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{{Short description|English county cricket club}}{{More citations needed|date=August 2023}}

factoids

{{color box#000080}}{{color box#E5AA70}}{{color box|#FF0000}}| founded = 1870Bristol County Ground>Seat Unique Stadium| capacity = 7,500 – 17,500Surrey County Cricket Club>Surrey| first_fc_year = 1870Durdham Down>Durdham Down, BristolCounty Championship>Championship| title1wins = 0 (unofficial Champion County 4 times)Royal London One-Day Cup>One-Day Cup(2) {{hlist> 2000 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup>2015}}Friends Provident Trophy>FP Trophy/NatWest Trophy(5) {{hlist> 1973 2000 2004 }}| title4 = Benson & Hedges Cup(3) {{hlist> 1977 2000 }}| website = gloscricket.co.uk| h_pattern_la = | h_pattern_b = _collar| h_pattern_ra = | h_pattern_pants = | h_leftarm = FFFFF6| h_body = FFFFF6| h_rightarm = FFFFF6| h_pants = FFFFF6| h_title = First-class| a_title = One-day| t_title = T20| a_pattern_la = _yellowborder| a_pattern_b = _yellowcollar| a_pattern_ra = _yellowborder| a_pattern_pants = | a_leftarm = 000000| a_body = 000000| a_rightarm = 000000| a_pants = 000000| t_pattern_la = _blackborder| t_pattern_b = _blackcollar| t_pattern_ra = _blackborder| t_pattern_pants = | t_leftarm = ffe700| t_body = ffe700| t_rightarm = ffe700| t_pants = 000000}}{{Use British English|date=March 2022}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}thumb|260px|rightGloucestershire 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 has always been first-class and has 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, notably 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.WEB,weblink Reliving Gloucestershire's limited-overs glory days, Espncricinfo.com, 29 September 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181002040310weblink">weblink 2 October 2018, live,

Honours

{{See also|List of the competitive honours won by county cricket clubs in England and Wales}}

First XI honours

• Champion CountyAn 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. (3) – 1874, 1876, 1877, shared (1) – 1873
• County Championship (0)

• Royal London One-Day Cup (1) – 2015
• Sunday/National League/Pro40 (1) – 2000

• Gillette/NatWest/C&G Trophy (5) – 1973, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004,

• Benson & Hedges Cup (3) – 1977, 1999, 2000

• Twenty20 Cup -

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 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.Rae, p. 89. 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.Dr Grace's club played Gloucestershire's initial first-class match versus Surrey at Durdham Down in Bristol on 2, 3 & 4 June 1870.CricketArchive – match scorecard. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206073641weblink |date=6 February 2018 }} Retrieved on 24 November 2008. 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". The Cheltenham club was wound up in March 1871 and its chief officials accepted positions in the hierarchy of Gloucestershire. 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.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.

Club history

(File:Gloucester cricketclub 1880.jpg|thumb|300px|right|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. 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.NEWS, Swinging onto centre stage,weblink Andrew Miller, ESPNcricinfo, 2 June 2006, 5 May 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110803092638weblink">weblink 3 August 2011, live, His figures in the first innings were 3–68, including a wicket in his 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,NEWS, Kent take Twenty20 in thrilling final,weblink Andrew McGlashan, ESPNcricinfo, 4 August 2007, 5 May 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140802234311weblink">weblink 2 August 2014, live, the club failed to win any major trophies for a decade.In 2013 Gloucestershire stopped using 'Gloucestershire Gladiators' as its limited-overs name.NEWS,weblink Talking Point: Should Gloucestershire County Cricket Club change their name?, Pete Orchard, Gloucestershire Echo, 20 March 2014, 11 October 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140329080159weblink">weblink 29 March 2014, dead, 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.WEB,weblink Klinger completes MVP double | England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) - the Official Website of the ECB, 21 September 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20151013060428weblink">weblink 13 October 2015, dead, dmy-all,

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.WEB,weblink First-Class Matches played on Knowle Cricket Club Ground, Bristol (3), CricketArchive, 3 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150703224032weblink">weblink 3 July 2015, live, WEB,weblink First-Class Matches played on Imperial Athletic Ground, Bristol (9), CricketArchive, 3 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150704065732weblink">weblink 4 July 2015, live,

