Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
 | ||||
| One-day name | Gloucestershire | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personnel | ||||
| Captain |  Chris Dent | |||
| One-day captain | Chris Dent (LA)  Michael Klinger (T20) | |||
| Coach | Richard Dawson | |||
| Overseas player(s) | Daniel Worrall Michael Klinger (T20) | |||
| Team information | ||||
| Colours | ||||
| Founded | 1870 | |||
| Home ground | Bristol County Ground | |||
| Capacity | 7,500 – 17,500 | |||
| History | ||||
First-class debut | Surrey in 1870 at Durdham Down, Bristol | |||
Championship wins | 0 (unofficial Champion County 4 times) | |||
One-Day Cup wins | (2)
| |||
FP Trophy/NatWest Trophy wins | (5)
| |||
Benson & Hedges Cup wins | (3)
| |||
| Official website: | gloscricket.co.uk | |||
| ||||
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always been first-class and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club played its first senior match in 1870 and W. G. Grace was their captain. The club plays home games at the Bristol County Ground in the Bishopston area of north Bristol. A number of games are also played at the Cheltenham cricket festival at the College Ground, Cheltenham and matches have also been played at the Gloucester cricket festival at The King's School, Gloucester.
Gloucestershire's most famous players have been W. G. Grace, whose father founded the club, and Wally Hammond, who scored 113 centuries for them. The club has had two notable periods of success: in the 1870s when it was unofficially acclaimed as the Champion County on at least three occasions, and from 1999 to 2006 when it won seven limited overs trophies, a "double double" in 1999 and 2000 (both the Benson and Hedges Cup and the C&G Trophy in both seasons), and the Sunday League in 2000.[1]
Contents
1 Honours
1.1 First XI honours
1.2 Second XI honours
2 Earliest cricket
3 Origin of club
4 Club history
4.1 Dominance in one-day cricket (1999–2004)
4.2 Recent years (2006–present)
5 Rivalries
6 Grounds
7 Players
7.1 Current squad
8 International players
9 Club captains
10 Records
11 Shirt sponsors
12 See also
13 References
14 Bibliography
15 External links
Honours
First XI honours
Champion County[2] (3) – 1874, 1876, 1877; shared (1) – 1873- County Championship (0)
- Runners-up (6) – 1930, 1931, 1947, 1959, 1969, 1986
- 2 divisions since 2000 (2000–2003 D2, 2003–2005 D1, 2006– D2)
- Division 2 – 2003 – 3rd – promoted to Division 1, 2005 – relegated to Division 2
Royal London One-Day Cup (1) – 2015
Sunday/National League/Pro40 (1) – 2000
- Runners-Up (2) 1988, 2003
Division Two (2) – 2002, 2006
Gillette/NatWest/C&G Trophy (5) – 1973, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004,
- Semi-Finalists (5) – 1968, 1971, 1975, 1987, 2009
Benson & Hedges Cup (3) – 1977, 1999, 2000
- Finalists (1) – 2001
- Semi-Finalists (1) – 1972
- Twenty20 Cup
- Finalists (1) – 2007
- Semi-Finalists (1) – 2003
Second XI honours
Second XI Championship (1) – 1959
Earliest cricket
Cricket probably reached Gloucestershire by the end of the 17th century. It is known that the related sport of "Stow-Ball" aka "Stob-Ball" was played in the county during the 16th century. In this game, the bat was called a "stave". See Alice B Gomme : The Traditional Games of England, Scotland and Ireland.
A game in Gloucester on 22 September 1729 is the earliest definite reference to cricket in the county. From then until the founding of the county club, very little has been found outside parish cricket.
Origin of club
In the early 1840s, Dr Henry Grace and his brother-in-law Alfred Pocock founded the Mangotsfield Cricket Club which merged in 1846 with the West Gloucestershire Cricket Club, whose name was adopted until 1867, after which it became the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.[3] Grace hoped that Gloucestershire would join the first-class county clubs but the situation was complicated in 1863 by the formation of a rival club called the Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Cricket Club.[3]
Dr Grace's club played Gloucestershire's initial first-class match versus Surrey at Durdham Down in Bristol on 2, 3 & 4 June 1870.[4] Gloucestershire joined the (unofficial) County Championship at this time but the existence of the Cheltenham club seems to have forestalled the installation of its "constitutional trappings".[3] The Cheltenham club was wound up in March 1871 and its chief officials accepted positions in the hierarchy of Gloucestershire.[3] So, although the exact details and dates of the county club's foundation are uncertain, it has always been assumed that the year was 1870 and the club celebrated its centenary in 1970.[3]
What is certain is that Dr Grace was able to form the county club because of its playing strength, especially his three sons WG, EM and Fred.[3]
Club history
Gloucestershire CCC in 1880.
