Colin Herbert Dredge (born 4 August 1954) is an English former

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who played for

Somerset County Cricket Club Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. Founded in 1875, Somerset was initially regarded as a minor ...

. He was known as the "Demon of Frome", a nickname coined by journalist, Alan Gibson. Colin Dredge made his debut for Somerset on 16 June 1976 against Worcester and was awarded his Somerset Cap in 1978. He made useful contributions as a regular for the County side until 1986. He played 194 first-class matches and 209 one-day matches, including 4 one-day finals, winning the

Benson & Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...

in 1981 and 1982 and the Nat West Trophy in 1983. Dredge was not selected for the final of the Gillette Cup in 1979, but played the following day in the crucial win over Nottinghamshire which clinched the John Player League . For much of his career he was overshadowed by Test bowlers

Joel Garner Joel Garner (born 16 December 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early 1980s West Indies cricket teams. Garner is the highest ranked One Day International bowler according to the ICC bes ...

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as one ...

and

Vic Marks Victor James Marks (born 25 June 1955) is an English sports journalist and former professional cricketer. An off spin bowler, Marks played in six Test matches and thirty four One Day Internationals for England. His entire county cricket car ...

, but he did win one man-of -the-match award by taking 4-23 against Kent in the 1978 Gillette Cup quarter-final. In 3-day matches he took over 50 wickets in a season 4 times, including 63 in 1980 when he took 5 wickets in an innings on 5 occasions. Batting as a tailender, he made 4 scores over 50 and he took 84 catches. Dredge was involved in the extremely close finish to the John Player League in 1976 when he was run out on the final delivery of the last match of the season, going for the run that would have won Somerset a first major trophy.Luck and a helicopter
/ref> Dredge had seven brothers, all of whom played for Frome. He still lives in the town, working in Westbury for Network Rail.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dredge, Colin (Cricketer) 1954 births People from Frome English cricketers Somerset cricketers Living people