Finding a suitable location for aspiring cricketers at that time was a major problem but this was eased when the Earl of Mar and Kellie gave the Club permission to play on the lawn in front of Alloa House (now demolished) and to use part of the Alloa Tower as a clubhouse. The acquisition of this ground proved to be the stimulus for local clubs to get together and to form the Clackmannan County Cricket Club and the Clackmannan County Xl, made up of the best players from all the clubs in the County, played their first game, a “local derby”, against Stirling County at Livilands, Stirling, on 22 July 1868. By 1872, the Club had two XIs, the County Xl and the Alloa Xl, and the years until 1879 saw a steady development of the Club and an expansion of its fixture list to include matches against such as Aberdeenshire, Arbroath, Carlton and West of Scotland. Apparently spectators turned up in force for matches played at Alloa House in the Earl’s estate.

However, the Club, for reasons which are not clear, went into abeyance in 1879 although cricket in Clackmannanshire continued to flourish around this time and a number of new clubs were formed - at least two in Alloa, two in Tullibody, and one each in Tillicoultry and Alva. The Alloa West End Public Park was opened in 1878 and the Alloa Advertiser reported in the Summer of 1878: “To give an example of the way in which our Public Park is taken advantage of, we may mention that about a dozen and a half cricket clubs were engaged in their favourite pastime on Saturday afternoon last. This may be very enjoyable for the young people, but, with a dozen and a half cricket balls flying about, a walk around the green sward may not be altogether agreeable, not to say dangerous, to a pedestrian." A dozen and a half cricket clubs, changed days indeed!