Birkenhead St Mary's Cricket Club was established in the year 1878 by members of the congregation of the Parish Church of St Mary's which used to be situated close to the old Birkenhead Priory. The first Club President was the Vicar of the Church of St Mary's, Rev A.Knox and the tradition of a Vicar being President continued through until 1912, the only exception being 1882 - 1883 when the Church had no Vicar and W.Bickerton was in that position. The first Club Captain was Mr J.Dalton-Flood who held the position for 13 years until 1890.

It is interesting to note that the membership fee in 1878 was 1s - 4d, to be paid monthly in advance and part of the club rules stated that if any member was found smoking or using improper language whilst practicing or playing in a match, a fine would be imposed for this offence.

At first cricket matches were sometimes played in long uncut grass and when a ball was lost during a match the umpires would signal six runs to be put onto the score, the turning point came in 1900 when the Club purchased its first mower.

During the early years there used to be a large pond in one corner of the outfield to the left of where the present pavilion stands, even now in periods of very wet weather this area can still become quite soft and bog like.

In 1892 the first Pavilion was built at a cost of £90 for which a mortgage was taken out by the members, prior to this a small marquee used to be erected before matches. Teas had to be taken at the front of the new Pavilion until a few years later when the member could afford to build a rear extension, making the dressing rooms larger and incorporating the addition of a much needed tea room.

In 1902 Tom Curwell joined the club and remained a member until his death in 1957, "Old Tom" or "The Growler" as he was affectionately known during in the season of 1909 bowled a total of 270 overs 36 of them maidens, took 101 wickets and conceded 951 runs. He also for many years looked after the upkeep of the ground and was always being asked to repair members bats and pads.

In 1907  C.Dawson "Dapper" joined the club and topped both the batting and bowling averages. "Dapper" topped the batting averages every season until 1911 when he left to play for New Brighton. 1910 was his best season, in that year he scored 720 runs in 16 innings and his highest score was 105 not out. Whilst playing for Birkenhead St Mary's he was selected to play for the Cheshire County side, the only other player to have achieved this was Ken Davenport.

In 1928 the club had its  50th Jubilee Year, with events being held throughout Whit week commencing Monday 28th May. The main part of the celebrations was a week of cricket with games being played on most evenings, some of the members taking part were Bob Rydings, A.Roberts, Walter Addison and J.H. Brookfield. Bob Rydings was a member close on 52 years and held the positions of President, Chairman and 1st XI Captain, A.Roberts was also associated with the club for 50 years.

Also in the late 1920's a number of new members joined from the Lowe Street Mission, including the brothers Jack and Stan Shaw with Bob Povall, other old members of that era were Bob Cubbin and C.Churchill.

Committee meeting minutes only started being recorded in 1946 and a couple of interesting extracts from the minutes of a Committee meeting held on the 28th April 1947, reported that, Tom Curwell and Mrs James would look after the teas and the Club Secretary would call at the food office to get a milk permit, also the ground rent had been increased by the Council's Parks and Gardens Committee to £12 per year.

1948 saw the both 1st and 2nd XI's winning their respective divisions in the Merseyside Competition for the first and only time in the Club's history and to this day being one of only six clubs to have achieved this honour.

Electricity was laid on to the Pavilion for the first time during the 1958 season, this being made possible by monies left to the club in the will of the late Tom Curwell who had sadly passed away the previous year.

The Club has had many people who have been great servants. Tom Davies was Secretary for 25 years. Norman Cotham was Treasurer for 21 years and was associated with the club for more than 40 years. In his time playing, Norman in 1961 and 1962 seasons took 104 wickets for the 2nd XI and in later life he was made Club President and President of the Merseyside Competition for 25 years from 1965 until his death in 1990. In recent years the Club donated a trophy to the Merseyside Competition in his memory which is played for each year by all the 2nd XI teams.

Our present President Bob Davies joined the club in 1944 as a scorer, but when he eventually gained his place in the 1st XI as a player, he stayed there for the next thirty years. Bob had the honour of being  the Club Captain in the Centenary year of 1978, and in his playing career he took over 1400 wickets. Off the field Bob held the position of Assistant Secretary for 29 years and still to this day, is in charge of the day to day running of the club and the maintenance of the playing surface. Prior to Bob looking after the ground this task had over the years been the preserve of a large number of both paid and voluntary persons.

The wicket has for a long time been known as one of the best cricket surfaces in Cheshire and then Merseyside this is due largely to those who have their spent time and effort over the years working on it.

From the mid 1950's people like Tom Hughes, Bill Barrand and Ken Pringle took on the task of looking after the upkeep of the ground and were joined in the 1960's and 1970's by Fred Gillmore, Bill Jones, Cliff Woolley and many others.

Further interesting extracts from Committee minutes indicated that in April 1959 the Club purchased new sight screens at a cost of £98 - 10s and in April 1963 a new mower for £42 - 18s - 4d.

When you realise that the ground is in a public park it is a great tribute to these voluntary members that favourable comment has been and still is passed on the wicket by many players who have played on it, including County players who have said they would like to roll it up and take it with them.

The present Pavilion was opened on 12th May 1971 by the Mayor of Birkenhead Alderman J.W.Oates. This offered much improved changing facilities and also included heated showers. For the first time the club had a licensed bar for the members and visiting teams to use after the games.

The building of the new pavilion cost £8000 and took a lot of hard work in fundraising to cover this sum. £2000 was raised by bingo sessions which were held in the Town Liberal Club, the Lords Taverners gave a grant of £500 and the rest was paid for by loans from Whitbread Brewery's and the National Playing Fields Association.

Sadly in 1976 the tree which had stood inside the boundary at fine leg and had been there since before the club was founded had to be taken down due to it having been beaten by Dutch Elm Disease, the tree is still represented in the club badge and a cut section of it hangs in the club, taken from it when it was felled.

The Centenary Year of 1978 like the Jubilee Year of 1928 included a cricket week over Whit with games being played on 7 out of 8 days from Sunday 28th May through to Sunday 4th June. A Centenary Dinner was held mid season at the Coach and Horses in Moreton on Friday 2nd June and a Centenary Dinner Dance took place at the Kings Gap in Hoylake at the end of the season on Friday 22nd September.

To be continued: