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THE FOUNDING OF GCCC
WG Grace’s father, Dr Henry Mills Grace was responsible for the early days of GCCC when he founded Mangotsfield Cricket club. This later amalgamated with Coalpit Heath CC to become West Gloucestershire CC. He eventually achieved his ambition on 2nd June 1870 when Gloucestershire CCC played their first County match against Surrey on Durdham Downs. WG played and led Gloucestershire to victory by 51 runs.
In 1884 Henry Mills Grace launched a proposal to lease some land in Eastville for a County Ground. The land is now home to Ikea and Tesco stores and previously Bristol Rovers FC. These plans were dropped in 1887.
In 1888 negotiations began to purchase some land at Ashley Down and a year later the Ground became home to GCCC. The first game at the Nevil Road ground was on 1st July 1889 against Lancashire. In the same year the County established their Club’s colours of Fawn, Brown, Pale Grey, Dark Green, Red and Navy Blue.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE RECORDS 1870 – 2020
HONOURS
County Championship
Gloucestershire have not won the Championship since it became official in 1890, their best position being second in 1930, 1931, 1947, 1959, 1969 and 1986.
Prior to 1890, it is generally accepted that Gloucestershire were Champion County in 1873 (shared with Nottinghamshire), 1874, 1876 and 1877.
Gloucestershire were promoted to Division One of the County Championship in 2019.
Knock-out Trophies
Winners of the Gillette Cup in 1973, the NatWest Trophy in 1999 and 2000, and the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy in 2003 and 2004.
Benson & Hedges Cup
Winners of the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1977 and 2000, and the Benson & Hedges Super Cup in 1999. Runners-up in 2001.
Sunday League
Champions in 2000, winners of Division II in 2002 and 2006 and winners of the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2015.
Twenty20 Cup
Runners-up in 2007, Quarter-Finalists in 2016, 2018 & 2019, Semi-Finalists in 2020.
Second XI Championship
Champions in 1959
Second XI Trophy
Runners-up in 1995 and 1997
GLOUCESTERSHIRE CAPTAINS SINCE 1990
M W D L TW TL NT
C A Walsh 1990,92-94,96 41 12 12 17 15 26 -
R C Russell 1993-96,2000,02 24 10 8 6 14 10 -
M W Alleyne 1994-2004 115 37 38 40 52 63 -
T H C Hancock 2000 2 - 1 1 - 2 -
C M Spearman 2002-03,05,09 12 4 7 1 6 6 -
C G Taylor 2004-05 25 4 13 8 10 15 -
J Lewis 2005-08 29 4 17 8 16 13 -
A P R Gidman 2005-14 91 26 27 38 49 42 -
K S Williamson 2011 1 - 1 - 1 0 -
H J H Marshall 2012-14 4 - 2 2 2 2 -
M Klinger 2013-14,16 28 6 12 10 13 14 1
G O Jones 2015 10 3 2 5 4 6 -
I A Cockbain 2015 2 2 - - 1 1 -
W A Tavare 2015 5 1 4 - 2 3 -
G H Roderick 2016-17 16 4 9 3 3 4 9
P Mustard 2017 14 3 7 4 2 3 9
C D J Dent 2018 to date 30 10 13 7 5 4 21
GLOUCESTERSHIRE 1870 - 2019
LIST OF CENTURIES
113 W.R.Hammond 22 P.Bainbridge, H.J.H.Marshall
53 A.E.Dipper 20 M.W.Alleyne, A.W.Stovold, C.G.Taylor
52 C.A.Milton 19 C.M.Spearman, C.L.Townsend
50 W.G.Grace, T.W.Graveney 18 R.B.Nicholls, A.J.Wright, C.D.J.Dent
49 Zaheer Abbas 16 K.M.Curran, C.C.R.Dacre, R.A.Sinfield, M.G.N.Windows
40 D.M.Young 15 B.H.Lyon
38 C.J.Barnett 14 B.O.Allen, W.L.Neale
36 J.F.Crapp, G.L.Jessop 13 -
34 G.M.Emmett 12 P.W.Romaines, D.R.Shepherd
32 M.J.Procter 11 B.C.Broad, M.Klinger, R.D.V.Knight
28 C.W.J.Athey 10 H.Smith
25 Sadiq Mohammad 9 G.D.Hodgson
24 A.P.R.Gidman
8 K.J.Barnett, J.H.Board, R.C.Russell, C.O.H.Sewell, H.Wrathall
7 D.M.Green, T.H.C.Hancock, I.J.Harvey, A.J.Hignell, A.Symonds, W.Troup, W.P.C.Weston, A.E.Wilson, J.M.R.Taylor
6 Kadeer Ali, T.Langdon, W.A.Tavare, G.H.Roderick
5 J.Cranston, J.C.Foat, W.R.S.Gidman, J.W.Lloyds, M.A.Lynch, J.R.Painter, J.N.Rhodes, F.B.Roberts, F.J.Seabrook
4 F.H.B.Champain, I.A.Cockbain, J.E.C.Franklin, G.F.Grace, M.A.Hardinges, J.B.Mortimore, M.J.North,
G.W.Parker, O.G.Radcliffe
3 S.J.Adshead, A.S.Brown, R.J.Cunliffe, R.I.Dawson, E.M.Grace, D.G.Hawkins, W.O.Moberly, J.N.Snape,
F.E.Thomas, K.S.Williamson
2 Sir D.T.L.Bailey, C.S.Barnett, M.Bissex, J.H.Brain, W.S.A.Brown, I.P.Butcher, D.A.Graveney, W.H.Hale,
D.R.Hewson, G.P.Hodnett, B.A.C.Howell, W.E.Midwinter, W.T.S.Porterfield, R.W.Rice, F.G.Robinson,
W.H.Rowlands, S.E.J.Russell, R.J.Scott, J.N.Shepherd, F.Townsend, G.L.van Buuren, S.Young
1 D.A.Allen, C.T.Bancroft, B.S.Bloodworth, J.R.Bracey, D.W.J.Brown, L.D.Brownlee, B.F.Clarke, N.H.C.Cooper,
E.J.M.Cowan, B.F.Davison, B.Dudleston, J.J.Ferris, I.D.Fisher, T.H.Fowler, W.R.Gilbert, G.T.Hankins, C.L.Herring,
D.M.Housego, G.E.E.Lambert, T.G.Matthews, C.I.Monks, D.N.Moore, P.Mustard, J.W.W.Nason, L.C.Norwell,
D.A.C.Page, H.V.Page, C.T.M.Pugh, G.Pullar, W.W.F.Pullen, D.C.Robinson, M.G.Salter, R.R.Sarwan, R.J.Sillence,
S.D.Snell, E.L.Thomas, K.P.Tomlins, N.J.Trainor, R.C.White
A total of 1353 hundreds have been scored for Gloucestershire
GLOUCESTERSHIRE CAPTAINS - 1870 - 2019
1870-1899 W.G.Grace 1963-1964 J.K.R.Graveney
1899 W.Troup 1965-1967 J.B.Mortimore
1900-1912 G.L.Jessop 1968 C.A.Milton
1913-1914 C.O.H.Sewell 1969-1976 A.S.Brown
1919-1922 F.G.Robinson 1977-1981 M.J.Procter
1923 P.F.C.Williams 1982-1988 D.A.Graveney
1924-1926 D.C.Robinson 1989 C.W.J.Athey
1927-1928 W.H.Rowlands 1990-1993 A.J.Wright
1929-1934 B.H.Lyon 1994 C.A.Walsh
1935-1936 D.A.C.Page 1995 R.C.Russell
1937-1938 B.O.Allen 1996 C.A.Walsh
1939-1946 W.R.Hammond 1997-2003 M.W.Alleyne
1947-1950 B.O.Allen 2004-2005 C.G.Taylor
1951-1952 Sir D.T.L.Bailey 2006-2008 J.Lewis
1953-1954 J.F.Crapp 2009-2012 A.P.R.Gidman
1955-1958 G.M.Emmett 2013-2014 M.Klinger
1959-1960 T.W.Graveney 2015 G.O.Jones
1961-1962 C.T.M.Pugh 2016-2017 G.H.Roderick – 2017 P Mustard
2018 to date C.D.J Dent
MOST APPEARANCES FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE
602 C.W.L.Parker 1903-1935 406 B.J.Meyer 1957-1971
594 J.B.Mortimore 1950-1975 405 W.R.Hammond 1920-1951
585 C.A.Milton 1948-1974 393 H.Smith 1912-1935
558 T.W.J.Goddard 1922-1952 388 E.G.Dennett 1903-1926
534 R.B.Nicholls 1951-1975 379 D.A.Graveney 1972-1990
498 C.Cook 1946-1964 375 R.C.Russell 1981-2004
489 A.S.Brown 1953-1976 360 W.G.Grace 1870-1899
478 A.E.Dipper 1908-1932 357 D.R.Smith 1956-1970
454 G.M.Emmett 1936-1959 349 D.A.Allen 1953-1972
452 W.L.Neale 1923-1948 346 P.T.Mills 1902-1929
435 D.M.Young 1949-1964 346 A.W.Stovold 1973-1990
430 J.H.Board 1891-1914 345 G.L.Jessop 1894-1914
424 C.J.Barnett 1927-1948 334 G.E.E.Lambert 1938-1957
423 R.A.Sinfield 1924-1939 318 A.E.Wilson 1936-1955
422 J.F.Crapp 1936-1956 314 M.W.Alleyne 1986-2005
W G GRACE
He was born in Downend, Bristol on 18th July 1848. The son of Dr Henry Mills Grace and his wife Martha, William Gilbert Grace was one of 8 children. Dr Henry Mills Grace was an avid cricketer and taught WG and his 3 brothers how to play.
