London County Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
. In 1898 they invited WG Grace to help them form a 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...
cricket club. Grace accepted the offer and became the club's secretary, manager and captain. As a result, he severed his connection with Gloucestershire CCC during the 1899 season
1899 English cricket season
In the 1899 English cricket season, Surrey won the County Championship for the first time in four years, and the title turned out to be their last until 1914. Surrey's season was dominated by draws, with fourteen out of 26 games drawn, just like the season in general - especially the Australian...
. The club played first-class matches between 1900 and 1904.
The club's home ground was Crystal Palace Park in south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Some of the leading players of the time played matches for the club while continuing to play for their usual teams, among them CB Fry, JWHT Douglas, Albert Trott
Albert Trott
Albert Trott was a Test cricketer for both Australia and England. He was named as one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899. He remains the only batsman who has struck a ball over the top of the Lord's pavilion...
and Ranjitsinhji. The increase in the importance of the County Championship, Grace's own inevitable decline in form and the lack of a competitive element in the matches led to a decline in attendances and consequently meant the team lost money. The final first class matches were played in 1904 and the enterprise folded in 1908.
In 2004 the club was relaunched by former Essex, Somerset and Leicestershire wicket keeper / batsman Neil Burns
Neil Burns
Neil David Burns is a former English cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper/batsman for various clubs but spent the majority of his career at Leicestershire and Somerset...
as a mentoring organisation for the development and support of cricketers.
See also
- Brian Pearce, Cricket at the Crystal Palace: W.G. Grace and the London County Cricket Club, Crystal Palace Foundation, 2004, ISBN 978-1-897754-09-2