A turbulent but successful history

GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Cricket Club have had a turbulent but successful history after their first match in 1870. The club never played another game on Durdham Downs, instead moving to the Clifton College Close Ground for the 1871 season.

They enjoyed a great deal of success here during the 1870s, winning back-to-back unofficial County Championships in 1873 and 1874, and again in 1876 and 1877.

Despite this initial success, Gloucestershire have never won an official County Championship, despite finishing as runners-up on six occasions.

It is in one-day cricket where Gloucestershire have had more success. Having moved away from their former ground, they started playing at what is now the Bristol County Ground in Ashley Down, in 1889, although this venue still shared matches with the Clifton ground until the early 1930s.

In one-day cricket, Gloucestershire have won a total of ten titles, including a one-day trophy treble in 2000, winning the C&G trophy, the Sunday League, and the

Benson and Hedges Cup in the same season.

They also won the C&G Trophy in 1973 and 1999, with back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. The club’s most recent success came in 2015, when they lifted the Royal London One-Day Cup, their first major title in 11 years. This came after a period of rebuilding for the club, when they focused on the redevelopment of the County Ground into a venue fit for international-level cricket.