Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

structure of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It represents the historic county of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. The team is currently a member of the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

Eastern Division and plays in the

MCCA Knockout Trophy The National Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the National Counties in English cricket. At first it was known as the ''English Industrial Estates Cup'', before being called the ...

. Buckinghamshire played

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

matches occasionally from 1965 until 2005 but is not classified as a List A team ''per se''. The club has its administrative headquarters at

Little Chalfont Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is one of a group of villages known collectively as The Chalfonts, which also comprises Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter. Little Chalfont is located ...

and plays its matches around the county at various locations including at Wormsley on the Getty Estate. Until 1979 it played regularly at Ascott Park, the home of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...

which was prominent in the club's foundation.

Honours

* Minor Counties Championship (9) - 1922, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1938, 1952, 1969, 1987, 2009; shared (1) - 1899 * MCCA Knockout Trophy (1) - 1990

Earliest cricket

A match in October 1730 on Datchet Heath (now known as Datchet Common), outside the village of

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually tr ...

near

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

, is the first reference to cricket in Buckinghamshire. Datchet is nowadays in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

but was historically part of Buckinghamshire. In September 1740, a team called "Buckinghamshire, Berkshire & Hertfordshire" played two matches against the famous

London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding important match status. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of i ...

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

and the

Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is an open space originally set aside for archery and later known also as a cricket venue. Today it is used for military exercises, cricket, rugby and football matches. It belongs to the Honourable Artillery Com ...

. London won the first "with great difficulty" but no post-match report was found of the second. In 1759, an All-England team that played three matches against the noted

Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...

included a wicketkeeper called Gill from Buckinghamshire. The same player almost certainly featured in another All-England team in 1772. A number of games involving Buckinghamshire teams are mentioned in newspapers of the late 18th century. Unlike neighbouring

, Buckinghamshire was never considered a first-class county.

Origin of club

The present Buckinghamshire CCC was founded on 15 January 1891 as "Bucks County Cricket Club" with the

prominent in its formation. Family member

Anthony Gustav de Rothschild Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (26 June 1887 – 5 February 1961) was a British banker and member of the Rothschild family. Biography Born in London, England, he was the third and youngest of the three sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) ...

even represented the club.

Club history

Buckinghamshire joined the Minor Counties Championship in the competition's second season, 1896. Buckinghamshire declined an invitation to join the first-class

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

in 1921 because of the lack of first-class facilities in the county. Buckinghamshire has won the Championship outright nine times (1922, 1923, 1925, 1932, 1938, 1952, 1969, 1987 and 2009) and shared the title in 1899 with

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. In 2006, they won the Eastern Division, but lost in the final to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. Buckinghamshire has won the

once since its inception in 1983, in 1990, defeating

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

in the final at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

The most successful period for the county came under the captaincy of Walter Franklin, who led them to five Championships in the 1920s and 1930s. The county first played

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

in the 1965 Gillette Cup against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. The county appeared in 32 List A matches from 1965 to 2005, winning eight and losing 24, the majority of which against first-class opponents. The county claimed a first-class scalp once, defeating

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the 1987 NatWest Trophy. Buckinghamshire lost the right to play List A cricket when the Minor counties were excluded from the

Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

from the 2006 season onward.

Notable players

:''See List of Buckinghamshire CCC List A players and :Buckinghamshire cricketers'' The following Buckinghamshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-class game: * Ben Barnett *

Hartley Alleyne Hartley Leroy Alleyne (born 28 February 1957) is a former Barbadian first-class cricketer: a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler who played for Barbados, Worcestershire, Kent and Natal between 1978–79 and 1989–90. He also played ...

Wilf Slack Wilfred Norris Slack (12 December 1954 – 15 January 1989) was an English cricketer, who played in three Test matches and two One Day Internationals for England in 1986. A left-handed opening batsman, Slack was a victim of mysterious blacko ...

Phil Newport Philip John Newport (born 11 October 1962 in High Wycombe) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played primarily as a seam and swing bowler. Newport was a stalwart of Worcestershire County Cricket Club for most of the 1980s and 19 ...

Keith Medlycott Keith Thomas Medlycott (born 12 May 1965) is an English former cricketer, a left-arm spinner and middle order batsman for Surrey and Northern Transvaal. He is known in the game as "Medders". First-class career Medlycott's career in first-class ...

Alex Hales Alexander Daniel Hales (born 3 January 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batter who currently plays for Nottinghamshire and the England cricket team in white ball, limited overs formats. He made his One Day Internatio ...

1st XI Grounds

The club have no fixed home, but play their matches at various grounds across the county. Grounds used for the 2011 season included: *Gerrards Cross Cricket Club Ground,

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and St ...

* London Road,

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

Tring Park Cricket Club Ground Tring Park Cricket Club Ground currently known as London Road is a cricket ground in Tring, Hertfordshire. Tring Park Cricket Club have played on the ground since 1874. The club's 1st XI is currently in the Home Counties Premier League. Hert ...

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

(in neighbouring

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

)

References

External links

Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club website

National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA) Official Site