Hertfordshire County Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
Hertfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county
clubs which make up the Minor Counties
in the English
domestic cricket
structure, representing the historic county of Hertfordshire
and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy
.
The club is based at Balls Park
, Hertford
and also plays matches around the county at Cricket Field Lane
in Bishop's Stortford
, Long Marston
, Brunton Memorial Ground
in Radlett
and North Mymms
.
The Minor Counties play three-day matches at a level below that of the first-class
game. At present, Hertfordshire competes in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship.
as a county team. On Thursday 6 July 1732, a team called Essex & Hertfordshire played London Cricket Club
at Epping Forest
"for £50 a side". The result is unknown.
Hertfordshire was never considered a first-class county but its teams did appear frequently throughout the 18th century and played against some teams that were normally considered first-class, so there must have been times when the status of a Hertfordshire match was "borderline".
Hertfordshire has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy
once since its inception in 1983. It won in 1984.
game:
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
clubs which make up the Minor Counties
Minor counties of English cricket
The Minor Counties are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that are not afforded first-class status. The game is administered by the Minor Counties Cricket Association which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
domestic cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
structure, representing the historic county of Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy
MCCA Knockout Trophy
The Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the Minor Counties in English cricket...
.
The club is based at Balls Park
Balls Park
Balls Park is a cricket ground in Hertford, Hertfordshire. The ground is located in the grounds of the Balls Park estate. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1865 between Hertford and a United South of England Eleven. In 1901, the ground hosted its first Minor Counties Championship...
, Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
and also plays matches around the county at Cricket Field Lane
Cricket Field Lane
Cricket Field Lane is a cricket ground in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The earliest recorded match on the ground was in 1862 between Bishop's Stortford and an All-England Eleven. In 1895 Hertfordshire played their first Minor Counties Championship match on the ground, which came against...
in Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford
Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire in England. It is situated just west of the M11 motorway, on the county boundary with Essex and is the closest large town to London Stansted Airport and part of the...
, Long Marston
Long Marston, Hertfordshire
Long Marston is a small village to the north of Tring in Hertfordshire, in the Tring Rural parish council area. It is located roughly 5 miles east of Aylesbury and 11 miles north-west of Hemel Hempstead....
, Brunton Memorial Ground
Brunton Memorial Ground
Brunton Memorial Ground is a cricket ground in Radlett, Hertfordshire. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1975 between Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire which was the first Minor Counties Championship match on the ground...
in Radlett
Radlett
Radlett is a small town in the county of Hertfordshire between St Albans and Borehamwood on Watling Street with a population of approximately 8,000. It is located in the council district of Hertsmere and is covered by two wards, Aldenham East and Aldenham West...
and North Mymms
North Mymms
North Mymms is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire.The village itself has suffered from enclosure. North Mimms Park and Brookmans Park enclose large areas of the parish. Even the parish church stands in the park of North Mimms; in it is a chapel, the burialplace of the Coningsbys...
.
The Minor Counties play three-day matches at a level below that of the first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
game. At present, Hertfordshire competes in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship.
Honours
- Minor Counties Championship (4) - 1936, 1975, 1983, 1990; shared (0) -
- MCCA Knockout Trophy (1) - 1984
Earliest cricket
Cricket must have reached Hertfordshire by the end of the 17th century. The earliest reference to cricket in the county is dated 1732 and is also the earliest reference to EssexEssex county cricket teams
Essex county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. It is almost certain that cricket reached Essex by the 16th century and that it developed during the 17th century with inter-parish matches being...
as a county team. On Thursday 6 July 1732, a team called Essex & Hertfordshire played London Cricket Club
London Cricket Club
The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...
at Epping Forest
Epping Forest
Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. It is a former royal forest, and is managed by the City of London Corporation....
"for £50 a side". The result is unknown.
Hertfordshire was never considered a first-class county but its teams did appear frequently throughout the 18th century and played against some teams that were normally considered first-class, so there must have been times when the status of a Hertfordshire match was "borderline".
Origin of club
There were a number of county organisations in the 18th century and one in 1838. The present Hertfordshire CCC was founded on 8 March 1876. It joined the Minor Counties Championship for the very first season, 1895, and is the only one of the seven competing sides from that season to have maintained membership continuously ever since.Club history
Hertfordshire has won the Minor Counties Championship four times, in 1936, 1975, 1983 and 1990.Hertfordshire has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy
MCCA Knockout Trophy
The Minor Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the Minor Counties in English cricket...
once since its inception in 1983. It won in 1984.
Famous players
The following Hertfordshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
game:
- Jack MeyerJack Meyer (educator and cricketer)Rollo John Oliver Meyer , known generally as 'Jack', and at Millfield mainly as 'Boss', was an English educationalist who founded Millfield School and Millfield Preparatory School in Somerset; he was also an all-round sportsman who played cricket at first-class level in both England and in India...
, later Millfield School headmaster and captain of Somerset CCC - John Carr, sometime Middlesex player and son of Donald CarrDonald CarrDonald Bryce Carr is a former English cricketer who played for Derbyshire from 1946 to 1967, for Oxford University from 1948 to 1951, and twice for England in 1951/52. He captained Derbyshire between 1955 and 1962, and scored over 10,000 runs for the county...
- Jonathan Fellows-SmithJonathan Fellows-SmithJonathan Payn Fellows-Smith is a former South African cricketer who played in four Tests in 1960.Fellows-Smith, nicknamed "Pom Pom", was an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a useful right-arm medium pace bowler who played the bulk of his cricket in England...
, South African Test cricketer - Ian MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of KnebworthIan MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of KnebworthIan Charter MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth DL, is a British businessman who has been Chairman of Vodafone and Chairman and Chief Executive of Tesco. He is a former Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board and a former Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire.Ian MacLaurin was...
, businessman and head of the England and Wales Cricket BoardEngland and Wales Cricket BoardThe England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...
External sources
Further reading
- Rowland BowenRowland BowenMajor Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....
, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 - G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
- E W Swanton (editor), Barclays World of Cricket, Guild, 1986
- Playfair Cricket AnnualPlayfair Cricket AnnualPlayfair Cricket Annual is a compact annual about cricket that is published in the United Kingdom each April, just before the English cricket season is due to begin. Its main purposes are to review the previous English season and to provide detailed career records and potted biographies of current...
– various editions - Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions