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Somerset County Cricket Club is a county cricket club with headquarters at the County Cricket Ground, Taunton. First-class games are also played at Bath. Former grounds include Weston-super-Mare, Frome, Glastonbury, Wells and the Imperial Tobacco ground in south Bristol.

Pre First World War

Somerset were the first of the "new" counties to have enough fixtures against the established county teams to be considered as part of the County Championship, joining in 1891. In their second season, 1892, they finished third, but it was to be 66 years before they finished as high again. Bottom of the table a record 12 times (plus one shared wooden spoon), they enjoyed over many decades a reputation for cheerful inconsistency. Until the Second World War, the team regularly comprised a number of more or less talented amateurs and just a handful of professionals.

Famous names from the pre-First World War period included the England players Sammy Woods, Lionel Palairet and Len Braund, and the fast bowler Tom Richardson also played for the county after his retirement from Surrey.

Between the Wars

Between the wars, the west Somerset farmer Jack White played for England as an off-spinning all-rounder with some success; lesser international careers were enjoyed by the hard-hitting batsman Harold Gimblett, whose entry into first-class cricket was the stuff of legends, and by Arthur Wellard, fast bowler and a mighty smiter of sixes. The briefest Test match career of them all was "enjoyed" by Jack MacBryan, whose only game for England was the rain-ruined match against the South Africans in 1924, in which he neither batted nor fielded.

Post Second World War

In postwar cricket, the happy-go-lucky Somerset attitude was no longer sustainable, and the side finished bottom of the Championship for four consecutive seasons from 1952. With the strong possibility of going out of business, drastic change was inevitable. Somerset recruited heavily from other countries, taking Colin McCool and Bill Alley from Australia, and from other counties. In 1958, the side again finished third, and this was repeated in 1963 and 1966. In the mid sixties the team was captained by Colin Atkinson, who would later become headmaster at the nearby Millfield school.

Though four-day success continued to elude the county, Somerset finally found the makings of a successful one-day team under the combative, inspirational captaincy of Yorkshireman Brian Close. A trio of world class stars, Viv Richards, Joel 'Big Bird' Garner and England's finest all-rounder since the war Ian Botham made the team, for the first time in its long history, a formidable trophy winning proposition.

Under the captaincy of left handed opener Brian Rose, Somerset won their first ever silverware, taking the Gillette Cup and the Sunday League in 1979. The same captain won the renamed NatWest Trophy in 1983 although his reputation was somewhat tarnished by a controversial declaration in a one day Benson and Hedges zonal match against Worcestershire the following year to ensure qualification by run rate for the quarter final.

New captain Peter Roebuck caused huge controversy in the county when New Zealander Martin Crowe was preferred as overseas pro. Viv Richards and Joel Garner were sacked, despite proving themselves two of the most successful overseas players of modern times, and Ian Botham resigned in protest and moved to Worcestershire.

Today

Success has been elusive in recent years, although New Zealand born Andy Caddick and opener Marcus Trescothick have proved major pillars of the England Test team and overseas stars such as Jamie Cox have given sterling service for the club, resulting in their appearance in the NatWest Trophy in 1999 and the C & G Trophy final in 2001 and 2002, winning in 2001 over Leicestershire.

Under the guidance of Director of Cricket Brian Rose, the team have adopted a youth policy, which Rose accepts will lead to a succession of good and bad results in the short term. To balance the youth policy, in the last two seasons the club have been led by high profile overseas stars Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith to enable coaching of the young group of players. In July 2005, as perhaps a portent of better times to come, the county was the surprise winner of the third Twenty20 Cup, beating Lancashire in the final at The Oval.

The start to the 2006 season has predictably been up and down in results, but in June 2006 Rose announced the signing for six weeks of the Australian cricket team opening batsman Justin Langer, while countryman Dan Cullen is on duty with Australia A http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/somerset/5053154.stm

Centre of Excellence

In line with the clubs youth policy, the club has a well developed Centre of Excellence. The Centre of Excellence is a premier indoor facility in the South West and amongst the best in the region. The Centre offers coaching for both the County side, the youth team as well as cricket and sports training for all located in the region. Developed under the England and Wales Cricket Boards principles and in conjunction with Sport England, its purpose is to spot and develop cricketing talent and improve overall sports fitness in the region

Current Squad

Name Stats Bat/Bowl Notes
DoB Country Born
Gareth Andrew 27 December 1983 Yeovil LHB RMF
Ian Blackwell 10 June 1978 Chesterfield LHB SLA Captain. Side lined for 3months through injury
Andrew Caddick 21 November 1968 Christchurch RHB RFM
Dan Cullen 10 April 1984 Adelaide RHB OB Overseas selection. To be replaced by Justin Langer for six weeks while on Australia A tour
Wes Durston 6 October 1980 Taunton RHB OB
Neil Edwards 27 December 1983 Truro LHB
John Francis 13 November 1980 Bromley LHB SLA
Simon Francis 15 August 1978 Bromley RHB RMF
Carl Gazzard 15 April 1982 Penzance RHB WK Wicket Keeper
James Hildreth 9 September 1984 Milton Keynes RHB RFM
Richard Johnson 29 December 1974 Chertsey RHB RFM
Justin Langer 21 November 1970 Perth LHB Overseas selection. To be replace Dan Cullen for six weeks while on Australia A tour
Michael Munday 22 October 1984 Nottingham RHB LB
Keith Parsons 2 May 1973 Taunton RHB RM
Michael Parsons 27 November 1984 Taunton RHB RMF
Sam Spurway 12 March 1987 Taunton LHB WK Reserve Wicket Keeper who plays for ECB Under18's
Arul Suppiah 30 August 1983 Kuala Lumpur RHB SLA
Richard Timms 9 September 1984 Bristol RHB RFM
Peter Trego 12 June 1981 Weston-super-Mare RHB RM Left club 2002, joined Kent CCC for two seasons, and Middlesex CCC from 2005. Rejoined for 2006 season
Marcus Trescothick 25 December 1975 Keynsham LHB RMF England centrally contracted
Cameron White 18 August 1983 Bairnsdale RHB LB Overseas selection. Temporary Captain while Ian Blackwell injured
Charl Willoughby 3 December 1974 Cape Town LHB LFM
Matthew Wood 30 September 1980 Exeter RHB OB Vice Captain
Robert Woodman 12 October 1986 Taunton LHB LMF

Famous Players

Officers & Management

Officers

  • President: RC Kerslake
  • Chairman: GC Clarke
  • Deputy Chairman: AJ Nash
  • Vice Chairman: DJL Gabbitass
  • Honorary Treasurer: RA O'Donnell
  • Chief Executive: RA Gould
  • Cricket Chairman: Vic Marks

Committee

  • B Daw, C Dickens, GJ Hepworth, R Parsons, M Powell, RL Roe, MCG Slade,
  • Co-opted: VJ Marks (Cricket), N Engert (Planning & Legal)

Cricket Management

Area Committees

  • Bath & Wiltshire
  • Bridgwater & West Somerset
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • Mid Somerset
  • North Somerset & Bristol
  • South Somerset & Dorset
  • Taunton
  • Weston-Super-Mare

Honoarary Life Members

PW Anderson, IT Botham, DB Close, Mrs M Elworthy, AC Emery, J Garner, R Harris, E Hill, MF Hill, AK James, JM Jeffrey, L Jones, RC Kerslake, MJ Kitchen, BA Langford, EH Lawrence, PC Ondaatje, KE Palmer, R Parsons, D Price, HA Rainey, IVA Richards, R Robinson, BC Rose, DR Shepherd, GA Stedall, HW Stephenson, AH Stringer, C Tate, C Twort, RP Wickham, PB Wight, KAW Wills

First Class Records

Team

  • Highest Total For: 705-9d v Hampshire at Taunton, 2003
  • Highest Total Against: 811 by Surrey at The Oval, 1899
  • Lowest Total For: 25 v Gloucestershire at Bristol, 1947
  • Lowest Total Against: 22 by Gloucestershire at Bristol, 1920

Batting

Highest Score: 322 IVA Richards v Warwickshire, Taunton 1985

Most Runs in Season: 2761 W.E.Alley, 1961

Most Runs in Career: 21,142 H.Gimblett, 1935-54

Best Partnership for each wicket

Bowling

Best Bowling: 10-49 E.J. Tyler v Surrey at Taunton, 1895

Best Match Bowling: 16-83 J.C. White v Worcestershire at Bath, 1919

Wickets in Season: 169, A.W.Wellard, 1938

Wickets in Career: 2,166, J.C. White, 1909-37

Somerset CCC Honours

  • County Champions:
  • One Day League Champions: 1979
  • Gillette Cup/NatWest Trophy/C&G Trophy: 1979, 1983, 2001
  • Twenty20 Cup: 2005
  • Benson & Hedges Cup: 1981, 1982

See also

References

External Links

Sport in Somerset | English first class cricket teams | Somerset cricketers | Somerset cricket captains

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Somerset County Cricket Club".

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