Livingston Cricket Club was founded in 1981 by Dr Salem Patel and Doug Druce, playing its first match in August of that year in Armadale. Against Atlas Steelworks we were so bad that despite getting a second innings we still couldn’t manage more than 30.

An Early Team Photo

From that inauspicious start the club joined the East League for the 1982 season, winning Grade D and promotion despite, or perhaps because of, home matches played at Deans High School on some very dodgy wickets that often resulted in low scoring games. On the left is an early Livingston Cricket Club team photo. The observant amongst you will just be able to make out a glimpse of a very youthful (but still bespectacled!) Jim Wilson at the extreme left on the back row.

In 1983 the club came second to Kirkcaldy’s 2nd XI in Grade C which was enough to win election to Division 4 following league reconstruction. Home games that season were played at Bankton Mains in Murieston. The changing facilities were a wooden Wimpey hut which was eventually flame-grilled by local vandals at the second attempt. On the right is a shot of Livingston CC batting in the early 80's at Leith Links. For those of you not sure if you believe the weather now is no worse than 20 years ago... Well just have a look at how brown the outfield is!!

Leith Links - Looking Burned

With no changing facilities for 1984 all matches had to played away from home while renovations took place at Bangour Hospital sports field to enable cricket to be played there for the first time since the 1950’s.

The club remained at Bangour from 1985 to the end of the 1998 season. Despite the occasional incursion from wandering patients (often difficult to distinguish from the players), Bangour was a smallish ground in a lovely setting with the pavilion situated on top of banking which ran almost half half-way round the ground. The colourful display of rhododendrons in June was often matched by the language of the players retrieving balls from the many sixes hit into the dense undergrowth!

The pavilion at Bangour

The view from the balcony at Bangour pavilion

By 1985 the increasing number of players enabled the club to start a 2nd X1 which joined Grade D of the East League. Meanwhile, despite coming close on a couple of occasions, the 1st X1 remained in Division 4 until winning the league in 1992. It was often said we had the strongest team on paper in the league during this period but unfortunately having to play on grass was our downfall. In contrast our stay in Division 3 in 1993 was the briefest possible with the league programme being negotiated with an unbeaten record.

The creation of the National leagues in 1996 and the subsequent re-organisation of feeder leagues saw Livingston become a Division 1 club due to reconstruction of the East League. In 1999 we finished third, our highest league position to date. This coincided with a move back in to Livingston to a large new ground in the Murieston area. Temporary pavilion facilities and the recent run of wet summers added to the fact that the ground is over 500ft above sea level mean that Dresselrigg has yet to realise its full potential. Being almost in the foothills of the Pentlands, rainfall is heavier and the growing season considerably shorter than most of the other grounds in the Central Belt which causes major problems in getting the ground ready for play in April.

During the period May 2002 to August 2004 a concerted effort was made to source funding and construct a permanent pavilion. The full story can be found in the Gerry Toms Pavilion Project story.

Summary of League Progression

1982	East of Scotland Grade D	One of our Sponsors Bud Campbell's first game of cricket!!
1983	East of Scotland Grade C
1984 - 1992	East of Scotland Division 4
1993	East of Scotland Division 3
1994 - 1995	East of Scotland Division 2
1996 - 2007	East of Scotland Division 1
2008 - 2009	East of Scotland Division 2
2010 -	East League Division 3