In the spring of 1912 Ernest Carr-Hilton gathered together a group of Cowichan Valley settlers to propose the founding of a cricket club. The response was enthusiastic, and a surprisingly strong team emerged that included Gilbert Curgenven who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire (England). In only their second season Cowichan played against an Australian eleven on a North American tour that included seven Test players, bowling them out for 208 in 37 overs. The Great War (1914-18) interrupted the club's activities until regular games returned in 1919. By the mid-1920s the club gained ownership of the ground at Wharncliffe Road (now McAdam Park) in Duncan and was occasionally able to put two teams on the field.
In June 1932 an 18-man Cowichan team faced a formidable touring team of Australians that boasted nine State and Test players, amongst them a young Don Bradman. In the one day game the Australians scored 503/8 in 46 overs!
After the second world war the number of local cricketers had thinned out, but immigration in the 1960s led to a resurgence of Cowichan's strength. Tom Brierley (Glamorgan, Lancashire and Canada) and other useful players, who had mostly learned the game in England, developed into a team that was VDCA league champions every year between 1963 and 1972, with the exception of 1970. Cowichan has won the championship more times than any other club on the Island.
In 1976 the club acquired a new field and pavilion thanks to the generosity of Mrs E. Woodward and her husband, Barney Russ. From a rock-strewn clearing in the forest in Shawnigan Lake of thirty years ago has emerged a favourite destination for cricketers with its excellent pavilion and, as of 2009, its own indoor net that allows cricket practice to continue year-round.
In 1985 the club organised a mid-week fixture list for "Over Forties". Known as the Cowichan XL, it plays friendlies against mainland and overseas touring teams every week from May to September.
With our centenary only two years away we are already discussing plans for celebrating what Ernest Carr-Hilton and other pioneers set in motion in 1912.
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