Staffordshire County Cricket Club
Encyclopedia
Staffordshire 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 Staffordshire
and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy
.
The club is based at Brewood
near Cannock
and plays matches around the county at Lichfield Road in Stone
, Walsall
, Knypersley Victoria Sports Club, Longton Cricket Club, Audley
, Hem Heath Cricket Club and Leek
.
The Minor Counties play three-day matches at a level below that of the first-class
game. At present, Staffordshire competes in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship.
v Mitcham game at the Artillery Ground
on 11 August (London won by 1 wicket).
The earliest known reference to cricket being played in Staffordshire is as late as 1817.
, who played for the county from 1904 to 1934 (when he was 61), and took 1,441 wickets at an average of 8.15 runs each. Barnes did not play, though, between 1920 and 1924, a period when Staffordshire won the Championship twice when the leadingplayer was Aaron Lockett.
Staffordshire has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy
twice since its inception in 1983. It won in 1991 and 1993.
The following Staffordshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-class
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 Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
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 Brewood
Brewood
Brewood refers both to a settlement, which was once a town but is now a village, in South Staffordshire, England, and to the civil parish of which it is the centre. Located around , Brewood village lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of...
near Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
and plays matches around the county at Lichfield Road in Stone
Stone, Staffordshire
Stone is an old market town in Staffordshire, England, situated about seven miles north of Stafford, and around seven miles south of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is the second town, after Stafford itself, in the Borough of Stafford, and has long been of importance from the point of view of...
, Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, Knypersley Victoria Sports Club, Longton Cricket Club, Audley
Audley, Staffordshire
Audley is a rural village approximately four miles north west of the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is the centre of Audley Rural parish....
, Hem Heath Cricket Club and Leek
Leek, Staffordshire
Leek is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council...
.
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, Staffordshire competes in the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship.
Honours
- Minor Counties Championship (10) - 1906, 1908, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998; shared (0) -
- MCCA Knockout Trophy (2) - 1991, 1993
Earliest cricket
The Warwickshire & Staffordshire Journal in 1738 carried a report of a LondonLondon 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:...
v Mitcham game at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...
on 11 August (London won by 1 wicket).
The earliest known reference to cricket being played in Staffordshire is as late as 1817.
Origin of club
The present Staffordshire CCC was founded on 24 November 1871 and took part in the first Minor Counties Championship in 1895. It then lapsed for four years as it could not arrange sufficient fixtures, but has been a member continuously since 1900.Club history
Staffordshire has won the Minor Counties Championship 10 times, more than any other county. It won the title outright in 1906, 1908, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1998. The 1914 title was disputed as the war prevented several matches from being played, and is regarded by the MCCA as void. Staffordshire's years of great success before and after the First World War were in part due to the great bowler, Sydney BarnesSydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
, who played for the county from 1904 to 1934 (when he was 61), and took 1,441 wickets at an average of 8.15 runs each. Barnes did not play, though, between 1920 and 1924, a period when Staffordshire won the Championship twice when the leadingplayer was Aaron Lockett.
Staffordshire 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...
twice since its inception in 1983. It won in 1991 and 1993.
Famous players
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:
- Sydney BarnesSydney BarnesSydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
- Joey BenjaminJoey BenjaminJoseph Emmanuel Benjamin is a former English cricketer who played in one Test and 2 ODIs from 1994 to 1995....
- Jack IkinJack IkinJohn Thomas Ikin, known as Jack Ikin was an English cricketer, who played in eighteen Tests from 1946 to 1955...
- David Steele
- Nasim-ul-GhaniNasim-ul-GhaniNasim-ul-Ghani is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 29 Tests and one ODI from 1958 to 1973. At the time of his debut, aged 16 years, he was the world's youngest test player....
- Ernest PerryErnest Perry (cricketer)Ernest Harvey Perry was an English cricketer who played ten first-class games for Worcestershire between 1933 and 1946...
- Ken HiggsKen HiggsFor the American basketball player, see Kenny Higgs.Ken Higgs was an English fast-medium bowler, who was most successful as the opening partner to Brian Statham with Lancashire in the 1960s...
- Kim BarnettKim BarnettKim John Barnett was an English cricketer who briefly played for England in 1988 and 1989, and for Derbyshire from 1979 to 1998. He also played for Gloucestershire from 1999 to 2002, and for South African club sides...
- Dominic CorkDominic CorkDominic Gerald Cork is a former English cricketer. Cork is a right-handed lower-order batsman who bowls right-arm fast-medium, and is renowned for his swing and seam control. Making his début in first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1990, he was selected to play for England in 1992, aged 21. He...
- John SteeleJohn SteeleJohn Steele may refer to:* John Steele , American paratrooper* John Steele * John Steele , surgeon and political figure in Nova Scotia* John Steele...
- Bob Taylor
- Vincent LindoVincent LindoCleveland Vincent Lindo played first-class cricket in one match for Nottinghamshire in 1960 and in another single match for Somerset in 1963. He was born at Bigwoods, St Elizabeth, Jamaica....
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. SwantonE. W. SwantonErnest William Swanton CBE is chiefly known for being a cricket writer and commentator under his initials, E. W. Swanton. He worked as a sports journalist for The Daily Telegraph and as a broadcaster for BBC Radio for 30 years. He was a regular commentator on Test Match Special, easily recognised...
(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