Grounds

File:Bristol County Ground.jpg|thumbnail|The Bristol County GroundBristol County Ground(File:W.G. Grace tablet.jpg|thumbnail|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.WEB,weblink First-Class Matches played by Gloucestershire, CricketArchive, 7 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150708024316weblink">weblink 8 July 2015, live, This was the only time the county used this venue for a match.WEB,weblink First-Class Matches played on Durdham Down, Clifton (1), CricketArchive, 3 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150704031813weblink">weblink 4 July 2015, live, 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.NEWS,weblink Plans unveiled for 2015 Brewin Dolphin Cheltenham Cricket Festival, Bristol Post, 27 May 2015, 8 July 2015, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150714170758weblink">weblink 14 July 2015, dmy-all, 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.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,WEB,weblink Gloucestershire's future in doubt, 11 January 2012, ESPNcricinfo, 10 July 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150801235229weblink">weblink 1 August 2015, live, 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

{{Further|List of Gloucestershire CCC players}}

Current squad

• No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt.
• {{double-dagger}} denotes players with international caps.{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%"

! No.! Name! Nat! Birth date! Batting style! Bowling style! Notes! colspan="7"| Batters4 Cameron Bancroft {{double-dagger}} {{cr199219| Overseas player10 Jack Taylor (cricketer) >England}} {{birth date and age11df=y}} Right-handed Right-arm Leg spin >Captain (cricket)>Captain (List A & T20)15 Chris Dent {{cr199120Left-arm orthodox spin>Slow left-arm orthodox 24 Joe Phillips (cricketer) >England}} {{birth date and age11df=y}} Right-handed Right-arm Off spin >|64 Ben Charlesworth {{cr200019Fast bowling>fast-medium 71 Tommy Boorman {{cr200512Off spin>off break 88 Miles Hammond {{cr199611Off spin>off break ! colspan="7"| All-rounders12 Graeme van Buuren {{cr199022Left-arm orthodox spin>Slow left-arm orthodox Club Captain; UK Passport19 Luke Charlesworth (cricketer) >England}} {{birth date and age4df=y}} Right-handed Right-arm Fast bowling >| 20 Ahmed Syed {{cr200426Left-arm orthodox spin>Slow left-arm orthodox 30 Beau Webster {{cr19931Fast bowling>medium Overseas player53 Tom Price (cricketer) >England}} {{birth date and age1df=y}} Right-handed Right-arm Fast bowling >| 55 Ed Middleton {{cr200028Leg spin>leg break 67 Ollie Price {{cr200112Off spin>off break 77 Zafar Gohar {{double-dagger}} {{cr19951Left-arm orthodox spin>Slow left-arm orthodox Overseas player! colspan="7"| Wicket-keepers25 James Bracey {{double-dagger}} {{cr19973|— Charlie Tear {{double-dagger}} {{cr200412Sussex County Cricket Club>Sussex! colspan="7"| Bowlers5 Josh Shaw (cricketer) >England}} {{Birth date and age19963}} Right-handed Right-arm Fast bowling >|6 Tom Smith (cricketer, born 1987) >England}} {{birth date and age8df=y}} Right-handed Left-arm orthodox spin >| 14 David Payne (cricketer) {{double-dagger}} >England}} {{birth date and age2df=y}} Left-handed Left-arm Fast bowling >| White ball contract17 Zaman Akhter {{cr199912Fast bowling>fast-medium 28 Archie Bailey {{cr200528Fast bowling>fast-medium 36 Matthew Taylor (cricketer, born 1994) >England}} {{birth date and age7df=y}} Right-handed Left-arm Fast bowling >|39 Ajeet Dale {{cr20003Fast bowling>fast 83 Dominic Goodman {{cr200023Fast bowling>fast-medium 90 Marchant de Lange {{double-dagger}} {{cr199013Fast bowling>fast UK Passport Source: Cricinfo

International players

Among the international players who have represented Gloucestershire are:{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• 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
• Cheteshwar Pujara
• Kevin Curran