The early history of Gloucestershire is dominated by the Grace family, most notably W G Grace, who was the club's original captain and held that post until his departure for London in 1899. His brother E M Grace, although still an active player, was the original club secretary. With the Grace brothers and Billy Midwinter in their team, Gloucestershire won three Champion County titles in the 1870s.
Since then Gloucestershire's fortunes have been mixed and they have never won the official County Championship. They struggled in the pre-war years of the County Championship because their best batsmen, apart from Gilbert Jessop and briefly Charlie Townsend, were very rarely available. The bowling, except when Townsend did sensational things on sticky wickets in late 1895 and late 1898, was very weak until George Dennett emerged – then it had the fault of depending far too much on him. Wally Hammond, who still holds many of the county's batting records formed part of an occasionally strong inter-war team, although the highest championship finish during this period was second in 1930 and 1931, when Charlie Parker and Tom Goddard formed a devastating spin attack.
Outstanding players since the war include Tom Graveney, "Jack" Russell and overseas players Mike Procter, Zaheer Abbas and Courtney Walsh.
Dominance in one-day cricket (1999–2004)
Gloucestershire was very successful in one-day cricket in the late 1990s and early 2000s winning several titles under the captaincy of Mark Alleyne and coaching of John Bracewell. The club operated on a small budget and was famed as a team greater than the sum of its parts, boasting few international stars.[1] Gloucestershire's overall knockout record between 1999 and 2002 was 28 wins and seven losses from 37 games, including 16 wins from 18 at the Bristol County Ground.
The club's run of success started by defeating Yorkshire to win the Benson & Hedges Super Cup in 1999 before then beating neighbours Somerset in the 1999 NatWest Trophy final at Lord's. In 2000 Gloucestershire completed a hat-trick of one-day titles, winning all the domestic limited overs tournaments, the Benson and Hedges Cup, the C&G Trophy and the Sunday League in the same season. The club maintained its success winning the C&G Trophy in 2003 and 2004, beating Worcestershire in the final on both occasions.
Recent years (2006–present)
The club's captain for the 2006 season, Jon Lewis, became the first Gloucestershire player for nearly 10 years to play for England at Test Match level, when he was picked to represent his country in the Third Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge in June 2006.[5] His figures in the first innings were 3–68, including a wicket in his very first over in Test cricket, and he was widely praised for his debut performance.
Following the retirement of several key players, such as "Jack" Russell and Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire's fortunes declined. The club subsequently stripped back its playing budget as it looked to finance the redevelopment of the Bristol County Ground in order to maintain Category B status and secure future international games at their home ground. Performances suffered and despite reaching the final of the 2007 Twenty20 Cup, losing narrowly to Kent,[6] the club failed to win any major trophies for a decade.
