| Gloucestershire County Cricket Club | |||
| One-day name: | Gloucestershire Gladiators | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach: | John Bracewell | ||
| Chairman: | Rex Body | ||
| Captain: | Alex Gidman | ||
| Overseas player(s): | Muttiah Muralitharan | ||
| Founded: | 1870 | ||
| Home ground: | Nevil Road | ||
| Capacity: | 8,000 – 16,000 | ||
| First-class debut: | Surrey | ||
| in 1870 | |||
| at County Cricket Ground | |||
| Championship wins: | 0 | ||
| Pro40 wins: | 1 | ||
| FP Trophy wins: | 5 | ||
| Twenty20 Cup wins: | 0 | ||
| Official website: | GlosCricket | ||
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators.
The club plays most of its home games at the County Cricket Ground, Bristol. Currently, each season a number of games are played at both the Cheltenham and Gloucester cricket festivals held at the College Ground, Cheltenham and The King's School, Gloucester.
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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.
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.[2] 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.[2]
Dr Grace's club played Gloucestershire's initial first-class match versus Surrey at Durdham Down near Bristol on 2, 3 & 4 June 1870.[3] 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".[2] The Cheltenham club was wound up in March 1871 and its chief officials accepted positions in the hierarchy of Gloucestershire.[2] 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.[2]
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.[2]
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 enjoyed a run of success in one-day cricket in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They won several titles mainly under the captaincy of Mark Alleyne whilst being coached by John Bracewell.
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. 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.
Gloucestershire reached the final of the 2007 Twenty20 Cup, where they narrowly lost to Kent.
Players with international caps are listed in bold.
| No. | Name | Nat | Birth date | Batting Style | Bowling Style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||||
| 9 | Hamish Marshall | 15 February 1979 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| 87 | Kane Williamson | 8 August 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Player | |
| 28 | Ian Cockbain | 17 February 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| Michael Beard | 24 October 1992 | Left-handed | Left-arm medium | |||
| All-rounders | ||||||
| 5 | Alex Gidman | 22 June 1981 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| 23 | Will Gidman | 14 February 1985 | Left-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| 8 | Chris Taylor | 27 September 1976 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| 10 | Jack Taylor | 12 November 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
| 30 | Ed Young | 21 May 1989 | Right-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | ||
| 35 | Kevin O'Brien | 4 March 1984 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | ||
| Graeme McCarter | 10 October 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |||
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| 1 | Jonathan Batty | 18 April 1974 | Right-handed | – | ||
| 12 | Richard Coughtrie | 1 September 1988 | Right-handed | – | ||
| 15 | Chris Dent | 20 January 1991 | Left-handed | – | ||
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 800 | Muttiah Muralitharan | 17 April 1972 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas Player | |
| Craig Miles | 20 July 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |||
| David Wade | 27 September 1983 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |||
| 14 | David Payne | 15 February 1991 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | ||
| 21 | Ian Saxelby | 22 May 1989 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | ||
| 24 | Liam Norwell | 27 December 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | ||
| 26 | James Kerr Fuller | 24 January 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | ||
| 31 | Richard Dawson | 4 August 1980 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | ||
Source(s): Cricinfo , Gladiators
Among the international players who have represented Gloucestershire are:
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Most first-class runs for Gloucestershire
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Most first-class wickets for Gloucestershire
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Team totals
Batting
Best Partnership for each wicket
Bowling
One Day Cricket
| Period | Kit Supplier | Kit Sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Avec | Merchant Investors | |
| 2001–02 | GM | Merchant Investors | |
| 2003 | Surridge | Acorn Recruitement | |
| 2004–06 | Marstons Pedigree | ||
| 2007–08 | Marstons Smooth | ||
| 2009–10 | Gray Nicolls | Marstons Pedigree | |
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