MONTGOMERY Cricket Club is celebrating its 175th year.

Th Lymore club is one of the most established sports clubs in Powys and shares its 175th birthday with local rivals Newtown.

The first mention of Montgomery Cricket club comes in a newspaper cutting of 1847 mentioning a game at Abermule between 11 gentlemen of Montgomery and 11 from Newtown.

By 1850 the club was established at Lymore Park, close to the now demolished Lymore Hall, making it one of the oldest grounds still in use in Wales.

A scorecard from 1851 is one of the oldest surviving in Wales, and the original is kept at the National Library of Wales. It recorded a game between Montgomery and Llanidloes.

County Times: The 1851 scorecard which is the oldest in Wales.

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In 1882, 22 players from Montgomery defeated the United All England XI.

The United XI included Harry Jupp, the first Englishman to face a ball in test cricket, and Walter Gilbert, the cousin of W.G. Grace.

County Times: The United All England XI. Harry Jupp, the first Englishman to face a ball in test cricket is standing on the right and WG Grace's cousin Walter Gilbert is standing in the middle of the back row.

The United All England XI. Harry Jupp, the first Englishman to face a ball in test cricket is standing on the right and WG Grace's cousin Walter Gilbert is standing in the middle of the back row.

The 1880s and 1890s were a golden era for the club, and they even employed a professional cricketer.

The main rivalry during this time was with the Newtown based Royal Welsh Warehouse team when the games attracted hundreds of spectators.

One of the best players to play for Montgomery, who went on to play for Warwickshire, was Alf Eaton.

He scored the first recorded century for the club in 1887. The Eaton trophy, donated by his parents following his untimely death in 1902, is still awarded every season to the winner of the club’s bowling award.

Cricket stopped for World War One, and one the club’s best cricketers, Arthur Withers, was injured. On his return he became the club’s umpire and continued in this role for many years.

County Times: Montgomery fielding against England.

Montgomery fielding against England.

In the 1930s there were two cricket clubs in Montgomery – one based at Lymore, the other based at Caerhowell Hall.

Three Montgomery players were killed during World War Two – Ron Perry, Leslie Morris and Kenneth Rogers.

After the war characters like Allan Bunner, Reg Jones and Basil Phillips restarted cricket in Montgomery.

Harry Williams became captain in 1957 and continued in this role until the 1970s.

In 1977 the club started playing league cricket, entering the Border Counties League.

The 1980s were a golden era. Montgomery won the county knockout three time and were champions of the Border League Division One in 1984 and 1990.