In 2013 Gloucestershire stopped using 'Gloucestershire Gladiators' as its limited-overs name.[7]
Gloucestershire won their first major silverware for 11 years in 2015, overcoming favoured Surrey to win the Royal London One-Day Cup in the final at Lord's. Captain Michael Klinger, who flew back from Australia to play in the semi-final win over Yorkshire, was named the tournament's MVP scoring 531 runs at an average of over 106.[8]
Rivalries
Gloucestershire contest one of English cricket's fiercest rivalries, the West Country derby against Somerset, which usually draws the biggest crowd of the season for either team. Traditionally, the boundary between the counties is drawn by the River Avon. Although Gloucestershire CCC's home ground is in Bristol, which straddles the Avon (and has been a county in its own right since 1373), many people from south Bristol favour Somerset CCC despite the fact the club plays its home games much further away in Taunton. However, in the past Somerset have played first-class matches at venues in the south of Bristol.[9][10]
Grounds
The Bristol County Ground
A tablet of W.G. Grace at the Grace Gates of the Bristol County Ground
The club's debut home match in first-class cricket was played at Durdham Down in the Clifton district of Bristol.[11] This was the only time the county used this venue for a match.[12] The following year Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Clifton College Close Ground in the grounds of Clifton College in the same part of the city, and this remained a regular venue for the county until the 1930s, hosting nearly 100 first-class matches. In 1872 the county used a venue outside Bristol for the first time when they played at the College Ground in the grounds of Cheltenham College. This venue has continued to be used regularly for the county's annual "Cheltenham festival" event, which in the modern era incorporates additional charity events and off-field entertainment.[13] In 1889 Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Bristol County Ground in Bristol, which has subsequently served as the club's main headquarters and hosted the majority of the county's matches. It was here that the club played its first List A match in 1963 against Middlesex, and its first Twenty20 match forty years later against Worcestershire. Somerset have played first-class matches at other venues in the city.[9][10]
In the 1920s Gloucestershire ceased playing at the Spa Ground in Gloucester, which had been in use since 1882, and switched to the Wagon Works Ground in the city. This ground remained in use for nearly 70 years, hosting over 150 first-class matches, before its use was discontinued in 1992. In 2012 the club investigated the possibility of returning to the Wagon Works Ground and making it their permanent headquarters after being refused permission for extensive redevelopment of the County Ground in Bristol,[14] but ultimately this did not occur. In 1993, the club moved its base in Gloucester to Archdeacon Meadow, a ground owned by The King's School. This venue was only used for first-class matches until 2008 but was used for four Twenty20 matches in 2010 and 2011, the most recent county games to take place in the city. All subsequent matches have taken place in either Bristol or Cheltenham.
Players
Current squad
- No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
denotes players with international caps.
| No. | Name | Nat | Birth date | Batting Style | Bowling Style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||||
| 2 | Michael Klinger  | Australia | (1980-07-04) 4 July 1980 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas player (T20 only) T20 captain |
| 4 | William Tavaré | England | (1990-01-01) 1 January 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 15 | Chris Dent | England | (1991-01-20) 20 January 1991 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | Club captain |
| 21 | George Hankins | England | (1997-01-04) 4 January 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 28 | Ian Cockbain | England | (1987-02-17) 17 February 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| All-rounders | ||||||
| 10 | Jack Taylor | England | (1991-11-12) 12 November 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 12 | Graeme van Buuren |  South Africa | (1990-08-22) 22 August 1990 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | UK passport |
| 13 | Benny Howell | England | (1988-10-05) 5 October 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| 29 | Ryan Higgins | England | (1995-01-06) 6 January 1995 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| 88 | Miles Hammond | England | (1996-01-11) 11 January 1996 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| — | Ben Charlesworth | England | (2000-11-19) 19 November 2000 | Left-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| 25 | James Bracey | England | (1997-05-03) 3 May 1997 | Left-handed | — | |
| 27 | Gareth Roderick | South Africa | (1991-08-28) 28 August 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | UK passport |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 6 | Tom Smith | England | (1987-08-29) 29 August 1987 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| 14 | David Payne | England | (1991-02-15) 15 February 1991 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | |
| 23 | Chris Liddle | England | (1984-02-01) 1 February 1984 | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | |
| 36 | Matthew Taylor | England | (1994-07-08) 8 July 1994 | Right-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | |
