Somerset County Cricket Club is a county cricket club with headquarters at the County Cricket Ground, Taunton. First-class games are also played at Bath. Former grounds include Weston-super-Mare, Frome, Glastonbury, Wells and the Imperial Tobacco ground in south Bristol. In the UK, County cricket is the domestic form of the sport of cricket that is considered to be first-class cricket. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... The County Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Taunton, England. ... Map sources for Taunton at grid reference ST2324 Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. ... For other uses, see Bath (disambiguation). ... Weston-super-Mare is an English seaside resort town in North Somerset, population 65,000 (1991 estimate). ... For the various rivers and a lake with this name, see Frome (disambiguation) Map sources for Frome at grid reference ST797538 Frome (pronounced ) is a small town in Somerset, England, near the Mendip Hills, with a population of 24,510 (2001 census). ... Map sources for Glastonbury at grid reference ST5039 Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry spot on the Somerset Levels, 30 miles south of Bristol. ... Wells is a small city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset. ... Bristol (IPA: brĭstəl) is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England. ...

Pre First World War

Somerset were the first of the "new" counties to have enough fixtures against the established county teams to be considered as part of the County Championship, joining in 1891. In their second season, 1892, they finished third, but it was to be 66 years before they finished as high again. Bottom of the table a record 12 times (plus one shared wooden spoon), they enjoyed over many decades a reputation for cheerful inconsistency. Until the Second World War, the team regularly comprised a number of more or less talented amateurs and just a handful of professionals.

Famous names from the pre-First World War period included the England players Sammy Woods, Lionel Palairet and Len Braund, and the fast bowler Tom Richardson also played for the county after his retirement from Surrey. Sammy Woods (Samuel Moses James Woods; born April 13, 1867, Ashfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; died April 30, 1931, Taunton, Somerset, England) was an outstanding cricketer for Cambridge University in his early career and later the long-time captain of Somerset in their early years of Championship cricket. ... Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet, May 27, 1870 - March 27, 1933, was a famous cricketer of the so-called Golden Age of English cricket before the First World War. ... Leonard Charles Braund (born October 18, 1875, Clewer, Berkshire, died December 23, 1955, Putney Common, London) was an English cricketer who played in 23 Tests from 1926 to 1929. ... Tom Richardson (born August 11, 1870, Byfleet, Surrey; died July 2, 1912, Chambéry, France) was one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and certainly the most prolific in terms of wicket-taking feats, largely owing to his amazing stamina and appetite for work, which allowed him to... Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) is an English first-class cricket team, based at The Oval cricket ground in London. ...

Between the Wars

Between the wars, the west Somerset farmer Jack White played for England as an off-spinning all-rounder with some success; lesser international careers were enjoyed by the hard-hitting batsman Harold Gimblett, whose entry into first-class cricket was the stuff of legends, and by Arthur Wellard, fast bowler and a mighty smiter of sixes. The briefest Test match career of them all was "enjoyed" by Jack MacBryan, whose only game for England was the rain-ruined match against the South Africans in 1924, in which he neither batted nor fielded. John Cornish White, known as Farmer or Jack, (19 February 1891–2 May 1961), was an English cricketer who played for Somerset and England. ... Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his fingers to spin the ball from a right-handed batsmans off side to the leg side (that is, towards the right-handed... In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. ... Harold Gimblett born October 19, 1914, Bicknoller, Somerset, died March 30, 1978, Dewlands Park, Verwood, Dorset was a brilliant strokeplayer who played cricket for Somerset and England. ... Arthur William Wellard, born April 8, 1902, and died December 31, 1980, was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. ... For more coverage of cricket, go to the Cricket portal. ... John Crawford William (Jack) MacBryan, born July 22, 1892 and died July 14, 1983 was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Somerset and made one almost imperceptible appearance in a test match for England. ...

Post Second World War

In postwar cricket, the happy-go-lucky Somerset attitude was no longer sustainable, and the side finished bottom of the Championship for four consecutive seasons from 1952. With the strong possibility of going out of business, drastic change was inevitable. Somerset recruited heavily from other countries, taking Colin McCool and Bill Alley from Australia, and from other counties. In 1958, the side again finished third, and this was repeated in 1963 and 1966. In the mid sixties the team was captained by Colin Atkinson, who would later become headmaster at the nearby Millfield school. Colin McCool, born 1915, was an Australian cricketer who later made his name in England. ... William (Bill) Edward Alley (born 3 February 1919 in Sydney, Australia; died 26 November 2004 in Taunton, Somerset, England) was a cricketer who played 400 first class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI. Whilst in Australia, Alley was also a middleweight boxer, and was undefeated in... Colin Atkinson in the 1970s Colin Ronald Michael Atkinson CBE - Cricketer and Schoolmaster. ... Millfield is a public school in Street, Somerset, England. ...

