About the PIRATES

The Ryde Hunters Hill Cricket Club (RHHCC) was founded in 2003, and proudly continues the tradition of cricket in this area since 1870. The Pirates is a family oriented cricket club which provides opportunities for boys, girls and adults of all abilities to play this fantastic sport of cricket within the Ryde, Hunters Hill and surrounding districts.

Players can start from as early as 4 years of age in our in2cricket Program and then progress through the U8 and U9 age groups before taking part at a competitions level from U10 upwards.

The Club also has a number of senior teams for adults and older teenagers, with a pathway to grade cricket through our partnership with Sydney Cricket Club.

Our Club History

The RHHCC emerged from the ashes of the former Woolwich Hunters Hill Cricket Club, (WHHCC) one of the oldest such organisations in the district which had quietly folded the year before due to increasing difficulties in fielding teams.

The passing of WHHCC was of great disappointment to the then Mayor of Hunters Hill, Sue Hoopmann. Keen to ensure that cricket continued in the area, Sue approached two committee members of a local club, to see whether they would take on the challenge of maintaining the sport’s links within Hunters Hill’s boundaries. The incentive would be a cheque for a couple of thousand dollars. In return, they would have to help out at the popular annual Hunters Hill Food and Wine Festival.

Roy Maggio and Peter Mystakas readily agreed and, with family and friends, worked tirelessly on the day, helping out behind the scenes and ensuring that the site was left clean and tidy once the festival had ended. So enamoured were the two of Sue Hoopmann’s support – and she of their enthusiasm – that they chose to pursue a long-held dream of starting up another junior cricket club given that their then organisation was more Gladesville-based. Ryde Hunters Hill Junior Cricket Club (as it was first called ) therefore came into being with the initial aim of organising cricket for youngsters of the area.

In search of a nickname ‘The Rebels’ was initially considered, but one day as they were sorting through the old dusty kitbags of what was left of WHHCC, Roy came across a couple of pads with ‘The Pirates’ emblazoned on the inside, and we are called ‘The Pirates’ to this day. What is more, it firmly establishes our present links to a proud past and ensures the continuity of a sport which is so historically embedded in this district.

RHHCC was formally launched that year at the Henley Bay Club in front of 400 enthusiastic supporters. During the 2003 season, the club fielded eight teams and ran the Milo Have-a-Go program to promote the sport amongst five-to-seven year-olds who would become the backbone of RHHCC in the coming years.

Since then, every Saturday during the cricket season the sound of leather on willow and shouts of ‘How’zat’ can be heard once again on the pitches of Ryde and Hunters Hill, some within a boundary throw of the old home ground of the WHHCC.

RHHCC eventually dropped ‘junior’ from its title, having forged itself as a club for both junior and senior players. We are now one of the largest clubs in NSW, fielding over 30 Junior teams and several teams in Seniors along with the Masters, Tim Creer and City & Suburban competitions. We have built cricket nets at Boronia Park, we run specially-tailored coaching programs and count several hundred local families as our members.