The family later moved to Downend House because there was a large garden and plenty of room for Henry Mills Grace to lay a cricket pitch at the rear of the house. The house can no longer be seen as a supermarket has since been built on the land.
WG Grace not only played cricket but also golf and curling. He was also a good shot and a skilful fisherman. His athleticism was proven when two days after scoring 224 not out for England v Surrey in 1886, he won a race at the national and Olympian Association meeting at the Crystal Palace.
WG Grace was a keen team player and he once took a taxi from Lord’s, where Gloucestershire were playing to the Oval to fetch Mr Midwinter to play for Gloucestershire after playing for Australia on the same day.
WG Grace played in the first ever Cheltenham Festival match where he took 12 wickets and helped to beat Surrey by an innings.
Cheltenham Cricket Festival
Cheltenham Cricket Festival is the longest running Cricket Festival on an out ground (Festival Ground) in the world. It was started by James Lillywhite in 1872 with the first match being played against Surrey and was won by Gloucestershire. No other Cricket Festival in the world has been played on the same ground for that length of time and no other cricket festival in the world lasts for twelve days or more.
In 1872 an invitation came for the team to play at Cheltenham College. The match was organised by Lillywhite, who at the time was the cricket administrator and coach at the college. He was originally from Sussex and had come to Cheltenham College in 1855 at the age of 30. He lived with his family in Montpellier, in a building immediately opposite Le Petit Blanc Brasserie. The family occupied the upper floors of the building and on the ground floor, Lillywhite ran a sports shop. He also founded “Cricketers Companion”, a rival to Wisden.
It was originally customary for a band to play at all matches at both Clifton and Cheltenham College Grounds, although in 1874 a motion was put to the committee for this to be discontinued but was defeated by one vote and the band continued to attend and play.
In 1873 Lillywhite was allowed £10 to manage another County Game at the College Ground and, in 1874, he was paid £45 and £35 for expenses. By 1878 the annual Cheltenham game had proved so popular the College Council gave its permission for the occasion to be extended to two matches, and so the “Cheltenham Week” had arrived. Lillywhite was consequently paid £120 for the organisational duties, including his local expenses.
In 1878 the committee obtained tenders “for putting canvas around the College Ground”, and fringe events also took place. These included a banquet in honour of WG and his team at The Plough Hotel.
In 1879 the County Committee suggested that all five Gloucestershire home matches were to be played in Bristol but the majority voted against this motion and the Festival continued.
James Lillywhite sadly died in 1882 but his son-in-law, Edwin Lawrence, took over the Festival organisation and successfully continued in his footsteps. The following year the entire proceeds from the Festival were handed to James’ widow in recognition of the esteem in which her late husband was held during the early years at Cheltenham.
In the late 1800’s the committee took over the organisation of the festival and Edwin Lawrence was made an honorary life member of the Club. In 1888 three matches were organised to be held at Cheltenham, but one of the games was played at Charlton Park, not at the College.
In 1898 WG played his last Festival matches at the age of 50 and scored his last century for Gloucestershire at the College Ground.
The Cheltenham Cricket Festival continues to be held each year at the Cheltenham College Ground, amongst the magnificent college surroundings.
