Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1909-2006 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
0.12 cubic metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Cross Arrows Cricket Club was founded in 1880 by members of MCC staff. Prior to 1880 they played away matches against other local cricket clubs, calling themselves the ‘St. John’s Wood Ramblers Cricket Club’. When they discovered another cricket club had the same name, they needed to call themselves something different. The day before they played against Northwood Cricket Club, one of the staff members asked where Northwood was and received a reply of ‘It’s cross ‘arrow way’ meaning that it was beyond the District of Harrow. J Fennell, who worked at Lord’s as an Assistant Tennis Marker, said ‘That’s it, let’s call the club the Cross Arrows’. Membership of the club was initially only for MCC employees but nowadays allows for MCC and Middlesex County Cricket Club employees past and present and also members of both clubs.
J A Murdoch, Assistant Secretary of MCC between 1878 and 1907, became the Cross Arrows’ first President. Since Murdoch, all the Presidents have also been the MCC Secretary, from Sir Francis Lacey onwards. The captain is usually Assistant Secretary of MCC. Famous players who have represented Cross Arrows during the years include Albert Trott (the only man to have ever hit a ball over the top of the Lord’s Pavilion), Gubby Allen, Denis Compton, Bill Edrich, Jim Laker, Fred Titmus, Mike Brearley, Garfield Sobers, and also non-cricketers such as Gary Lineker. The current Secretary of MCC and President of Cross Arrows, Derek Brewer, played against Cross Arrows for NatWest in 1988.
The club usually plays its fixtures in September, and regularly against teams such as Adastrians (Royal Air Force), Stage, Butterflies, Royal Navy, Stragglers of Asia, and MCC themselves. Cross Arrows fixtures have either been played on the Main Ground at Lord’s or the Nursery Ground. In 1980 Cross Arrows celebrated its centenary with a match against a combined MCC and Middlesex XI, while in 2014, to commemorate Lord's 200th anniversary, a match between a President of Cross Arrows XI and a Cross Arrows XI was played on the main ground at Lord's, made up of MCC staff.
This collection consists of minute books, files relating to fixture arrangements, scorebooks, membership and financial information. Not all records have been retained.
Repository
Archival history
CA 1909-2006 Fonds 0.12 cubic metres Marylebone Cricket Club
Cross Arrows Cricket Club was founded in 1880 by members of MCC staff. Prior to 1880 they played away matches against other local cricket clubs, calling themselves the ‘St. John’s Wood Ramblers Cricket Club’. When they discovered another cricket club had the same name, they needed to call themselves something different. The day before they played against Northwood Cricket Club, one of the staff members asked where Northwood was and received a reply of ‘It’s cross ‘arrow way’ meaning that it was beyond the District of Harrow. J Fennell, who worked at Lord’s as an Assistant Tennis Marker, said ‘That’s it, let’s call the club the Cross Arrows’. Membership of the club was initially only for MCC employees but nowadays allows for MCC and Middlesex County Cricket Club employees past and present and also members of both clubs.
J A Murdoch, Assistant Secretary of MCC between 1878 and 1907, became the Cross Arrows’ first President. Since Murdoch, all the Presidents have also been the MCC Secretary, from Sir Francis Lacey onwards. The captain is usually Assistant Secretary of MCC. Famous players who have represented Cross Arrows during the years include Albert Trott (the only man to have ever hit a ball over the top of the Lord’s Pavilion), Gubby Allen, Denis Compton, Bill Edrich, Jim Laker, Fred Titmus, Mike Brearley, Garfield Sobers, and also non-cricketers such as Gary Lineker. The current Secretary of MCC and President of Cross Arrows, Derek Brewer, played against Cross Arrows for NatWest in 1988.
The club usually plays its fixtures in September, and regularly against teams such as Adastrians (Royal Air Force), Stage, Butterflies, Royal Navy, Stragglers of Asia, and MCC themselves. Cross Arrows fixtures have either been played on the Main Ground at Lord’s or the Nursery Ground. In 1980 Cross Arrows celebrated its centenary with a match against a combined MCC and Middlesex XI, while in 2014, to commemorate Lord's 200th anniversary, a match between a President of Cross Arrows XI and a Cross Arrows XI was played on the main ground at Lord's, made up of MCC staff.
This collection consists of minute books, files relating to fixture arrangements, scorebooks, membership and financial information. Not all records have been retained.
Cross Arrows Cricket Club
Minutes, files relating to fixture arrangements and finance, scorebooks, membership lists.
Accruals are expected.
Items arranged by date.
Records under 30 years old are closed to the public, records between 30 and 40 years require permission from the Club Secretary before access. All other records are open.
Records available subject to the original's status and condition.
English
More details of the collection is available via the MCC Collections Online Catalogue at mcc.adlibhosting.com or via www.lords.org
Compiled by Robert Curphey, MCC Archive Cataloguer. The following sources were used to compile the history of the collection:
Gaby, R T, Cross Arrows Cricket Club 1880-1980, 1980
'Around the Ground' MCC Staff Newsletter Issue 11 - August 2012
Compiled in accordance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000. Descriptions are indexed using the UK Archival Thesaurus and UNESCO Thesaurus and meet the National Council on Archives' Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
May 2013 Cricket Clubs Cross Arrows Cricket Club Ball sports Leisure time activities Leisure Sport
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Cross Arrows Cricket Club
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Minutes, files relating to fixture arrangements and finance, scorebooks, membership lists.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Accruals are expected.
System of arrangement
Items arranged by date.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Records under 30 years old are closed to the public, records between 30 and 40 years require permission from the Club Secretary before access. All other records are open.
Conditions governing reproduction
Records available subject to the original's status and condition.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
More details of the collection is available via the MCC Collections Online Catalogue at mcc.adlibhosting.com or via www.lords.org
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in accordance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000. Descriptions are indexed using the UK Archival Thesaurus and UNESCO Thesaurus and meet the National Council on Archives' Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English