Launceston Cricket Club

Launceston Cricket Club (LCC) is a cricket team which represents the city of Launceston in the Northern Tasmanian Cricket Association grade cricket competition. The club was founded in 1841, making it the oldest cricket club in Tasmania, and the second oldest cricket club in Australia.

LCC beat Derwent Cricket Club by 12 runs in the first ever "north v south" match in 1850, and on February 11 and February 12, 1851, they played against Melbourne Cricket Club in Launceston, in what is now recorded as the first ever first class cricket match in Australia. By 1874 the LCC had organised the first ever "All-England XI" vs "Tasmania" game in Launceston on the 24th February.

In 1878 LCC player, George Bailey was selected to join the Australian cricket team on their tour to England, and became the first Tasmanian to play for Australia.

The club took possession of the NTCA Ground, then known as the "Launceston Cricket Ground" in 1886 upon the formation of the NTCA. At the time, the club colours were listed as Green and Yellow. The following year LCC won the inaugeral NTCA premiership.

From 1907 until 1914 the club was in recess due to political bickering and reorganisation of the NTCA and northern district cricket competitions. The club was reformed in 1914 with changed colours of Oxford Blue only to have the league suspended for the outbreak of World War I. However the club properly returned to the NTCA in 1918 by winning the premiership again.

The club won three premierships in a row by 1922, but again went into recess due to another period of district cricket from 1935-36 to 1940-41.

Launceston Cricket Club and East Launceston Cricket Club merged in 1941 before rejoining the NTCA competition. It was also at this time that the club adopted their current club colours of red and green.

In 1968 club legend Ron ‘Rocky’ Dean retired from Tasmanian Grade Cricket with a remarkable career haul of 901 wickets.

In 1975 LCC won their first Kookaburra Cup, and in 1978, LCC player, Bruce Doolan faces Tasmania's first ball in their debut Sheffield Shield match. 1979 saw the club win three Kookaburra cup's in a row.

The 1981-82 season saw LCC amass a competition record of 7/527 in the NTCA final, a record which still stands today. From the 1982-83 season until 1985-86 the club won every NTCA premiership, a remarkable 4 in a row.

In the 1983-84 season David Boon became the first Launceston Cricket Club player to be selected to play for Australia, and in 1991 he was honoured to unveil a plaque at the NTCA ground commemorating the club's 150th anniversary.

From 1988-89 until 1993-94 LCC won an incredible 6 Consecutive NTCA Premierships, which is both an NTCA and State Record, including a record innings and 150 runs victory over rivals South Launceston Cricket Club in the 1994 final.

The 1998 NTCA final between LCC and Mowbray Cricket Club proved to be one of the most remarkable games of cricket in Tasmanian history. Mowbray amassed an incredible record of 7/542, in doing so breaking Launceston's record from 1982. Even more incredibly, the following week in reply LCC made 6/545 to win the game by 4 wickets, and club legend Richard ‘Joey’ Bennett retired with a club record 8640 runs to his name.

The following Grand Final between LCC and Riverside Cricket Club proved to match the previous years when on the last day, Riverside were cruising to a comfortable victory until the last hour of the match when LCC took six wickets, including two in the second last over from 16 year old Xavier Doherty to win the game

In 1999, Australian cricket legend David Boon played his last ever match for Launceston CC, and the following year 4 LCC players were named in the NTCA "team of the century".

Honours

NTCA Premierships: 1887-88, 1901-02, 1902-03, 1918-19, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-02

External links

* [http://www.launcestoncc.org.au/history.htm LCC Website]