The 2005 English cricket season was the 106th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Before it began,a resurgent England cricket team had won four Test series in a row,going unbeaten through the 2004 calendar year. The start of the international season saw England defeat Bangladesh 2–0 in their two-match series,winning both Tests by an innings. This was followed by a tri-nations one-day tournament that also featured Australia. Australia still started the Test series as favourites but most fans expected England to put up a challenge.
Jack Birkenshaw,was an English cricketer,who later stood as an umpire and worked as a coach. Cricket commentator,Colin Bateman,stated "Jack Birkenshaw was the epitome of a good all-round county cricketer:a probing off-spinner who used flight and guile,a handy batsman who could grind it out or go for the slog,a dependable fielder and great competitor".
Christopher David Whelan is an English first-class cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium bowler,who has represented Middlesex and Worcestershire. He came through the ranks at Sefton Park CC,taking a 1st XI hat-trick at Lytham aged 16,and scored a record 177 not out for his school,St Margaret's,in an under-15 final.
The 2006 English cricket season was the 107th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It included home international series for England against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England came off a winter with more Test losses than wins,for the first time since 2002-03,but still attained their best series result in India since 1985. The One Day International series against Pakistan and India both ended in losses.
William McLean Gifford is an English cricketer who has played first-class cricket for Loughborough UCCE and one List A game for Worcestershire. He is,as Wisden put it,"no known relation" to former Worcestershire captain Norman Gifford.
George Owen Dawkes was a first-class cricketer who played for Leicestershire between 1937 and 1939 and for Derbyshire between 1947 and 1961 as a wicket keeper and a lower-order right-handed batsman. During the 1949–50 season he toured India with a team of players making up a Commonwealth XI.
John Crossland was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1878 and 1887. Crossland was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in county cricket,but critics generally believed that he threw,rather than bowled the ball,a practice illegal in cricket. Contemporaries suggest that,but for the suspicions over his bowling action,Crossland would have played Test cricket for England.
Paul Raymond Pollard is an English cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer. As a player,he was an opening batsman who played over 300 games in first-class and List A cricket for Nottinghamshire before a shorter stay with Worcestershire. After retiring from top-line county cricket in 2002,he had one season with Lincolnshire and appeared twice for them in List A matches. His medium-pace bowling was of the occasional variety,and with it he captured four first-class wickets. He has also coached,including in Zimbabwe.
James William Arthur Taylor is an English former cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm leg break bowler,Taylor made his debut in first-class cricket in 2008 for Leicestershire and made major impressions in his first county seasons. He is noted as being a fine fielder in the covers. He became the youngest Leicestershire one-day centurion and first-class double centurion. In 2009,Taylor also became the youngest player in Leicestershire's history to score 1,000 championship runs in a season.
Arthur Jepson was an English first-class cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire before becoming an umpire. In addition to cricket he was also an accomplished football goalkeeper who played over 100 games in the Football League before turning his hand to management.
George Rodney Cass was an English cricketer:a wicket-keeper who played first-class cricket for Essex and Worcestershire in England,and for Tasmania in Australia,in the 1960s and 1970s. He was capped by Worcestershire in 1970. He was born at Overton,Wakefield,Yorkshire,and educated at Dewsbury Technical College.
Steven Joseph "Steve" O'Shaughnessy is a former English professional cricketer who played for Lancashire and Worcestershire in the 1980s,and then had a substantial career in Minor Counties cricket with Cumberland. Since retiring from playing,he has become an umpire,and was promoted in December 2010 to the first-class panel for the 2011 season.
Derek Brooke Pearson is an English former first-class cricketer who played from the mid-1950s until the early 1960s,taking over 200 wickets. He played all but two of his games for Worcestershire,who capped him in 1959;the others were for Combined Services.
Alan Paul Pridgeon is a former English cricketer who played first-class and List A cricket for Worcestershire County Cricket Club,taking 530 first-class and 273 List A wickets for the county between the early 1970s and the late 1980s. He was capped by the county in 1980. He played football in the winters as a centre-half for Stourbridge F.C.
Garnet Morley Lee was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire between 1910 and 1922 and for Derbyshire between 1925 and 1933. He scored nearly 15,000 runs in his first-class career.
James Horsley was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire in 1913 and for Derbyshire from 1914 to 1925
Frank Henry Vigar was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Essex County Cricket Club between 1938 and 1954. A right-handed batsman,and leg break bowler,Vigar served as an all-rounder with 8,858 runs at 26.28 and 241 wickets at 37.90. From his rained-off debut in 1938,Vigar went on to play 257 matches for his county. His greatest success came in the "golden summer" of 1947,where he scored 1,735 runs and took 64 wickets. A partnership with Peter Smith of 218 for the final wicket remains an Essex record.
Sophie Jane Le Marchand is an English cricketer who plays as a wicket-keeper batsman. She is currently part of the England women's academy,having previously represented her country at Under-21 level. A right-handed batsman,she has played for Somerset since 2008.
Michael Baer,is a Welsh cricketer. Baer is a left-handed batsman who bowls slow left-arm orthodox. He was born in Rhuddlan,Flintshire and educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School in Lancashire.
The 2022 County Championship was the 122nd cricket County Championship season in England and Wales. The season began on 7 April and ended on 29 September 2022. Warwickshire were the defending champions.
