The Dorset County Cricket Club was established in February 1896. Since then, it has played minor counties cricket since 1897 and played List A cricket from 1968 to 2004, using a different number of home grounds during that time. Their first minor counties fixture in 1897 was against Wiltshire at the Recreation Ground, Blandford Forum, while their first List A match came 71 years later against Bedfordshire in the 1968 Gillette Cup at Sherborne School. The club is based at Dean Park, Bournemouth, which also held first-class and List A cricket for Hampshire from 1897 to 1992.
The seventeen grounds that Dorset have used for home matches since 1897 are listed below, with statistics complete through to the end of the 2012 season.
Below is a complete list of grounds used by Dorset County Cricket Club when it was permitted to play List A matches. These grounds have also held Minor Counties Championship and MCCA Knockout Trophy matches.
Name | Location | First | Last | Matches | First | Last | Matches | First | Last | Matches | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
List A | Minor Counties Championship | MCCA Trophy | |||||||||
Sherborne School | Sherborne | only match: 8 June 1992 v Bedfordshire | 1 | 5 August 1902 v Devon | 25 May 1997 v Herefordshire | 69 | 3 June 1984 v Wiltshire | still in use | 14 | [1] [2] [3] [4] | |
Dean Park | Bournemouth | 29 June 1983 v Essex | 5 May 2004 v Yorkshire | 8 | 13 August 1982 v Devon | still in use | 60 | 2 June 1985 v Cornwall | still in use | 22 | [5] [6] [7] [8] [n 1] |
Below is a complete list of grounds used by the Dorset County Cricket Club in Minor Counties Championship and MCCA Knockout Trophy matches.
Name | Location | First | Last | Matches | First | Last | Matches | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minor Counties Championship | MCCA Trophy | |||||||
Recreation Ground | Blandford Forum | 16 August 1897 v Wiltshire | 18 August 1981 v Wiltshire | 38 | – | – | 0 | [9] [10] |
St Mary's Field | Bridport | 21 July 1902 v Wiltshire | 7 August 1939 v Cornwall | 25 | – | – | 0 | [11] [12] |
Weymouth College Ground | Weymouth | 23 August 1902 v Surrey Second XI | 5 August 1935 v Cornwall | 12 | – | – | 0 | [13] [14] |
Poole Park | Poole | 15 July 1903 v Staffordshire | 26 August 1981 v Oxfordshire | 60 | – | – | 0 | [15] [16] |
Recreation Ground | Dorchester | 1 July 1908 v Surrey Second XI | 30 July 1996 v Cheshire | 59 | 2 May 2010 v Bedfordshire | 5 June 2011 v Hertfordshire | 2 | [17] [18] [19] |
Earl of Shaftesbury's Ground | Wimborne St Giles | 18 August 1909 v Wiltshire | 19 August 1914 v Wiltshire | 5 | – | – | 0 | [20] [21] |
Merley Park | Wimborne | 27 July 1934 v Oxfordshire | 21 August 1939 v Wiltshire | 7 | – | – | 0 | [22] [23] |
Canford School Ground | Canford Magna | 16 August 1937 v Oxfordshire | 12 June 1994 v Oxfordshire | 14 | – | – | 0 | [24] [25] |
Redlands Sports Ground | Weymouth | 15 August 1951 v Cornwall | 11 June 2000 v Shropshire | 59 | 24 July 1988 v Cambridgeshire | 15 May 2011 v Herefordshire | 4 | [26] [27] [28] |
Royal Army Corps Ground | Bovington | only match: 8 June 1992 v Oxfordshire | 1 | – | – | 0 | [29] [30] | |
Terrace Ground | Sherborne | 7 August 1957 v Wiltshire | 22 August 1962 v Oxfordshire | 7 | – | – | 0 | [31] [32] |
Hanhams Cricket Ground | Wimborne | 30 August 1957 v Oxfordshire | 24 July 1979 v Berkshire | 11 | – | – | 0 | [33] [34] |
Cockram's Ground | Shaftesbury | 19 August 1960 v Oxfordshire | 13 August 1971 v Devon | 4 | – | – | 0 | [35] [36] |
Bournemouth Sports Club | Bournemouth | 1 August 1962 v Cornwall | 10 September 2000 v Cumberland | 9 | – | – | 0 | [37] [38] |
Day's Park | Swanage | 22 August 1969 v Wiltshire | 17 August 1970 v Oxfordshire | 2 | – | – | 0 | [39] [40] |
Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi), Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The county town is Dorchester, in the south. After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the county border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
Poole is a coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is 21 miles (34 km) east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council which is a unitary authority. Poole had an estimated population of 151,500 making it the second-largest town in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch, the conurbation has a total population of nearly 400,000.
Dorset is a rural county in south west England. Its archaeology documents much of the history of southern England.
Merley is a large housing estate in the unparished area of Poole, a mile (2 km) south of Wimborne Minster. Originally called Myrle, Merley was a manor in the tithing of Great Canford. The village merges with that of Oakley, and the housing estate was originally going to be called "Oakley Garden Village", note Oakley Shops and other signposts around the community but the name was changed. The housing estate only covers part of the area that was originally called Merley/Myrle. The Poole ward is Merley and Bearwood. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 10,392.
Mid Dorset and North Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Michael Tomlinson, a Conservative.
North Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Simon Hoare, a Conservative.
The Dorset Premier Football League is a football league based in Dorset, England, which sits at Step 7 of the National League System, or level 11 of the overall English football league system.
Branksome is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The area consists of residential properties and also a number of commercial and industrial areas.
Dorset County Cricket Club is one of twenty National county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Dorset.
Corfe Hills School is a co-educational upper school in Broadstone, Poole, Dorset, England, in the urban fringe between Poole and Wimborne. The school became an academy in 2011. The school serves Corfe Mullen, Broadstone, Wimborne, Merley and Sturminster Marshall. The current headteacher is James Sankey.
Dorset is a county in South West England. The county is largely rural and therefore does not have a dense transport network, and is one of the few English counties without a motorway. Due to its position on the English Channel coast, and its natural sheltered harbours, it has a maritime history, though lack of inland transport routes have led to the decline of its ports.
Oakley is a village community in Dorset, England. Sitting just south of the River Stour it borders the suburb of Merley and the village of Canford Magna to the East and South and the Town of Wimborne 2 km to the North. The B3073, which links Wimborne and Poole, runs through the community.
Wilts & Dorset is a bus and coach operator providing services in East Dorset, South Wiltshire, and West Hampshire. It operates services under the morebus brand around Bournemouth and Poole, and under the Salisbury Reds brand around Salisbury and Amesbury. It is part of Go South Coast, a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
The Dorset Senior Cup is a knockout cup competition involving association football teams from the county of Dorset, England, affiliated with the Dorset County Football Association. The current holders of the Dorset Senior Cup are Poole Town who beat Hamworthy United 2–1 after extra time in the final on 1 March 2022 at the County Ground, Hamworthy.
Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the area covered by the non-metropolitan county, which is governed by Dorset Council, together with the unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. Dorset is an average sized county with an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi); it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset's population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
Merley House in Wimborne, Dorset, England, is a building of historical significance and is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register. It was built in 1752 by the bibliophile Ralph Willett and remained in the Willett family until about 1875. For the next century it was the residence of many notable people. It is now a hotel.