Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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 str ...

structure of England and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It represents the historic county of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

including the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures th ...

. The original Cambridgeshire club, established in 1844, is classified as a first-class team from 1857 to 1871. The present club, founded in 1891, has always had minor status although it has played List A matches occasionally from 1964 until 2004 but is not classified as a List A team ''per se''. The club is based at

The Avenue Sports Club Ground The Avenue Sports Club Ground is a cricket ground in March, Cambridgeshire. The ground was established in 1939, when Cambridgeshire played Suffolk in the grounds first Minor Counties Championship match. From 1935 to the present day, it has hos ...

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

, though they have played a number of matches at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orchard ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

's ground, and occasionally play games there still. In recent years, matches have also been held at

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles ...

and

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

(in northeastern

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

Honours

* Minor Counties Championship (1) – 1963; shared (0) – * MCCA Knockout Trophy (2) – 1995, 2003

Earliest cricket

Cricket must have reached Cambridgeshire in the 17th century. The earliest reference to the game being played there is at Cambridge University in 1710. Outside the university, the earliest reference is a game in 1744 in the Isle of Ely, between the gentlemen of March and the gentlemen of Wisbeach, eleven of a side, for five pounds a man.

Origin of club

Cambridge Town Club Cambridge Town Club (CTC) was a first-class cricket club established in Cambridge before 1817. Among notable players who represented CTC were Tom Hayward senior, Robert Carpenter and George Tarrant. It co-existed with Cambridge University Cr ...

and Cambridgeshire were effectively the same team as the town club teams were representative of the county as a whole. The town club's earliest known match was against

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...

in 1819 and the county name was first used for the match against Surrey in 1857. The town club was formed sometime before 1819 and eventually evolved into the original county club, which was formally established on 13 March 1844,''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1983 edition, p. 278. playing under the name of "Cambridge Town and County Club". After 1847, the name reverted to Cambridge Town.

Club history

The county club did not play matches outside East Anglia until 1857 when it played Surrey. From 1857 until 1871, the county club was recognised as holding first-class status. The club itself was dissolved in 1869 (according to '' James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion'' of that year) but two matches arranged in 1869 and 1871 involved playing members of the former club and the team in both these games was called Cambridgeshire by ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' and other sources. The club played 39 first-class matches in all, winning thirteen, losing 21 and drawing five. The most successful season was 1864, when all 3 matches played were won. The regular home ground was

. Thomas Hayward made the most appearances, playing in 35 of the matches. He also made most runs, with 1,934 at 33.34, and scored two of the four centuries made for the county, both in 1861. He and Robert Carpenter put on 212 for the 3rd wicket against Surrey at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

in 1861, both scoring centuries. This was the highest partnership for the county.

George Tarrant George Frederick Tarrant (7 December 1838 in Cambridge – 2 July 1870 in Cambridge) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1860 to 1869. Mainly associated with Cambridge Town Club (''aka'' Cambridgeshire), ...

took the most wickets: 197 at 12.25, plus a further 22 wickets for which the runs conceded are not known. He had match figures of 15–56 against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at Chatham in 1862, including 8–16 in an innings. He also took 8–45 in an innings against Surrey at Fenner's the same year. According to Simon Wilde, in the early 1860s Carpenter and Hayward were rated as two of the three finest batsmen in England along with

Richard Daft Richard Daft (2 November 1835 – 18 July 1900) was an English cricketer. He was one of the best batsmen of his day, the peak of his first-class career (which lasted from 1858 to 1891) being the 1860s and early 1870s. Life and career Born ...

. Daft himself ranked Carpenter and Hayward as being equal, but George Parr reckoned Carpenter to be the better. Wilde's own estimation was that Carpenter was the best batsman in England from 1860 to 1866. The present club was founded on 6 June 1891. Cambridgeshire first took part in the Minor Counties Championship in the competition's fourth season, 1898, and has competed every season since with the exception of 1902 and 1920. The club was revived in 1921 with HB Hart as Secretary and HC Tebbutt as captain, despite the club's financial situation being precarious. War veteran Tebbutt had debuted in 1901, but this was his final season. He later became notorious for murdering his partner and three children before killing himself. It has won the Minor Counties Championship once, in 1963. Cambridgeshire has won 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 ...

twice since its inception in 1983. It won in 1995 and 2003.

Notable players

The following Cambridgeshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-class game: *

Gerry Alexander Franz Copeland Murray Alexander OD (2 November 1928 – 16 April 2011), known as Gerry Alexander, was a Jamaican cricketer who played 25 Test matches for the West Indies. He was a wicket-keeper who had 90 dismissals in his 25 Test appearances ...

Mike Brearley John Michael Brearley (born 28 April 1942) is a retired English first-class cricketer who captained Cambridge University, Middlesex, and England. He captained the international side in 31 of his 39 Test matches, winning 18 and losing only 4 ...

* Robert Carpenter *

Alfred Diver Alfred John Day Diver (6 July 1823 – 25 March 1876) was an English first-class cricketer whose career spanned the 1843 season to the 1866 season. Diver played mainly for Cambridge Town Club (''aka'' Cambridgeshire) and also played for Mid ...

* Thomas Hayward *

Tom Hayward Thomas Walter Hayward (29 March 1871 – 19 July 1939) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the qual ...

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

Bill Hitch John William Hitch (7 May 1886 – 7 July 1965) was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England. A Lancastrian, Hitch was bowling for a club in Cambridgeshire when he was spotted by Surrey's batsman Tom Hayward and recommended to The Oval. ...

Terry Jenner Terrence James Jenner (8 September 1944 – 25 May 2011) was an Australian cricketer who played nine Tests and one ODI from 1970 to 1975. He was primarily a leg-spin bowler and was known for his attacking, loopy style of bowling, but he was als ...

Derick Parry Derick Recaldo Parry (born 22 December 1954) is a former cricketer from St Kitts and Nevis who played 12 Tests and six One Day Internationals for the West Indies. Parry was a lower-order right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. Pa ...

Johnny Wardle Johnny Wardle (8 January 1923 – 23 July 1985) was an English spin bowling cricketer whose Test Match career lasted between 1948 and 1957. His Test bowling average of 20.39 is the lowest in Test cricket by any recognised spin bowler since ...

References

External sources

Minor Counties Cricket Association Official Site

Cambridgeshire CCC site

Records Relating to Sport at the County Record Office, Cambridge