Dorset County Cricket Club

Dorset County Cricket Club
Dorset County Cricket Club
Coach: England Alan Willows
Captain: England Tom Hicks
Founded: 1896
Home ground: Dean Park
Capacity: 6,000
FP Trophy wins: 0
Official website: Dorset County Cricket Club home

Dorset 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 Dorset and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy.

The club is based at present at Dean Park in Bournemouth, outside the traditional boundaries of the county, and also plays its matches there.

The Minor Counties play three-day matches at a level below that of the first-class game. At present, Dorset competes in the Western Division of the Minor Counties Championship.

Contents

Honours

  • Minor Counties Championship (2) - 2000, 2010
  • MCCA Knockout Trophy (1) - 1988
  • Gillette/NatWest/C&G (0) -

Earliest cricket

Cricket must have reached Dorset via neighbouring Hampshire by the end of the 17th century.

An advertisement in the Sherborne Mercury dated Tuesday 9 May 1738 is the earliest reference for cricket in Dorset. Twelve Dorchester men at Ridgway Races challenged twelve men from elsewhere to play them at cricket for the prize of twelve pairs of gloves valued at a shilling a pair.

Origin of club

According to Wisden there was county organisation in existence in either 1862 or 1871. The present Dorset CCC was founded on 5 February 1896 and first entered the Minor Counties Championship in 1902.

Club history

Dorset has won the Minor Counties Championship twice, in 2000 and 2010.

Dorset has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy once since its inception in 1983. It won in 1988.

First-class players

See List of Dorset CCC players and Category:Dorset cricketers

The following Dorset cricketers have also had notable careers at first-class level:

Grounds

The club currently plays its home matches at Dean Park Cricket Ground in Bournemouth, which before becoming part of Dorset was in Hampshire and was used as a home venue by Hampshire County Cricket Club. In the past, the club has used Sherborne School Cricket Ground in Sherborne.

References

External sources

References

  • Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
  • E W Swanton (editor), Barclays World of Cricket, Guild, 1986