Devon County Cricket Club (Devon Cricket) is one of 20 minor

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

clubs within the domestic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

structure of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It represents the historic county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The team is currently a member of the National Counties Championship Western Division Two and plays in the

NCCA Knockout Trophy The National Counties Cricket Association Knockout Cup was started in 1983 as a knockout one-day competition for the National Counties in English cricket. At first it was known as the ''English Industrial Estates Cup'', before being called the ...

. Devon played List A matches occasionally from 1969 until 2005 but is not classified as a List A team 'per se'. The Western Division Two of the National Counties Championship is made up of five teams with each team playing the others in three-day fixtures throughout the season. Devon also play in the 50-overs-a-side MCCA Knock Out Trophy. The county has an outstanding record in both the Championship and the one-day knockout trophy, which it has won five times, most recently in 2014. The National Counties Championship is based on matches of two innings per side over three days. Counties are arranged into two geographical groups of ten – Eastern and Western sections – and sub-divided into divisions one and two with promotion and relegation between them. At the end of the season, the team with the best record from the Eastern Division One plays the winner of the Western Division One for the National Counties Championship, over four days. The NCCA Trophy is a 50-overs-a-side competition in which all teams initially play in a different group of five sides, organised geographically. The winner and runner-up in each of the four groups play in a series of knockout stages, culminating in a final.

Honours

* Minor Counties Championship (7) - 1978, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2011; shared (1) - 2004 * MCCA Knockout Trophy (5) - 1992, 1994, 1998, 2008, 2014

History

Earliest cricket

The earliest reference to cricket in the county dates from the 1790s. An embryo county organization existed in the 1820s, and a county club was initially founded in 1861. It went out of existence briefly in 1897 but was re-formed on 26 November 1899, and joined the Minor Counties’ Championship in 1901. At present twenty Minor Counties participate in three competitions. Devon was the scene of a county club's foundation on 18 August 1875, but not its own. Somerset County Cricket Club was set up by some Somerset Gentlemen players at a meeting at Sidmouth CC, immediately after a match against the Gentlemen of Devon. An application was made for first-class status and entry to the County Championship in 1948. However, the county was turned down. Devon has won the Minor Counties Championship eight times, one of them shared. It first won it in 1978 when Barrie Matthews was captain, and then under the captaincy of Peter Roebuck, it won for four consecutive years from 1994 to 1997, a record for the competition. There was a shared title with Bedfordshire in 2004, another success in 2006 and the most recent achievement was a victory against Cambridgeshire in the Championship final at March in September 2011. Devon has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy four times since its inception in 1983 – in 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2008. The county first played List A cricket in the 1969 Gillette Cup against Hertfordshire and appeared in 33 List A matches from 1969 to 2005, winning seven and losing 26, the majority of which were against first-class opponents. The county claimed the first-class scalp once, defeating Leicestershire in the 2004 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. The right to play List A cricket was lost in 2006 when the Minor Counties were excluded from the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy from that onward.

Origin of club

The present Devon County Cricket Club was founded on 26 November 1899 and joined the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

for the 1901 season.

Club history

Devon applied for first-class status and to join the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

in 1948. However, they were turned down. '' Wisden Cricketer's Almanack'' on page 952 of its 1950 edition, recorded that the application was discussed at the Advisory County Cricket Committee of existing first-class counties on 15 March 1949. It said: "No decision was made, but at the meeting, the counties could not find anything to support the application." Devon has won the Minor Counties Championship seven times, one of them shared. It first won in 1978, when Barrie Matthews was skipper, and for four consecutive years from 1994 to 1997, a record for the competition, under the leadership of the late Peter Roebuck. There was a shared title with

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

in 2004 and another title in 2006. Their most recent success came in 2011 when they defeated

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

in the championship final. Devon has won the MCCA Knockout Trophy five times since its inception in 1983. It won in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2008 and 2014. The county first played

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numb ...

in the

1969 Gillette Cup The 1969 Gillette Cup was the seventh Gillette Cup, an English limited overs county cricket tournament. It was held between 10 May and 6 September 1969. The tournament was won by Yorkshire County Cricket Club who defeated Derbyshire County Crick ...

against

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

. The county appeared in 33 List A matches from 1969 to 2005, winning seven and losing 26, the majority of which were against first-class opponents. The county claimed a first-class scalp once, defeating

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

in the

2004 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy The 2004 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy was an English county cricket tournament, held between 28 August 2003 and 28 August 2004. The competition was won by Gloucestershire Gladiators who beat the Worcestershire Royals by 8 wickets at Lord's. ...

. Devon lost the right to play List A cricket when the Minor counties were excluded from the

Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. Lan ...

from the 2006 season onward. In 2011, the Club set up a Development XI, the Devon Lions, to help bring on new players. It has links to the recently a formed charity, the David Shepherd Cricket Foundation, one of whose objectives is to nurture young cricketing talent in Devon. The Lions play some competitive games against university and county 2nd XI teams.

Grounds

The club has no fixed home, but play their matches at various grounds across the county. Grounds used during the 2011 season include: *North Devon Cricket Club Ground,

Instow Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. Th ...

*Recreation Ground, Bovey Tracey *

Recreation Ground, Torquay Recreation Ground is a former First-class cricket ground located in Torquay, Devon. History It has been the home of Torquay Cricket Club since 1926. Some sources wrongly attribute matches played at Torquay Cricket Club prior to 1926 to the ...

*The Fortfield, Sidmouth *

The Maer Ground The Maer Ground is a cricket ground in Exmouth, Devon. It is the home ground of Exmouth Cricket Club and is also used regularly by Devon County Cricket Club. The first recorded match played on the ground was in 1874 when Devon played Will-o'- ...

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Hi ...

* Creedy Park, nr Crediton *

County Ground, Exeter The County Ground is a cricket ground in Exeter, Devon. The earliest recorded match on the ground was in 1889 between the Gentlemen of Devon and Somerset. In 1902, Devon played their first Minor Counties Championship match on the ground, wh ...

References

External sources

Devon Cricket
{{minor counties National Counties cricket History of Devon Cricket clubs established in 1899 Cricket in Devon