The Minor Counties are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that are not afforded first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). There are currently twenty teams in minor county cricket: nineteen representing historic counties of England, plus the Wales Minor Counties Cricket Club. Of the thirty-nine historic counties of England, seventeen have a first class county cricket team, nineteen have a minor county team, while Huntingdonshire, Rutland, and Westmorland have neither, due to their small population.
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Worcestershire. Its Vitality Blast T20 team - who are the defending champions after claiming their first title in 2018 - has been rebranded the Worcestershire Rapids, but the county is known by most fans as ’the Pears’. The club is based at New Road, Worcester. Founded in 1865, Worcestershire held minor status at first and was a prominent member of the early Minor Counties Championship in the 1890s, winning the competition three times. In 1899, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to first-class status. Since then, Worcestershire have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland. The club's limited overs team is called the Leicestershire Foxes. Founded in 1879, the club had minor county status until 1894 when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into the County Championship in 1895. Since then, Leicestershire have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England.
Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Glamorgan. Founded in 1888, Glamorgan held minor status at first and was a prominent member of the early Minor Counties Championship before the First World War. In 1921, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to first-class status, subsequently playing in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England and Wales.
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.
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.
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.
The Second XI Championship is a season-long cricket competition in England that is competed for by the reserve teams of those county cricket clubs that have first-class status. The competition started in 1959 and has been contested annually ever since.
1907 was the 18th season of County Championship cricket in England. Nottinghamshire won their first official title. England played their sixth Test series against South Africa but it was the first to be held in England.
1909 was the 20th season of County Championship cricket in England and featured a Test series between England and Australia. Kent won the championship and Australia, captained by Monty Noble, won the Test series.
Robert John Lanchbury is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Gloucestershire and Worcestershire in the early 1970s, as well as making a few one-day appearances.
The War Memorial Athletic Ground, often referred to as simply the War Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in the Amblecote region of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It plays host to both cricket and football, being the home of Stourbridge Cricket Club and Stourbridge Football Club.
Percy Frank Bush was a Welsh rugby union player who played international rugby for Wales on eight occasions. Playing at fly-half, Bush is regarded as one of the most talented Welsh players of the pre-First World War era.
The 2008 English cricket season was the 109th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. Four regular tournaments were played: The LV County Championship (first-class), Friends Provident Trophy, NatWest Pro40 League and the Twenty20 Cup (T20). All four tournaments featured the eighteen classic county cricket teams, although the Friends Provident Trophy also featured sides from Ireland and Scotland.
John William Solanky was a Tanzanian cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm off spin/medium pace bowler, he played for Glamorgan County Cricket Club between 1972 and 1976.
Ross Andrew Whiteley is an English cricketer who currently plays for Worcestershire.
Stephen Peter Henderson is a former English first-class cricketer who played for several teams in the late 1970s and 1980s, mostly for Worcestershire, Cambridge University and Glamorgan.
Mark Nicholas Davies is a former Welsh cricketer. Davies was a left-handed batsman who bowled occasional right-arm off break. He was born at Maesteg, Glamorgan.
John Robert Tait, known as Jock Tait was a Scottish cricketer who played in English and Welsh leagues. A right-hand bat and occasional right-arm off break bowler, Tait played forty four first class cricket matches for Glamorgan between 1921 and 1926, having played minor county cricket for the club since 1911. He played in Glamorgan's inaugural County Championship match in 1921 and was dismissed for 96, four runs from being the county's first centurion. In his entire career, he scored 1,477 runs at 18.23 including seven half-centuries.
Jake Libby is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman who plays for Worcestershire.
