An article in the Manchester Evening News on January 26, 2012 outlined plans to redevelop the site of the Longsight Cricket Club.  It pointed out that he club had enjoyed a long and somewhat illustrious history having been founded in 1848 and along the way hosted a match involving the touring Australian side of 1878.  However, as the article pointed out, the cricket ground and its facilities has fallen into a sorry state and it closed for business in 2004.  The article went on to explain that the grounds were to become the site of a new housing development that would provide, "... nine two-bedroom bungalows, 10 two-bedroom houses, 31 three-bedroom houses, 15 four-bedroom houses, and 18 one and two-bedroom apartments."  It would also involve the demolition of the old cricket club buildings and the addition of, "... a new clubhouse on the site, which will sit next to the club’s bowling green, which will remain."  The image above and the two below show you the result of this redevelopment.





The aerial photograph below taken by the RAF in 1946, shows the extent of the club at that time.  Arrow 1 shows the club house, arrow 2 shows the bowling green and arrow 3 shows the cricket pitch.

Some years ago Edith Arnold, a resident of Longsight, sent me a number of images of the cricket club which show you what the site looked like in the late 1990s.

As you can see, this game featured Frank Worrell, later to become Sir Frank Worrell, a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator.  Born in Barbados he later moved to Jamaica where he made his debut for the West Indies in the 1947 - 48 season.  After that he moved to live in England and played for Radcliffe in the Central Lancashire League and read economics at Manchester University.

In 1878 the Longsight Cricket Club hosted a match between England, including W. G. Grace and an Australian touring team. Below are some notes transcribed by a friend of Graham Todd and scanned by Graham for us.