{{div col end}}

Club captains

(File:W. G. Grace, cricketer, by Herbert Rose Barraud.jpg|180px|right|thumb|W. G. Grace dominated the club's early history. He made 22,808 runs and took 1,339 wickets for the county.){{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• W. G. Grace 1870–1898(Longest Serving Captain)
• W. G. Grace, Walter Troup 1899
• Gilbert Jessop 1900–1912
• Cyril Sewell 1913–1914
• Foster Robinson 1919–1921
• Philip Williams 1922–1923
• Douglas Robinson : 1924–1926
• William Rowlands 1927–1928
• Bev Lyon 1929–1934
• Dallas Page 1935–1936
• Basil Allen 1937–1938
• Wally Hammond 1939–1946
• Basil Allen 1947–1950
• Derrick Bailey 1951–1952
• Jack Crapp 1953–1954
• George Emmett 1955–1958
• Tom Graveney 1959–1960
• Tom Pugh 1961–1962
• Ken Graveney 1963–1964
• John Mortimore 1965–1967
• Arthur Milton 1968
• Tony Brown 1969–1976
• Mike Procter 1977–1981
• David Graveney 1982–1988
• Bill Athey 1989
• Tony Wright 1990–1992
• Tony Wright, Courtney Walsh 1993
• Courtney Walsh 1994
• Jack Russell 1995
• Courtney Walsh 1996
• Mark Alleyne 1997–2003
• Chris Taylor 2004–2005
• Jon Lewis 2006–2008
• Alex Gidman 2009–2012
• Michael Klinger 2013–2014
• Geraint Jones 2015
• Gareth Roderick 2016–2017
• Chris Dent 2018–2021
• Graeme van Buuren 2022 to date weblink

{{div col end}}

Records

{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}Most first-class runs for Gloucestershire Qualification – 20,000 runs weblink{| class="wikitable" bgcolor=#bdb76b! Player!!RunsWally Hammond>| 33,664Arthur Milton>| 30,218Alfred Dipper>| 27,948Ron Nicholls (cricketer, born 1933)>Ron Nicholls 23,607Martin Young (cricketer)>Martin Young 23,400W. G. Grace >| 22,808George Emmett >| 22,806Jack Crapp >| 22,195Charlie Barnett (cricketer)>Charlie Barnett 21,221{{col-break}}Most first-class wickets for Gloucestershire Qualification – 1,000 wickets weblink{| class="wikitable" bgcolor=#bdb76b! Player!!WicketsCharlie Parker (cricketer)>Charlie Parker 3,170Tom Goddard>| 2,862George Dennett>| 2,082Sam Cook (Gloucestershire cricketer)>Sam Cook 1,768John Mortimore (cricketer)>John Mortimore 1,696W. G. Grace >| 1,339Tony Brown (English cricketer)>Tony Brown 1,223Reg Sinfield >| 1,165David Smith (Gloucestershire cricketer)>David Smith 1,159{{col-end}} 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, 2014NEWS, Scorecard - Gloucestershire CCC vs Worcestershire CCC, 21-24 July 2014,weblink ESPNcricinfo, 23 July 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140723092327weblink">weblink 23 July 2014, live,

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

Shirt sponsors

One-day / T20 cricket{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"!rowspan="2"|Season!rowspan="2"|Kit supplier!colspan="3"|Kit sponsor!FC!LA!T20|2000AvecMerchant Investorsn/a|2001GM|2002|2003SurridgeAcorn Recruitment|2004Marston's|2005|2006|2007|2008|2009Gray-Nicolls|2010|2011TotalSitec|2012|2013|2014|2015SurridgeAmlin|2016D&B ScaffoldingD&B Scaffolding|2017|Amber EnergyBrightside|2018SamuraiBluepoppy.co.uk|2019Hunter Selection|2020Cayman IslandsReform|2021|2022New Balance|2023

See also

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

References

{{Reflist}}

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

{{Commons category|Gloucestershire County Cricket Club}}

• Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
• BBC match reports, interviews and streaming commentary

{{Gloucestershire CCC}}{{Gloucestershire County Cricket Club squad}}{{English first-class cricket clubs}}{{Sport in Bristol}}{{Cricket in England}}{{Authority control}}