Elsternwick Cricket Club was founded in 1900 and played on a ground that was loaned by a local private landowner.  In order to develop its own facilities, the Club commenced a campaign to raise funds for the building of the ground, now known as Elsternwick Park Main Oval.  The ground was opened in 1903 and the Club staged a re-enactment of the opening in November 2003 to celebrate the centenary of the ground.

 

In the early years of the Club, fundraising enabled the development of tennis courts, a hockey ground and pavilion.  Later, baseball and lawn bowling facilities were added, resulting in a large sporting complex for the locals.  The Club was the managing body responsible for the maintenance of the grounds and other facilities.

 

In 1908, the Club joined the Victorian Sub-District Cricket Association as a founding member.

 

In the 1930's, the second ground was completed.  At that time, Elsternwick Park became only the second complex in Australia with two turf grounds, the other one being the Sydney Cricket Ground.

 

Interestingly, the Club was the first owner of a motorised turf roller in Australia.

 

The Club has continued to play a significant role in the development of Elsternwick Park’s facilities, contributing to the construction of a pavilion in 1983 and the building of public synthetic practice wickets on Oval No. 2 in 1989.  In 2000, the Club constructed a storage and curator’s shed, which was partly funded by the Bayside Council.  As part of its centenary celebrations, the Club conducted a tree planting around the Main Oval and was instrumental in installing an automatic sprinkler system on the main oval in 2002.

 

Recently the club has benefited from a State Government and Bayside Council funded redevelopment of the Main Oval and Pavilion at Elsternwick Park.  The synthetic practice wickets were completely reconstructed by Bayside Council in 2018 and the Holmes-Todd Oval (Elsternwick Park Oval No.2) was reconstructed and a new pavilion built in 2019.

 

The Club continues to be proactive in its efforts to improve the facilities for the benefits of Club members and the community.

 

The Club has had a continuous association with Elsternwick Park for over one hundred years, being the initiators of the development of swampland into the sporting complex available today.  The Club’s members are looking forward to the continued occupancy of Elsternwick Park into the future.

 

One of the early policies of the club was to cater for all irrespective of class, nationality or creed and to help those who possessed the capacity for helping themselves, a philosophy still held to this day.

 

The Club has produced Test match players including Keith Miller and Ross Gregory.

 

Information on the club's captains, office bearers, award winners and best on field performances and prominent members can be viewed via the History menu.

 

Most of the information in the history section of the website is taken from the annual reports in the club’s possession.  Unfortunately, the club has virtually no reports prior to 1945 and there is also little information available from the early 1970s so many statistics are incomplete.  The club would be pleased to hear from any individuals that might have a contribution to make to round out the club’s history.