Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

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 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.

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 W. G., E. M. and Fred.[3]

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.

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]

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.

Among the international players who have represented Gloucestershire are:

Bristol County Ground before redevelopment

Team totals

• Highest total for – 695–9 declared v. Middlesex, Archdeacon Meadow, Gloucester, 2004
• Highest total against – 774–7 declared by the Australians, Bristol, 1948
• Lowest total for – 17 v. the Australians, Cheltenham (Spa), 22 August 1896
• Lowest total against – 12 by Northamptonshire, Gloucester, 1907

Batting

• Highest score – 341 Craig Spearman v. Middlesex, Gloucester, 2004
• Most runs in season – 2,860 W. R. Hammond, 1933
• Most hundreds in career – 113 W. R. Hammond, 1920–1951

Best partnership for each wicket

• 1st – 395 D. M. Young & R. B. Nicholls v. Oxford University, Oxford, 1962
• 2nd – 256 C. T. M. Pugh & T. W. Graveney v. Derbyshire, Chesterfield, 1960
• 3rd – 392 A. P. R. Gidman & G. H. Roderick v. Leicestershire, Bristol, 2014
• 4th – 321 W. R. Hammond & W. L. Neale v. Leicestershire, Gloucester, 1937
• 5th – 261 W. G. Grace & WO Moberly v. Yorkshire, Cheltenham, 1876
• 6th – 320 G. L. Jessop & J. H. Board v. Sussex, Hove, 1903
• 7th – 248 W. G. Grace & E. L. Thomas v. Sussex, Hove, 1896
• 8th – 239 W. R. Hammond & A. E. Wilson v. Lancashire, Bristol, 1938
• 9th – 193 W. G. Grace & S. A. P. Kitcat v. Sussex, Bristol, 1896
• 10th – 137 L. C. Norwell & C. N. Miles v. Worcestershire, Cheltenham, 2014[15]

Bowling

• Best bowling – 10–40 E. G. Dennett v. Essex, Bristol, 1906
• Best match bowling – 17–56 C. W. L. Parker v. Essex, Gloucester, 1925
• Wickets in season – 222 T. W. J. Goddard, 1937 and 1947

One-day / T20 cricket

• GCCC in 2004
• GCCC in 2005
• GCCC in 2006

• 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

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