Though four-day success continued to elude the county, Somerset finally found the makings of a successful one-day team under the combative, inspirational captaincy of Yorkshireman Brian Close. A trio of world class stars, Viv Richards, Joel 'Big Bird' Garner and England's finest all-rounder since the war Ian Botham made the team, for the first time in its long history, a formidable trophy winning proposition. Brian Close - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards (known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, Viv Richards), a former West-Indian cricketer, was born in St Johns, Antigua on 7 March 1952. ... Joel Garner (born December 16, 1952) also known as Big Joel or Big Bird, was a West Indian cricket player, and a member of the highly regarded late 70s and early 80s West Indies cricket sides. ... In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. ... Ian Terence Botham OBE, (born November 24, 1955 in Heswall, Cheshire) (nicknamed Beefy) was one of Englands best-ever cricketers and one of the best all-round cricketers of all time. ...

Under the captaincy of left handed opener Brian Rose, Somerset won their first ever silverware, taking the Gillette Cup and the Sunday League in 1979. The same captain won the renamed NatWest Trophy in 1983 although his reputation was somewhat tarnished by a controversial declaration in a one day Benson and Hedges zonal match against Worcestershire the following year to ensure qualification by run rate for the quarter final. Brian Charles Rose (born June 4, 1950, Dartford, Kent) is a former English cricketer who played in 9 Tests and 2 ODIs from 1977 to 1981. ... The C&G Trophy is a knock-out one day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. ... The Sunday League was the precursor tournament to the National League. ... The C&G Trophy is a knock-out one day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. ... Worcestershire (pronounced ; abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ...

New captain Peter Roebuck caused huge controversy in the county when New Zealander Martin Crowe was preferred as overseas pro. Viv Richards and Joel Garner were sacked, despite proving themselves two of the most successful overseas players of modern times, and Ian Botham resigned in protest and moved to Worcestershire. Peter Michael Roebuck (born March 6, 1956, in Oxford, United Kingdom) was a cricket player and is now a well-respected newspaper columnist and radio commentator. ... Martin David Crowe (born September 22, 1962 in Henderson) is a former New Zealand cricket player. ... Worcestershire CCC logo Worcestershire County Cricket Club is a county cricket club based at New Road, Worcester, England. ...

Today

Success has been elusive in recent years, although New Zealand born Andy Caddick and opener Marcus Trescothick have proved major pillars of the England Test team and overseas stars such as Jamie Cox have given sterling service for the club, resulting in their appearance in the NatWest Trophy in 1999 and the C & G Trophy final in 2001 and 2002, winning in 2001 over Leicestershire. In the last two seasons, the club have been led by high profile overseas stars Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith and in July 2005, as perhaps a portent of better times to come, the county was the surprise winner of the third Twenty20 Cup, beating Lancashire in the final at The Oval. Andrew (Andy) Richard Caddick (born 21 November 1968) is an England cricketer. ... Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE (born in Keynsham, Somerset on 25 December 1975) is an English cricketer who plays Test cricket for the England cricket team and County cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club. ... The English cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales, operating under the auspices of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). ... Jamie Cox is a former cricketer, an opening batsman who played cricket for Tasmania in Australias domestic competitions. ... The C&G Trophy is a knock-out one day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The C&G Trophy is a knock-out one day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... Ricky Thomas Ponting (born December 19, 1974, in Launceston, Tasmania) is the captain of the Australian One-Day and Test cricket teams. ... Biography Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981 in Johannesburg) became the youngest ever cricketer to captain the South African cricket team at the age of 22 years when he was selected to take over from Shaun Pollock after the 2003 cricket World Cup. ... Template:Diffgggtgerent calendars 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Short form cricket is a collective term for several modified forms of the sport of cricket, with playing times significantly shorter than more traditional forms of the game. ... Lancashire is a county and duchy palatine in the North of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The famous gasometers, which are now listed buildings. ...