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Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset. Its limited overs team is called the Somerset Sabres. The club has its 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.
Earliest cricket
The earliest confirmed reference to cricket in Somerset is a match on 13 July 1751 that was played in memory of the late Frederick, Prince of Wales who was a noted patron of the sport. Origin of clubThe formation of Somerset CCC was on 18 August 1875 by a team of amateurs at a meeting in Sidmouth, Devonshire immediately after a match against a local side. Somerset CCC played its initial first-class match versus Lancashire CCC at Old Trafford on 8, 9 & 10 June 1882 and joined the (then unofficial) County Championship, but for only four seasons initially.
Pre First World WarImage:Somerset1892 RedLillywhite1893.jpg Somerset CCC 1892 Somerset was the first of the "new" counties to have enough fixtures against the established county teams to be considered as part of the County Championship. 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 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 WarsBetween 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 WarIn 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 County Championship 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 players, Viv Richards, Joel 'Big Bird' Garner and the England all-rounder Ian Botham made the team which, for the first time in its long history, became 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 although his reputation was somewhat tarnished by a controversial declaration in a one day Benson and Hedges zonal match against Worcestershire the same year to ensure qualification by strike rate for the quarter final. The same captain won the renamed NatWest Trophy in 1983. 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. TodaySuccess 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. In 2001, the team finished second in the first division of the County Championship, its highest-ever placing. But true to its contrary traditions, the county was relegated to the second division at the end of the following season and has not challenged for promotion since. Under the guidance of Director of Cricket Brian Rose, the team has 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, for two seasons the club was 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 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 was on duty with Australia A. [1] Langer responded by hitting the highest score in the county's first-class history, but without him the team struggled in both short and long versions of the game, failed to repeat the Twenty20 success and languished at or near the bottom of both County Championship and Pro40 second division tables. In 2007 Langer, having returned to the team, was named captain. Cameron White is the other overseas player. 2007 SquadFamous Players
Officers & ManagementOfficers
Committee
Cricket Management
Area Committees
Honorary Life MembersPW Anderson, IT Botham, DB Close, Mrs M Elworthy, AC Emery, J Garner, R Harris, Eric Hill (former opening batsman), MF Hill, AK James, JM Jeffrey, L Jones, Roy Kerslake (former captain), Mervyn Kitchen (former opening batsman and Test umpire), Brian Langford (former off-spinner), EH Lawrence, PC Ondaatje, KE Palmer, R Parsons, D Price, HA Rainey, IVA Richards, R Robinson, BC Rose, DR Shepherd, GA Stedall, Harold Stephenson (former wicketkeeper and captain), AH Stringer, C Tate, C Twort, RP Wickham, Peter Wight (former batsman and first-class umpire), KAW Wills Honours
Second XI honours
First Class RecordsTeam
Batting
Best Partnership for each wicket
Bowling
Other RecordsClick here to access the Cricket Archive Somerset First-Class Records. Centre of Cricketing ExcellenceIn line with the club's youth policy, the club has a well developed Centre of Excellence. The Centre of Excellence is an indoor facility and is amongst the best in the South West. 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 Board's principles and in conjunction with Sport England, its purpose is to spot and develop cricketing talent and improve overall sports fitness in the region. See also
References
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