| 41 | Daniel Worrall | Australia | (1991-07-10) 10 July 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas player |
| — | George Drissell | England | (1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
Source: Cricinfo
International players
Among the international players who have represented Gloucestershire are:
- W G Grace
- E M Grace
- Fred Grace
- Billy Midwinter
- Gilbert Jessop
- Charlie Parker
- Wally Hammond
- Tom Goddard
- Sam Cook
- Tom Graveney
- Arthur Milton
- Mike Procter
- Zaheer Abbas
- Sadiq Mohammad
- Courtney Walsh
- David Lawrence
- Jack Russell
- Javagal Srinath
- Malinga Bandara
- Marcus North
- Aaron Redmond
- Ian Butler
- Hamish Marshall
- James Franklin
- Kane Williamson
- Rob Nicol
- Muttiah Muralitharan
- Ed Cowan
- Dan Christian
- Cameron Bancroft
- Michael Klinger
- Andrew Tye
- Peter Handscomb
- Mark Craig
Club captains
|
|  WG Grace dominated the club's early history. He made 22,808 runs and took 1,339 wickets for the county. |
Records
Most first-class runs for Gloucestershire
| Most first-class wickets for Gloucestershire
|
Bristol County Ground before redevelopment
Team totals
- Highest Total For – 695–9 declared v Middlesex at Archdeacon Meadow, Gloucester 2004
- Highest Total Against – 774–7 declared by the Australians at Bristol 1948
- Lowest Total For – 17 v the Australians at Cheltenham (Spa), 22 August 1896
- Lowest Total Against – 12 by Northamptonshire at Gloucester 1907
Batting
- Highest Score – 341 Craig Spearman v Middlesex at Gloucester in 2004
- Most Runs in Season – 2860 WR Hammond in 1933
- Most Runs in Career – 33664 WR Hammond 1920–1951
- Most Hundreds in Career – 113 WR Hammond 1920–1951
Best Partnership for each wicket
- 1st – 395 DM Young & RB Nicholls v Oxford University at Oxford 1962
- 2nd – 256 CTM Pugh & TW Graveney v Derbyshire at Chesterfield 1960
- 3rd – 392 APR Gidman & GH Roderick v Leicestershire at Bristol 2014
- 4th – 321 WR Hammond & WL Neale v Leicestershire at Gloucester 1937
- 5th – 261 WG Grace & WO Moberly v Yorkshire at Cheltenham 1876
- 6th – 320 GL Jessop & JH Board v Sussex at Hove 1903
- 7th – 248 WG Grace & EL Thomas v Sussex at Hove 1896
- 8th – 239 WR Hammond & AE Wilson v Lancashire at Bristol 1938
- 9th – 193 WG Grace & SAP Kitcat v Sussex at Bristol 1896
- 10th – 137 LC Norwell & CN Miles v Worcestershire at Cheltenham 2014[15]
Bowling
- Best Bowling – 10–40 EG Dennett v Essex at Bristol 1906
- Best Match Bowling – 17–56 CWL Parker v Essex at Gloucester 1925
- Wickets in Season – 222 TWJ Goddard in 1937 and 1947
- Wickets in Career – 3170 CWL Parker 1903–1935
Shirt sponsors
One Day / T20 Cricket
| Season | Kit Supplier | Kit Sponsor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
FC | LA | T20 | ||
| 2000 | Avec | Merchant Investors | n/a | |
| 2001 | GM | |||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2003 | Surridge | Acorn Recruitment | ||
| 2004 | Marston's | |||
| 2005 | ||||
| 2006 | ||||
| 2007 | ||||
| 2008 | ||||
| 2009 | Gray-Nicolls | |||
| 2010 | ||||
| 2011 | Total | Sitec | ||
| 2012 | ||||
| 2013 | ||||
See also
- GCCC in 2004
- GCCC in 2005
- GCCC in 2006
References
^ ab "Reliving Gloucestershire's limited-overs glory days". Espncricinfo.com. Retrieved 29 September 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ An unofficial seasonal title sometimes proclaimed by consensus of media and historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted. Although there are ante-dated claims prior to 1873, when residence qualifications were introduced, it is only since that ruling that any quasi-official status can be ascribed.
^ abcdef Rae, p.89.
^ CricketArchive – match scorecard. Retrieved on 24 November 2008.
^ Andrew Miller (2 June 2006). "Swinging onto centre stage". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
^ Andrew McGlashan (4 August 2007). "Kent take Twenty20 in thrilling final". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
^ Pete Orchard (20 March 2014). "Talking Point: Should Gloucestershire County Cricket Club change their name?". Gloucestershire Echo. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
^ [1][dead link]
^ ab "First-Class Matches played on Knowle Cricket Club Ground, Bristol (3)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ ab "First-Class Matches played on Imperial Athletic Ground, Bristol (9)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ "First-Class Matches played by Gloucestershire". CricketArchive. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
^ "First-Class Matches played on Durdham Down, Clifton (1)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
^ "Plans unveiled for 2015 Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Cricket Festival". Bristol Post. 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
^ "Gloucestershire's future in doubt". ESPNcricinfo. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
^ "Scorecard - Gloucestershire CCC vs Worcestershire CCC, 21-24 July 2014". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
Bibliography
H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
Simon Rae, W G Grace, Faber & Faber, 1998- J R Webber, The Chronicle Of W.G., The Association Of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, 1998
Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951
Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions
External links
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. |
- Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
- BBC match reports, interviews and streaming commentary
