page_title: Birkenhead Park Cricket Club
section_title: Settling down in Cheshire
hierarchical_section_title: Birkenhead Park Cricket Club / History / Settling down in Cheshire
caption_attribution_description: English: Park's 1st XI winning the 2005 First Division.
context_page_description: Birkenhead Park Cricket Club, based on the Wirral in Merseyside, England, was founded in 1846.
  The clubhouse, which is situated in Birkenhead Park, is one of the oldest cricket pavilions in the country.
  They are currently members of the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition. The club runs three senior Saturday teams as well as junior sides at U11, U13, U16 and U21 age groups.
  Their 1st and 2nd XI play on the front pitch with the 3rd XI competing on the back pitch which is commonly known as Cannon Hill.
context_section_description: The transition from the Liverpool Comp to Cheshire would provide plenty of ups and downs for the Park over the next fourteen seasons.
  1998 saw them finish mid-table under Martin Smith with the standout match coming against Alderley Edge when Chris Foran and Edge skipper Stuart Bolton both took hat-tricks in the same game.
  With the Millennium just around the corner, there was a change of captaincy for the 1999 campaign as 24 year old Foran took charge of the first team which made him the youngest captain in the club's history. It proved to be a masterstroke as he led them to Premier League promotion with key contributions coming from Australian batsman Anthony Smith (800 runs) and former skipper Gareth Evans (67 wickets).
  But preparations for the club's first season in the top flight were complicated when Foran found work in London which resulted in Evans becoming captain for a third spell. Unfortunately, Park had one of their worst ever campaigns as they were relegated by early August and only managed one win which came in the penultimate weekend against Neston. Their points tally of 122 remains a record for teams finishing bottom of the Cheshire County Premier League.
  Evans carried on as skipper and helped the club secure a top half finish in 2001 before handing over the reins to wicket-keeper David Smith for the 2002 season. By then, Park were continuing to develop promising young players which included batsman Tommy Hunter, all-rounder Chris Stenhouse and bowlers Carl Ainsworth and John Costain.
  However the club suffered their second relegation in three years as they had the misfortune of finishing with the worst points tally in Division One. Smith kept his role for 2003 as the club brought in a new overseas professional in the form of Tasmanian left-hander Damon Livermore. The Australian made a crucial difference with the bat as he scored an incredible 1,352 runs (including four centuries) which remains the highest tally by a batsman in Cheshire County Division Two. Along with the excellent bowling of John Costain, Park secured promotion back to the First Division though they narrowly missed out on winning the league. The 2nd XI went one better by landing the title under the captaincy of Jason Rioux.
  Livermore contributed again the following year with over 800 runs as Park endured a topsy-turvy season which saw them go from relegation contenders in August to finishing an ambitious fourth place in Division One. However 2004 ended with David Smith relinquishing the captaincy after three years at the helm while Livermore returned to Australia and Gareth Evans retired.
  For the 2005 season, the club were able to appoint Chris Foran as captain again as he brought in a new overseas player in the form of Pakistani leg-spinner Shahid Mahmood. The 1st XI initially struggled early on and found themselves mid-table in June but ended up going unbeaten for the remainder of the season. Promotion and the title was confirmed on the final day when they beat local rivals Upton in front of their home supporters, less than a week after England had defeated Australia in the Ashes. Mahmood finished up with 70 league wickets which included 9-28 against Upton in the reverse fixture though there were vital combinations from various players including Martin Smith, Stephen Potter, Ian Platt, Chris Stenhouse, Carl Ainsworth and new batsman Andrew Gibson.
caption: 2005 Division One Champions
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