The Combined Services cricket team represents the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. The team played at first-class level in

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 ...

for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England 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 ...

in 1920, while their last was against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in 1964. Combined Services have continued to play cricket thereafter, albeit at minor level. They played only six first-class matches prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but a further 57 afterwards, when the individual services had ceased to play at first-class level (apart from two matches by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

immediately after the War). Of these 63 matches, they won 7 (5 of them between 1946 and 1949), lost 34 and drew 22. In the 1950s, most young men had to do two years

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in one of the armed forces, so that Combined Services was able to field some reasonably strong sides. For example, in the 1951 match against the touring South Africans the side included

Brian Close Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...

, who had already played for

, and Jim Parks, Fred Titmus and

Alan Moss Alan Edward Moss (14 November 1930 – 12 March 2019) was an English cricketer, who played in nine Tests for England from 1954 to 1960. The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, opined, "Alan Moss was a thoughtful, enthusiastic swing bowler who, giv ...

, who would all go on to do so. In one of the later matches against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

at the

Mitchells and Butlers' Ground Edgbaston Foundation Ground, formerly Mitchells and Butlers' Ground, is a cricket ground in Birmingham, Warwickshire. The ground, near the Mitchells & Butlers brewery, was owned by Mitchells & Butlers, which had its headquarters in Birmingham. ...

in Birmingham, the county fast-medium bowler

Jack Bannister John David Bannister (23 August 1930 – 23 January 2016) was an English cricket commentator and former first-class cricketer who played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. He was, for many years, a BBC television cricket commentator and late ...

took all 10 Services wickets in an innings for 41 runs. The Combined Services team continues to play at sub-first-class level.

References

External links

Lists of matches played by Combined Services at CricketArchive
Former senior cricket clubs English club cricket teams Military cricket teams Military of the United Kingdom Military sport in the United Kingdom {{england-cricket-team-stub

See also

References

External links