Oxford UCCE started their 2005 first-class season with a weak draw against a Gloucestershire side that opted to use the game as batting practice. Their second first-class game, against Derbyshire, Oxford UCCE did well in the first innings, dismissing their visitors cheaply and building up a large lead. However, they weren't able to dismiss them a second time, in a game which was reduced through rain. In the third match, they lost by ten wickets against Lancashire, after a poor showing in their second innings.
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in Division One of both the County Championship and totesport League. They started the Championship at 18–1 to win it, and as one of the teams most likely to be relegated from it. So they were—only their five draws prevented them from finishing bottom, and they were the only team to lose to bottom-placed Glamorgan. By the end of August, they were relegated, with three games to spare. In the National League, they were never better than sixth at any time during the season, and lost three games in succession to be ninth before the final round of matches. They won their last match, but were still relegated due to a worse net run rate than Lancashire. They were thus the first club to suffer double relegation since Leicestershire in 2003. Their Twenty20 and C&G Trophy campaigns ended almost as early as they could have done—Gloucestershire did get past the first round of the C&G Trophy, beating Berkshire, but were knocked out by Surrey.
The MCC University matches in 2005 are games played between the University Centre of Cricketing Excellence ("UCCEs") and first-class opposition. This is the first year the games are called "MCC" University matches, after the MCC announced a funding plan to support the development of student cricket.
David Harry Wigley is an English former first-class cricketer. He latterly played for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, his third county after previously playing for Yorkshire and then Worcestershire, until his early retirement from the game in 2010. He was a right arm fast medium bowler and right-handed batsman.
Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet was an English amateur cricketer who played for Somerset and Oxford University. A graceful right-handed batsman, he was selected to play Test cricket for England twice in 1902. Contemporaries judged Palairet to have one of the most attractive batting styles of the period. His obituary in The Times described him as "the most beautiful batsman of all time". An unwillingness to tour during the English winter limited Palairet's Test appearances; contemporaries believed he deserved more Test caps.
Craig Murray Spearman is an English-New Zealand former cricketer who played 19 Tests and 51 One Day Internationals for New Zealand from 1995 to 2001. Spearman was a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy.
Billy Ashley Godleman is an English first-class cricketer who most recently played for Derbyshire.
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.
Arthur Joseph Conway was an English cricketer: a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler who played 29 times for Worcestershire between 1910 and 1919.
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.
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.
David John Balcombe is an English former cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm medium-fast bowler. Balcombe spent the majority of his professional career with Hampshire, but also played first-class cricket for Durham UCCE and Kent. In a career which spanned from 2005 to 2014, he took 196 wickets in first-class cricket.
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.
Duncan Phillip Bradshaw is an English cricketer. Bradshaw is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm fast-medium. He was born in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare into a White Zimbabwean family of British descent and educated at Hilton College in South Africa, before moving with his family to England.
Richard Malcolm Wilkinson is an English cricketer. Wilkinson is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace. He was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire.
Mark Robert Currie is an English cricketer. Currie is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off break. He was born in Manchester.
Luis Michael Reece is an English cricketer who plays for Derbyshire. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls left-arm medium pace. He previously played for Lancashire before joining Derbyshire ahead of the 2017 season.
Ian Andrew Cockbain is an English cricketer who most recently played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and right-hand medium pace bowler, he made his first-class debut for the county against Derbyshire in August 2011.
Richard Coughtrie is an English born Scottish cricketer, a wicket-keeper-batsman who most recently played for Gloucestershire. He made his first-class debut for Oxford UCCE against Worcestershire in April 2009. Coughtrie signed a two-year contract with Gloucestershire in November 2010. Coughtrie worked as a teacher of economics at Dulwich College, London and now works at Eton College.
Edward George Christopher Young is an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler who last played for Gloucestershire. He made his first-class debut for Oxford UCCE against Worcestershire in April 2009. Young signed a two-year development contract with Gloucestershire in August 2010 whilst also studying at Oxford Brookes University. Young's older brother, Peter was also a cricketer and also played nine first-class games for Oxford UCCE.