Officers Club Services Ground

The Officers Club Services Ground is a cricket ground in Fleet Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, England. Aldershot had been a small village until 1853, but was transformed following the purchase of 25,000 acres of land by the War Office for military training.^[1] Over the following two decades Aldershot was transformed into a garrison town, by 1874 a number of cricket grounds, including the Officers Club Services Ground, had been constructed for use by the various regiments garrisoned there.^[1]

History

The first recorded match to have been played there was in 1861 between the Knickerbockers and I Zingari. Over the coming decade the ground was used by the Aldershot Division in matches primarily against I Zingari and the Marylebone Cricket Club, though not exclusively as some matches were against other parts of the armed forces.^[2] A pavilion was built in 1887.^[1] Hampshire first played first-class cricket there in the 1905 County Championship against Surrey,^[3] with Hampshire losing this match by 7 wickets.^[4] Hampshire used the ground twice more as a venue before World War I, playing Surrey in 1906 and Somerset in 1910. This season also saw its first-class use by an armed services team, when a combined Army and Navy team played a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities team, which marked the final first-class match played there before World War I.^[3] First-class cricket did not return immediately after the war, the first major match of note came in May 1932 when the Army played the touring Indians in a two day non first-class match, which was abandoned without a ball bowled.^[2][5] Later that year in June, first-class cricket returned to the ground when the Army played the touring South Americans, which the Army won by 5 wickets.^[6]

The following season the Army played another first-class match against the touring West Indians, which ended in a draw. Of note was the Army's opening partnership of 286 in their first-innings between Reginald Hudson and Cyril Hamilton.^[7] This was the final first-class match held there before World War II,^[3] despite visits from the touring Australians in 1934 and 1938, and from the West Indians in 1939, none of which were rated first-class.^[2] A new pavilion was constructed to replace the original in 1936 and was opened by General Sir John Francis Gathorne-Hardy.^[1]

Minor matches between various armed services teams and the Oxford University Authentics were played during the war. Following the end of the war, Hampshire returned to playing first-class cricket at the ground,^[3] playing two matches in 1948 against Cambridge University, which was drawn,^[8] and the Combined Services, which Hampshire won by an innings and 60 runs.^[9] These matches were the last first-class matches Hampshire would play there. First-class cricket wouldn't return until 1964, when the final first-class held there was played between the Combined Services and Oxford University.^[3] Both the Army and the Combined Services continued to play at the ground aftet this, doing so to this day.^[2] More recently, a Women's Twenty20 International was played there in 2011 between India Women and New Zealand Women,^[10] which India Women won by 3 wickets.^[11]

Records

First-class

• Highest team total: 482 by Surrey v Hampshire, 1905^[4]
• Lowest team total: 99 by Combined Services v Hampshire, 1948^[12]
• Highest individual innings: 181 by Reginald Hudson for Army v West Indians, 1933^[13]
• Best bowling in an innings: 7-45 by Charlie Llewellyn for Hampshire v Somerset, 1910^[14]
• Best bowling in a match: 13-106 by Charlie Llewellyn, as above^[15]

See also

• List of Hampshire County Cricket Club grounds
• List of cricket grounds in England and Wales

References

External links

• Officers Club Services Ground at CricketArchive
• Officers Club Services Ground at ESPNcricinfo

Coordinates: 51°15′37″N 0°46′17″W / 51.2603°N 0.7713°W / 51.2603; -0.7713