Worcestershire (cricket)

Cricket had probably reached the county of Worcestershire by the end of the seventeenth century, though the earliest definite reference to it is as late as 1829. A Worcestershire team met one from Shropshire in 1844 and then a Worcestershire XXII played against the All-England Eleven in 1846. Worcestershire County Cricket Club was founded 4 March 1865 in a meeting held at the Star Hotel in Worcester. The club were founder members of the Minor Counties Championship in 1895. They shared the first title and then won three in a row from 1896 to 1898.

In 1899, Worcestershire joined the County Cricket Championship and made their first-class debut against Yorkshire on 4 May that year. The team has won the County Championship five times, most recently in 1989, and limited overs tournaments seven times. The club's home base, since 1896, is the New Road Cricket Ground in Worcester. Among famous Worcestershire players have been Tom Graveney, Basil D'Oliveira, R. E. Foster, Dick Howorth, Glenn Turner and Graeme Hick.