Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union Handbook 2005

20 Something Sweet – Kinloch Cricket Club Centenary Over the many years that cricket has been played on the public parks of Dundee, countless teams have plied their trade at such venues as Baxter Park, Caird Park, Dawson Park and Western Green. Sadly names such as Woodthorpe, Roineach Mhor, Elmwood, Circle and East End have long since taken their leave of this cricketing world. Today only two of the old “parks” teams remain. Against that backdrop it is understandable that at Kinloch we are more than just a little proud to be the first of these clubs to have made the landmark of 100 years. We would like to tell you how it all began and against which team we played our first game but sadly that has been lost in the mists of time and the only connection to our formation we have is an entry in a Dundee Directory and the failed attempts of our forefathers in the 1950s to accurately celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the club. Kinloch began life somewhere between 1902 and 1906. The club concluded in 1951 that it was unable to be exact about its beginnings and probably would have celebrated its 50 years in 1952 had it not been for the death of captain Tom Moyes on the eve of that season, casting a shadow over proceedings. Since the mid 1980s it has been accepted that the formation was probably slightly later, maybe around 1905. The entry in the 1906/7 Dundee Directory mentioning Kinloch is the first published acknowledgement of the club and has thus become the adopted time of formation. The Directory was compiled one year ahead and thus 1905 seems the logical date to pick. Of the founders we know slightly more. Two men who worked in the confectionary trade, George Lowden and Mathew McNicoll are the leading lights of the early years. McNicoll, who was to die at the age of 27 from influenza related illnesses, in 1915, was the first secretary and a wholesale confectioners clerk. Lowden was the club’s patriarch for many years and the small sweet shop, opposite the gates of Lochee Continued on page 27