Club History

Musselburgh Cricket Club has existed since the early 20th century. Although the club's past is not formally documented, there are newspaper reports about the Club's games and meetings dating from around the time of World War 1. The modern-day club has existed since 1952 when a team that had operated as Brunton's Wiremill Cricket Club since 1948 renamed themselves.

The Club played at Shire Haugh in Musselburgh (next to Monktonhall Golf Club) until the 1950s, when they moved to Lewisvale Park. Lewisvale had been gifted to the Burgh of Musselburgh in 1910 by the Brown brothers in memory of their father (a former town councilor). The name 'Lewisvale' came from the name of the house the brothers were brought up in.

The top park where the Club play was designed specifically for cricket and other 'quiet' games, although golf was specifically excluded from the park given the number of other locations for this in the area.

Musselburgh's existence in the East of Scotland leagues is long-founded, although the club had traditionally been in the lower reaches of the leagues. In 1975 Musselburgh moved from the 'Grade' leagues into the main Divisions - the Divisions were for 1st XIs, with the Grades featuring 2nd XIs and some small teams with only 1 XI.

After relegation from Division 2 in 1975, Musselburgh retained a mid-table place in Division 3 until finishing bottom in 1983. This change had coincided with several senior players dropping down into the newly-formed 2nd XI, but fortunately, a move from 8 teams to 10 teams in each Division saved the Club from relegation.

1986 and 1988 both saw Musselburgh finish as runners-up in Division 3, but the league only operated '1 up, 1 down. The late 1990s saw a decline in the Club's fortunes, with the 2nd XI winding up and the 1st XI struggling as player numbers decreased. Part of the problem was a lack of youngsters coming through from local schools, with neither schools nor the club running any youth cricket.

League reconstruction in 1999 coincided with Burgh's lowest ebb, with the team regularly turning out with less than 11 players. Finishing bottom of Division 4 this year saw Burgh move into Division 6 of the new structure as the Divisions and Grades were merged.

Another 2 seasons of 'backs to the wall' cricket resulted in a drop to Division 7 at the end of 2001, and a turning point for the Club. New players were recruited and the club stabilized in Division 7. The 2nd XI relaunched in 2003, and 2004 saw the 1st XI promoted as runners-up of Division 7 - another promotion following in 2006 with a runners-up spot in Division 6. Adding to these successes was the relaunch of junior cricket in 2005, the club delivering coaching in conjunction with Cricket Scotland.

With a Division 5 league title in 2007 followed by promotions in 2008 and 2009, the 1st XI entered Division 2 for the first time in Club history - a place they cemented with a 3rd place finish in 2010. The 2nd XI was crowned winners of Division 8 in 2006 and Division 7 in 2008, following up with runners-up spots in 2009 and 2010 to move into Division 4.

An ever-improving squad led to further success as the 1st XI won Division 2 in 2011 to complete their journey through the ESCA leagues. 2012 saw a highly-creditable 4th place finish in Division 1, with an element of 'what might have been' as the weather prevented any games against Glenrothes and Holy Cross - who both finished in the top 3.

A brand new cricket pavilion at Lewisvale Park has finally given the club the off-field facilities to complement their on-field improvements. With the Club having taken over the preparation of the square from the local council in 2007, Musselburgh's groundstaff is now delivering hugely improved wickets at Lewisvale to make Musselburgh a fitting venue for high standard amateur cricket.