The Club History (so far only up to 2004)
A long time ago, on an island far away...
A Lamma cricket team played its first game in 1990 when some players were invited to play against the Hong Kong University Social XI at Sandy Bay. This game is a tradition that survives to this day in the shape of an annual match between the two sides.
In 1992, Lamma’s growing community began to include keen cricketers, leading to the formation of a more organised cricket club. The Lamma Cricket Club was inaugurated at a beery meeting at the original Waterfront Restaurant and the first practice session was conducted on a disused helipad on Lamma. This was one of the few areas of ‘flat’ land on the island; not that flat though, as the first the batsman saw of the bowler was his head appearing over the horizon from his uphill run-up!
At that time the Club’s meagre supply of equipment consisted simply of one bat, one ball and some tatty old pads that came from the discredited bank of BCCI. As we became more organised we received sponsorship from the Island Bar and this helped us to afford equipment and team shirts, and we started to look like a proper cricket team. The practice facilities improved a little when we transferred to a site adjacent to the football pitch on Yung Shue Wan harbour.
A Lamma cricket team played its first game in 1990 when some players were invited to play against the Hong Kong University Social XI at Sandy Bay. This game is a tradition that survives to this day in the shape of an annual match between the two sides.
In 1992, Lamma’s growing community began to include keen cricketers, leading to the formation of a more organised cricket club. The Lamma Cricket Club was inaugurated at a beery meeting at the original Waterfront Restaurant and the first practice session was conducted on a disused helipad on Lamma. This was one of the few areas of ‘flat’ land on the island; not that flat though, as the first the batsman saw of the bowler was his head appearing over the horizon from his uphill run-up!
At that time the Club’s meagre supply of equipment consisted simply of one bat, one ball and some tatty old pads that came from the discredited bank of BCCI. As we became more organised we received sponsorship from the Island Bar and this helped us to afford equipment and team shirts, and we started to look like a proper cricket team. The practice facilities improved a little when we transferred to a site adjacent to the football pitch on Yung Shue Wan harbour.
The cradle of the Lamma C.C.,
a disused heli-pad
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Lamma C.C. circa 1992
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The practice net on Yung Shue Wan, Lamma
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That lovely logo
The cricket club logo incorporates the map of Lamma Island and the chimneys of the Island’s chief landmark, the power station. Interestingly, there were only two chimneys when they were used as the inspiration for the stumps; whether HK Electric added a third to match our logo has not yet been confirmed. The colours come from the green of the Island and the yellow from the stumps (beige was considered too wishy-washy).
Lamma roams around the region
As grounds became increasingly difficult to find and our enthusiasm grew we began to tour. Our tours have included Manila, in the Philippines (played at the Nomads ground in 1993); Bangkok, Thailand (at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club in 1994); and Colombo, Kandy and Kalutara in Sri Lanka in 1995.
During the tour to Sri Lanka the opposition got stronger while the pitches deteriorated and injuries grew and grew. An account of this “Tour from Hell” even made the pages of the South China Morning Post (read the article).
In a return to the Philippines in 1995, we visited Angeles City where we won the First Mount Pinatubo Ashes Sixes Tournament. The tour to Angeles City generated some interest from the local tourist board as they wanted to promote the area after the pull out of the American Air Force from nearby Subic Bay. The match was played in a disused American football stadium and we were honoured with a marching band which paraded around the empty stadium. It was one of the most bizarre things to happen on a Lamma C.C. tour — and that is really saying something!
In 1998 Lamma C.C. were the sole representatives for Hong Kong at the Bangkok Invitational Sixes Tournament and reached a very creditable quarter final, placing amongst high-quality opposition. Later in the same year we went on a tour to Perth, Australia, and also took in an Australia vs England Ashes Test match.
In 2001 we visited Vietnam, where we played two matches against what looked like the Sri Lankan national team and played inside a greyhound stadium. A second match was played at Hanoi’s air force base. More recently we have played in a sixes event in Shanghai, China as well as Chiang Mai, Thailand attending the world’s biggest amateur cricket sixes tournament.
Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1995
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Angeles, Philippines, 1995
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Hanoi air force base, Vietnam, 2001
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Review of the seasons
Early games and the first full social season did not meet with much (any, if the truth be told) success, but we persevered, encouraged by a love of the game and the undeniable realisation that we could do no worse. As players improved and new ones joined the squad we began to win games, with the most successful social season being 1994-95. During that season we won every social game and reached the quarter final of the Saturday Cup before losing by one run to the eventual Cup winners.
A further reduction in grounds in 1995 meant fewer opportunities to play that season. However, to keep the Club focused, we built our own cricket net along the Yung Shue Wan harbourfront. It lasted long enough for Lamma C.C. to achieve admission to the Saturday League in September 1996, just in time for the 1996–97 season.
The Club remained firmly at the foot of the table during that season, but we were learning fast and won the Craigengower CC Invitational Sixes Tournament at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Not bad for supposed wooden-spooners!
We did better in the Saturday League the following season, 1997–98, finishing joint 10th and progressing to the quarter final of the Saturday Cup, again going out closely to the eventual Cup winners. During the summer of 1998, Lamma C.C. entered two teams in the Summer Eights competition and won the league, having competed against some of Hong Kong’s leading clubs.
Further success followed in the shorter form of the game a year later when in 1999 Lamma C.C. won the HKU Invitational Sixes and reached the final of the Saturday Cup.
The 1998–99 season saw the team end with a highly creditable 4th place in the Saturday League — a vastly improved season that earned Brad Tarr the accolade “Captain of the Year” from the Hong Kong Cricket Association and showed Lamma C.C. had become a team more used to winning than losing. The 1999–2000 season went relatively well, with Lamma C.C. finishing 6th in the league but unfortunately not proving to be as competitive in the other cup games.
Season 2000–01 brought a reversal of fortunes as Lamma C.C. struggled a little with squad and injuries, ending up mid-table. We still, however, made the finals of the HKU Invitational Sixes, although this time we failed to defend the title successfully, losing a battle in the dark. We also made it through to the finals of the Summer Eights competition and lost in quite atrocious pitch conditions after having two previous finals ruined by poor weather.
The season of 2001–02 saw Lamma C.C. gain their then highest position on the ladder, finishing 3rd in the Saturday League, but even that was a little disappointing as during the season we had a record-breaking string of eight wins in a row and were in a position to mount a serious bid for top spot.
2002–03 — League Champions! We got our reward for consistently playing good cricket with a solid squad in a season that went very well. We competed well in other competitions too by winning the Plate in Shanghai in a sixes competition, reaching the quarter-finals of the Chiang Mai Sixes competition and the semi-finals of the Summer Eights.
Aiming to defend our title for the 2003–04 season, the team got off to a sluggish start before getting into gear and was always in contention to make a successful defence until the final few weeks. In the end it was a disappointing 4th place in a very tight finish. We again defended the Plate in Shanghai and reached the quarter-finals in Chiang Mai, becoming the only team to beat the eventual tournament champions.
September 2004 saw the start of the new Saturday League season and a tour to Shanghai for their International Sixes Event, which guest-starred Viv Richards and Doug Walters. Having won the Plate for the last two years we felt it is now time we won the Cup. However, it was not to be as we fell at the final hurdle. Other tournaments we may will be competing in are the HK Invitational Cricket Festival Sixes, HK University Sixes, Phuket International Sixes and Saturday Cup.
Early games and the first full social season did not meet with much (any, if the truth be told) success, but we persevered, encouraged by a love of the game and the undeniable realisation that we could do no worse. As players improved and new ones joined the squad we began to win games, with the most successful social season being 1994-95. During that season we won every social game and reached the quarter final of the Saturday Cup before losing by one run to the eventual Cup winners.
