Hertfordshire County Cricket Club

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

The club is based at Rickmansworth and also plays matches around the county at Hertford, Long Marston, Radlett and North Mymms.

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

Honours

* Minor Counties Championship (4) - 1936, 1975, 1983, 1990; shared (0) -
* MCCA Knockout Trophy (1) - 1984

Earliest cricket

Cricket must have reached Hertfordshire by the end of the 17th century. The earliest reference to cricket in the county is dated 1732 and is also the earliest reference to Essex as a county team. On Thursday 6 July 1732, a team called Essex & Hertfordshire played London Cricket Club at Epping Forest "for £50 a side". The result is unknown.

Hertfordshire was never considered a first-class county but its teams did appear frequently throughout the 18th century and played against some teams that were normally considered first-class, so there must have been times when the status of a Hertfordshire match was "borderline".

Origin of club

There were a number of county organisations in the 18th century and one in 1838. The present Hertfordshire CCC was founded on 8 March 1876. It joined the Minor Counties Championship for the very first season, 1895, and is the only one of the seven competing sides from that season to have maintained membership continuously ever since.

Club history

Hertfordshire has won the Minor Counties Championship four times, in 1936, 1975, 1983 and 1990.

Hertfordshire has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy once since its inception in 1983. It won in 1984.

Famous players

The following Hertfordshire cricketers also made an impact on the first-class game:
* Jack Meyer, later Millfield School headmaster and captain of Somerset CCC
* John Carr (cricketer), sometime Middlesex player and son of Donald Carr
* Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African Test cricketer
* Ian MacLaurin, Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth, businessman and head of the England and Wales Cricket Board

External sources

* [http://www.hertscricket.org/ Hertfordshire County Cricket Club website]
* [http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/NATIONAL/ENG/MINOR/MCCA/ Minor Counties Cricket Association Official Site]

Further reading

* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* G B Buckley, "Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket", Cotterell, 1935
* E W Swanton (editor), "Barclays World of Cricket", Guild, 1986

* Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
* Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions