyhounds was the greyhound racing operation held at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff from 1927-1977. It is not to be confused with the greyhound racing held from 1928-1937 at the White City Stadium, Cardiff.
