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 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.
Charles William Jeffrey Athey is a retired English first-class cricketer, who played for England, and first-class cricket for Gloucestershire, Yorkshire and Sussex; he also played a solitary one-day game for Worcestershire. His bulldog spirit was exemplified by the Union Jack tattooed on his arm. He played in 23 Test matches between 1980 and 1988, but scored more than 50 runs only five times in 41 innings. In 1990, Athey joined the rebel tour to South Africa.
Roger John Sillence is an English cricketer, best known for his time playing for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler.
Abdul-Kadeer Ali is an English first-class cricketer who is currently at minor counties side Staffordshire. He has played for Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Leicestershire as well as appearing for England A. He was capped by Gloucestershire in 2005. He is of Pakistani descent and studied at Handsworth Grammar School.
Brian Maurice Brain is a former English first-class cricketer whose career with Worcestershire and Gloucestershire stretched over more than two decades. He was capped by Worcestershire in 1966 and by Gloucestershire in 1977.
Cedric Nigel Boyns is an English former cricketer who played at first-class level for a few years in the late 1970s.
Sydney Edmund Busher was an English cricketer who played five first-class games, one for Surrey and four for Worcestershire. Of his 26 first-class wickets, 22 were bowled and four caught.
Hartley W Lobban was a Jamaican-born first-class cricketer who played 17 matches for Worcestershire in the early 1950s.
Matthew John Church is a former English cricketer who played county cricket for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the 1990s.
John William Keene was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey, Worcestershire and Scotland around the turn of the 20th century. Almost exclusively a bowler, his highest score in 36 innings was a mere 12. He later stood twice as an umpire: in Scotland's home matches against the Australians and South Africans in 1912.
John Bernard Higgins was an English first-class cricketer and umpire. As a player, he made 121 appearances between 1912 and 1930, having earlier played in the Minor Counties Championship for Staffordshire. The great majority of his first-class matches were for Worcestershire, though he also played in India for the Europeans and, once, a joint "Europeans and Parsees" side. He umpired four first-class games, including one Test match.
Leonard Oakley was an English cricketer who played eight first-class games for Worcestershire County Cricket Club either side of the Second World War. A bowler, in 14 innings he never scored more than 11 runs.
Maurice Kirshaw Foster was an English first-class cricketer who played in 170 matches. The great bulk of these (157) were for Worcestershire, which he captained for three seasons from 1923 to 1925. Foster also played first-class cricket for seven other teams, including the Gentlemen and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He was one of seven Foster brothers to play for Worcestershire, and one of three to captain the side.
Ronald Ernest Bird (4 April 1915 – 20 February 1985) was an English cricketer who played 195 first-class matches in the years after the Second World War. 190 of these were for Worcestershire, while the other five were for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He captained Worcestershire between 1952 and 1954, though he had acted as such on many occasions during the previous two seasons when official captain Bob Wyatt was unavailable. He usually batted at number four, while his fast-medium bowling was of the occasional variety: he never took a season's tally of wickets into double figures.
Frank Harry was an English cricketer, who played 69 first-class games for Lancashire in the early years of the 20th century, and then another seven for Worcestershire just after the First World War. He also turned out for Durham in the Minor Counties Championship between 1912 and 1914. After his retirement from playing, he stood in 21 games as an umpire, all in 1921.
Roger Charles MacDonald Kimpton, DFC was an Australian first-class cricketer who played 62 first-class games, mostly in the late 1930s. The majority of his appearances were for Oxford University and Worcestershire, although he appeared for the Gentlemen in both 1936 and 1937 and for an England XI in 1937. Unusually, he alternated somewhat between keeping wicket and bowling, although his success with the ball was limited.
Keith William Wilkinson is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Worcestershire between 1969 and 1975.
Walter Raleigh Gilbert was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex and Gloucestershire between 1873 and 1886. A cousin of W. G. Grace, he played for Gloucestershire when, dominated by the Grace family, it was the leading county. Gilbert's best season was 1876, when he scored 205 not out for the county, but he was subsequently less successful. Closely connected with the United South of England Eleven, a professional touring team of which he eventually became secretary, Gilbert was financially affected by a declining interest in such teams. With insufficient income to continue as an amateur he became a professional in 1886, but played only one match before he was caught stealing from teammates in a minor match, ending his first-class career. After serving a 28-day prison sentence Gilbert moved to Canada, where he worked for the Land Titles Office in Calgary while remaining a prominent cricketer. He died aged 70 in 1924, but for nearly 60 years after his death, there seemed to be a conspiracy of silence over his fate.
Mark Roger Gouldstone is a former English cricketer. Gouldstone was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.
Giles Nicholas Spencer Ridley is a former English cricketer. Ridley was a right-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox.