Edinburgh Academical Cricket Club, generally known as Edinburgh Accies, is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

club founded in 1855 and based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The club is the oldest Old Boys cricket club in Scotland. In 1854, the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

acquired a playing field at

Raeburn Place Raeburn Place is the main street of the suburb of Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the name of the playing fields there. It is also the location of the first International Rugby match between Scotland and England. Rugby The first eve ...

, Stockbridge, and Edinburgh Accies was founded the following year. Former pupils of the Edinburgh Academy and members of EACC were integral in the development of

Scottish cricket Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

, and within a few years all the

private schools A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowme ...

in Scotland had private cricket grounds. The club's distinguished history includes 42 Academicals who have played representative cricket, 6 have played both rugby and cricket for Scotland, and a few have played for the MCC. The club won the Scottish Cup in 1974, and Masterton Trophy in 1970 and 1977. Edinburgh Accies, originally an exclusive club for

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

of the Edinburgh Academy, has signed professionals since 1981, and membership today is open for anyone to join.

History

Origin

The origin of Edinburgh Accies can be traced back to before the club was officially formed to the establishment of the

in 1824. Cricket was played at the academy almost as soon as it was open in the "Yards" which surround the main school building. T.H. Shepherd's drawing of "The New Academy" (1828), shows two boys holding cricket bats. One of the boys in the drawing was William Moncreiff, who joined the school on its opening day and was one of the founders of

The Grange Cricket Club ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

in 1832.

First 50 years (1855 - 1904)

The first cricket match, for which any scores have been traced, appeared in The Courant of 17 April 1855. Academy cricket flourished through the 1860s with the 1866 XI winning all its school matches. The 1860s and 1870s produced a number of notable cricketers and also a distinguished cricket writer in

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...

(Captain of the Academy 2nd XI in 1861). T.R. Marshall went on to play for the MCC and

. He and two other Academicals, R.H. Johnston and H.J. Stevenson were in the Scottish XI which defeated a strong Gloucestershire XI (including

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

) in 1891. L. M. Balfour-Melville who was captain of the Academy XI in 1871, ranks with T.R. Marshall as the best Academical batsman before 1900. He captained the Scotland XI which defeated the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

in 1872 at the age of 18. H.J. Stevenson was one of the great lob bowlers, and his notes were included in an MCC booklet "Instructions to Cricket Coaches at Lord's". In 1886 for the academy he took five wickets in five balls and repeated this feat for The Academicals in a club match in 1894. On one occasion he took all

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bow ...

against Perthshire Cricket Club.

First half of 20th century (1905 - 1953)

After the turn of the century, the fixture list became stabilised, with H. J. Stevenson in command the club built a reputation for attractive and effective cricket. Academical cricket ceased during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, resuming in 1919. The 1930s saw a peak for the club with a strong 1st XI including eight of its playing members who had represented Scotland, and two other competitive teams. Academical cricket at

was once again interrupted during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with the playing field ploughed up for agricultural use, with the Academicals not returning until 18 June 1949.

Advent of competitive cricket (1953 - 1969)

The East of Scotland District League was formed in 1953, with the Academicals first winning the league in 1957. The Centenary of the Field was celebrated in 1954 with a cricket week, including a two-day match between the Academicals and the MCC and a Centenary Dinner at which the Toast of 'The Field' was proposed by

Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

. The 1960s with J. M. Allan as captain led the club to its first ever international tour to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1963, with the venture repeated the following year, and an overseas tour to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1969.

Paths of glory (1970s)

The 1970s saw the club's most successful decade for silverware. In 1970, the Masterton Trophy was won for the first time, and again in 1977. The Academicals won the Scottish section of the National Club Knock Out Competition on four occasions, in 1971 reaching the last 8 before losing to

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

who went on to win that year. In 1974 the Club won the Scottish Cup for the first time. The league structure was reformed in 1975 into 3 main divisions, with the club going open the following year allowing non-former pupils of the

to join. In 1979 as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations, the club undertook a tour to the North American continent with games from

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Professional era (1980s & 1990s)

In 1981 George Reifer who represented

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

and later

, became the club's first professional. Other notable professionals during this period include Nehemiah Perry who played four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and 21

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and Peter Steindl who played for

Recent times

Due to current redevelopment at Raeburn Place, the club has spent its longest period away from their home ground since the Second World War, and currently plays at its second ground New Field, which it shares with the

school.

Badge, colours and name

The monogram of the Academical Cricket Club (ACC) symbolise the cricket activities of both the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and the Academicals, as the club was originally intended for both boys and Old Boys. It was not thought necessary to include

in the title. The monogram is still used on 1st Academical XI caps, and badges. In the 1860s cricket shirts were brightened up by coloured shirts, with the Academy XI wearing white shirts with narrow blue stripes. In 1871 the academy striped shirt was discarded, and a white shirt with a blue and white sash was approved instead.

Grounds

Raeburn Place

The Academical Field at

was purchased by the

in 1854, and has several unique claims to fame - the first school playing field (of its kind) in Scotland, the oldest private cricket ground in Edinburgh and one of the oldest in Scotland, the "cradle of Rugby Football" in Scotland, being the scene of the first International Football Match and Scotland's 'home ground' for 24 years. The Academical Field at Raeburn Place is home to both the EACC - the oldest Old Boys' Cricket Club in Scotland, and the

EAFC ''EA Sports FC'' is a football video game franchise developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. It serves as the direct successor to their former ''FIFA'' series, which was discontinued following the termination of EA a ...

- one of the oldest Football Clubs in the world.

New Field

Nine acres to the north of Inverleith Place was acquired by the

in 1895 which became the academy's "New Field". The Academical club has often played matches there as a second ground, notably in recent years while the

ground is being redeveloped.

Notable players

The following Academicals have played Representative Cricket.

First appearance prior to 1905

1905 - 1954

Since 1955

A number of Edinburgh Academicals have represented Scotland at both rugby and cricket, these include:

Henry Stevenson Henry James Stevenson (12 July 1867 – 8 August 1945) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played at full back. He also played first-class cricket. Rugby Union career Amateur career Stevenson played for Edinburgh Academicals. ...

, T. R. Marshall,

L.M. Balfour Leslie Balfour-Melville (9 March 1854 – 17 July 1937), born Leslie Balfour, was a Scotland, Scottish amateur sportsman, serving as captain, opening batsman, and wicket-keeper for the Scotland national cricket team. Balfour-Melville was also ...

, E.M. Bannerman, W.E. Maclagan and

K.W. Marshall Kenneth Walker Marshall (23 July 1911 – 14 October 1992) was a Scotland international rugby union player; and Scotland international cricket player.Bath, p105 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Edinburgh Academicals. Provinci ...

Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ), pp 104, 105; note list shows initials not full names

Honours

First XI

League

* Edinburgh & District League (1) – 1957 * East League Division One (2) – 2001, 2008

Cups

* Scottish Cup (1) – 1974 * The Masterton Trophy (2) – 1970, 1977

References

* Edinburgh Academical CC 1854 - 2004 (2005). Ian D. Stevenson, 52 pages * One Hundred Years at Raeburn Place 1854 - 1954 (1954). Published by the Edinburgh Academicals Club

External links

{{Cricket in Scotland Club cricket teams in Scotland