The Army cricket team is a cricket team representing the British Army.
The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy team had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team in 1910 and 1911. In 1927 the Army played the touring New Zealanders, and in 1933 they played the touring West Indians. [1]
After the Second World War, for first-class purposes the Army team amalgamated with the Navy and Air Force teams to form the Combined Services team, which played first-class cricket until 1964.
The Army team continues to play cricket at non-first-class level. It is managed by the Army Cricket Association. The army also has another team in Germany, known as BA(G). The main team occasionally organises friendlies with allies, particularly against its army counterparts from cricket-playing nations such as Afghanistan and South Africa, and charities matches against local clubs. [2] [3]
Its home ground is the Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot, Hampshire.
Harold Thomas William Hardinge, known as Wally Hardinge, was an English professional sportsman who played both cricket and association football for England. His professional cricket career lasted from 1902 to 1933 during which he played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and made one Test match appearance for England. He was described as being "for years ... one of the leading opening batsmen in England".
The Royal Navy Cricket Club is a cricket team representing the British Royal Navy and based at the United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth, Hampshire. The club was formed in 1863, although cricket is recorded as having been played by seamen since at least the 17th century.
When the First World War ended in November 1918, thousands of Australian servicemen were in Europe as members of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and many remained until the spring of 1919. In England, a new first-class cricket season was planned, the first since 1914, and an idea that came to fruition was the formation of an Australian touring side made up of servicemen. Agreement was reached with the Australian Corps HQ in London, commanded by Field Marshal William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, and the Australian Imperial Force Touring XI was formed, initially under the captaincy of pre-war Test player Charlie Kelleway. Kelleway departed after only six matches following a dispute about the fixtures list. A players' meeting elected future Test player Herbie Collins as team captain for the remainder of the tour, despite the fact that Collins' military rank was lance corporal and there were seven officers in the party. The bulk of the team remained intact for nearly nine months from May 1919, playing 33 matches in Great Britain, ten in South Africa on their way home and then another three in Australia itself before disbanding in February 1920. Of the 46 matches, 39 are adjudged first-class and the team had only four defeats, all of these in England. The players lived on their army pay and all profits from gate money went to an AIF Sports Control Board.
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford University at Aldershot in 1964. Combined Services have continued to play cricket thereafter, albeit at minor level.
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in England, and has been played since the 16th century. Marylebone Cricket Club, based at Lord's, developed the modern rules of play and conduct. The sport is administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board and represented at an international level by the England men's team and England women's team. At a domestic level, teams are organised by county, competing in tournaments such as the County Championship, Royal London One-Day Cup, T20 Blast and the Women's Twenty20 Cup. Recent developments include the introduction of a regional structure for women's cricket and the establishment of The Hundred for both men's and women's cricket. Recreational matches are organised on a regional basis, with the top level being the ECB Premier Leagues.
Cricket in World War II was severely disrupted in most of the countries where first-class cricket is played. Only in India was a normal schedule of matches maintained throughout. In Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies the normal first-class competitions were suspended for some or all of the war and a small number of ad hoc first-class matches were organised when possible.
The Royal Air Force cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Royal Air Force. The team played 11 first-class matches: nine between 1922 and 1932, mostly against other branches of the Services, and another two in 1945 and 1946. Their home ground is the Royal Air Force Sports Ground, Uxbridge.
Ernest Desmond Dynes CBE was an English cricketer in the 1920s and 1930s and later a Brigadier in the British Army and an Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II.
Francis Galpin Rogers was an English cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1924 and 1931 and also represented the Egypt national cricket team.
Colonel William Alexander Camac Wilkinson, was a highly decorated British Army officer and English cricketer. Australian born, he served with the British Army in both the First and Second World Wars. After the Second World War he spent some time in Graz, Austria, as Senior Military Government Officer in the occupation forces.
The United Services Recreation Ground is a sports ground situated in Burnaby Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ground is also bordered to the north by Park Road, along which the railway line to Portsmouth Harbour and Gunwharf Quays overlooks the ground, and to the east by Anglesea Road. The southern end of the ground is dominated by the Officer's Club building, which overlooks the ground. The ground is owned by The Crown. A multitude of sports have been played at the ground, including cricket, rugby and hockey. The ground was used by Hampshire County Cricket Club from 1882 to 2000, serving as one of three home grounds used during this period, alongside the County Ground, Southampton, and Dean Park, Bournemouth. United Services Portsmouth Cricket Club currently play at the ground. The ground is used in its dual capacity as a rugby venue by United Services Portsmouth Rugby Football Club, who have played there since 1882. The Royal Navy Rugby Union also use the ground for their home matches. The end names are the Railway End to the north and the Officer's Club End to the south.
The Officers Club Services Ground is a cricket ground in Fleet Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The ground was used as a host venue for first-class cricket by Hampshire and various services teams from 1905 to 1964, hosting nine matches. A Women's Twenty20 International was later played there in 2011.
Edward Leslie Dayrell Bartley was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer.
Surgeon Rear Admiral Robert Harry Mornement was an English first-class cricketer and a surgeon in the Royal Navy.
Garrison 1 Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Chatham, Kent. The ground is owned by the Ministry of Defence and has been used by military teams throughout its history, being linked with the various military establishments at Chatham. It has been known as the Nore Command Cricket Ground and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Recreation Ground, the Nore Command being associated with the nearby Chatham Dockyard. It remains the main home ground used by the Royal Engineers Cricket Club.
Captain Robert John Shaw MBE was an English Royal Navy officer and cricketer. As a cricketer, he played as a right-handed batsman who fielded occasionally as a wicket-keeper. The son of Edward Domett Shaw, the first Bishop of Buckingham, and Agnes Shaw, he was born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Samuel Lewis Barclay was an Australian-born army officer and sportsman who played first-class cricket and was a quarter-finalist at the 1925 Wimbledon Championships.
The Army and Navy cricket team was a cricket team formed from the combination of the British Army and the Royal Navy, with its players being selected from either of these branches of the British Armed Forces. The team first appeared in a first-class match in 1910 against a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricket team at the Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot. The team played two further first-class matches, in 1911 in a repeat of the 1910 fixture, though this time played at the United Services Recreation Ground, Portsmouth, and following World War I against the Demobilised Officers at Lord's. The team won its first two fixtures and drew its third.
Alec Percy Stanley Wills was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer. Enlisting in the Royal Air Force from Haileybury in 1932, Wills played first-class cricket for the Combined Services cricket team, before being posted to Malaya in the Second World War, where he was killed in a plane accident in November 1941.
James Alexander Stevenson was a Scottish first-class cricketer.