Hoppers Crossing cricket club
Encyclopedia
The Hoppers Crossing Cricket Club is a cricket club
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 located in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

History

The club was formed in 1977 as the Hoppers Crossing
Hoppers Crossing, Victoria
Hoppers Crossing is an outer suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28.8 km south-west of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wyndham. According to estimated Population figures from 2006 the population of Hoppers Crossing was 39,051...

 Footballers Cricket Club after it received its initial financial backing from the Hoppers Crossing Football Club (HCFC). Shortly into its first season, sufficient funds were raised to recompense the Football Club and it was renamed the Hoppers Crossing Cricket Club (HCCC).

The first team was entered into the "B-turf" section of the Sunshine Cricket Association in season 1977/78. The club were runners-up in the first season. After this, the club grew quickly to a level where four open age teams were taking the field. Junior cricket was introduced and teams were entered into a local Under-14 competition in the Wyndham
Wyndham
-Localities:*City of Wyndham, an LGA in Victoria, Australia*Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, a LGA in Western Australia, Australia*Wyndham Hills, Pennsylvania, an opulent community in York County, Pennsylvania, United States*Wyndham, New South Wales...

 area. Following the initial set up, HCCC took over the running of this competition, which comprised six teams. The club benefited greatly from this structure, as evidenced by the three Under-14 premierships in a row, on entry into the SCA’s Under-14 competition. At the commencement of the 1983/84 season, it transferred into the Williamstown
Williamstown, Victoria
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

 and District Cricket Association (WDCA). This was in conjunction with the club’s move from its prior residence, in Heaths Road, to its current Hogans Road address. Shortly after this move, a turf wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

 was installed on the number one oval
Oval
An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...

 with the assistance of the then Werribee Council. The 1986/87 season saw the appointment of the club’s first ever coach, Greg Evans. In his first year at the helm, Greg took the club to the runners-up position. At the commencement of the 1989/90 season, the club took its next evolutionary step by entering its first and second elevens into the Victorian Junior Cricket Association (now the Victorian Turf Cricket Association (VTCA)). During this season under the coaching of Mark Mitchell, it won its first ever First Eleven premiership, in the North Central Division. Since that time, it gained promotion into North A through to its current grade, Senior A.

Achievements

Since the commencement of the club, it has produced eight First Eleven District Players with four at Footscray
Footscray, Victoria
Footscray is a suburb 5 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, Footscray had a population of 11,401....

 (Mark Mitchell, Jamie Rubeli, Grant Burns, Paul Murray), two at North Melbourne (Trent Said, Ian Timms), one at University (Greg Kennedy) and one at Richmond
Richmond Cricket Club
This article concerns the Richmond club in Australia. For the English club of the same name, see Richmond Cricket Club, SurreyThe Richmond Cricket Club is an Australian cricket club based in Richmond, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria....

 (Brodie Andrew). Two of these players have represented Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...

 at state level (Mark Mitchell in the Under 19’s and Paul Murray in the Under 21’s). Englishman Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...

 played for the team in the winter of 2004-05, and went on to play first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 for Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, the England U-19 team in 2005 and England A in 2006. Broad played his first One Day International for England against Pakistan in 2006 and made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2007. Englishman Matthew Boyce, who also represented Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

recently against Pakistan played for the club in its 2003-04 season.

The club has had numerous junior cricketers represented in the various representative sides available within Victoria.

Currently the club fields 7 senior turf sides and 14 junior teams and has won 51 premierships across both junior and senior teams in 28 years of cricket. The club is the largest turf cricket club in Victoria and one of the largest junior clubs in the State.
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