A further reduction in grounds in 1995 meant fewer opportunities to play that season. However, to keep the Club focused, we built our own cricket net along the Yung Shue Wan harbourfront. It lasted long enough for Lamma C.C. to achieve admission to the Saturday League in September 1996, just in time for the 1996–97 season.
The Club remained firmly at the foot of the table during that season, but we were learning fast and won the Craigengower CC Invitational Sixes Tournament at the Kowloon Cricket Club. Not bad for supposed wooden-spooners!
We did better in the Saturday League the following season, 1997–98, finishing joint 10th and progressing to the quarter final of the Saturday Cup, again going out closely to the eventual Cup winners. During the summer of 1998, Lamma C.C. entered two teams in the Summer Eights competition and won the league, having competed against some of Hong Kong’s leading clubs.
Further success followed in the shorter form of the game a year later when in 1999 Lamma C.C. won the HKU Invitational Sixes and reached the final of the Saturday Cup.
The 1998–99 season saw the team end with a highly creditable 4th place in the Saturday League — a vastly improved season that earned Brad Tarr the accolade “Captain of the Year” from the Hong Kong Cricket Association and showed Lamma C.C. had become a team more used to winning than losing. The 1999–2000 season went relatively well, with Lamma C.C. finishing 6th in the league but unfortunately not proving to be as competitive in the other cup games.
Season 2000–01 brought a reversal of fortunes as Lamma C.C. struggled a little with squad and injuries, ending up mid-table. We still, however, made the finals of the HKU Invitational Sixes, although this time we failed to defend the title successfully, losing a battle in the dark. We also made it through to the finals of the Summer Eights competition and lost in quite atrocious pitch conditions after having two previous finals ruined by poor weather.
The season of 2001–02 saw Lamma C.C. gain their then highest position on the ladder, finishing 3rd in the Saturday League, but even that was a little disappointing as during the season we had a record-breaking string of eight wins in a row and were in a position to mount a serious bid for top spot.
2002–03 — League Champions! We got our reward for consistently playing good cricket with a solid squad in a season that went very well. We competed well in other competitions too by winning the Plate in Shanghai in a sixes competition, reaching the quarter-finals of the Chiang Mai Sixes competition and the semi-finals of the Summer Eights.
Aiming to defend our title for the 2003–04 season, the team got off to a sluggish start before getting into gear and was always in contention to make a successful defence until the final few weeks. In the end it was a disappointing 4th place in a very tight finish. We again defended the Plate in Shanghai and reached the quarter-finals in Chiang Mai, becoming the only team to beat the eventual tournament champions.
September 2004 saw the start of the new Saturday League season and a tour to Shanghai for their International Sixes Event, which guest-starred Viv Richards and Doug Walters. Having won the Plate for the last two years we felt it is now time we won the Cup. However, it was not to be as we fell at the final hurdle. Other tournaments we may will be competing in are the HK Invitational Cricket Festival Sixes, HK University Sixes, Phuket International Sixes and Saturday Cup.
Surprise Craigengower Sixes Champions 1996
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The big one, Saturday League Champions for the 2002/03 season
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And HKU Invitational Sixes Champions in 1999
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Strictly ballroom
The summer of 1999 saw the inaugural Lamma C.C.’s black tie Dinner & Dance, which was held at Oscar’s in Causeway Bay. This was a time for award presentations, dressing up and having a good time. It proved to be a big event and went so well that it would become a yearly Lamma “event”.
The second Lamma C.C. Dinner & Dance was held at the Century Hotel in Wanchai, a bigger venue this time to accommodate the increasingly popular event, and included a buffet dinner and award presentations followed by performances from three bands.
By the way
Even though Lamma C.C. does not have the attraction of its own ground, it has a large and keen membership and it is the only Club without a ground to field both a League Team and a Social Team.
The Cricketers Ball, 2006 at The Wharney
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The social team that chased 324 - in 35 overs! 2011
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Saturday League team, 2008 wearing their team colours...
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