Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: competitions
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: First-Class Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins YearsNorthamptonshire County Cricket Club: Limited Overs Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Royal London One-Day Cup
2
1976, 1992
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: Twenty20 Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins YearsNorthamptonshire County Cricket Club: an overview of the England cricket team
The history of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club goes back to 1820. It took several seasons to get a temporary venue, where by 1834, games of the “city vs. county” format began to be held regularly. At that time, the name Northamptonshire was interpreted quite loosely: both urban and rural clubs played under it, and in 1875 the team, announced from the district, played only two matches. It is not surprising that local enthusiasts, concerned about the current state of things, decided to carry out a large-scale reorganization, which was carried out in 1878 under the leadership of the fifth Earl Spencer. The first official captain of Northamptonshire was Jim Kingston.
After a long search, a suitable plot of land was found, which the NCC & Recreation Grounds company leased to create a permanent cricket ground. So there was a County Ground, which finally became the property of the club in 2012.
Having won the Minor Counties Championship twice (in 1903 and 1904, respectively), the team was included in the first-class list. The creators of this success are considered to be the president of Northamptonshire, the fifth Baron Lilford, and George Thompson, who went a long way from amateurs to professionals, becoming one of the club’s legends.
In 1912, Northamptonshire stopped a step away from the trophy, but the following years became quite difficult for it. Despite a whole constellation of gifted players, such as Fred Bakewell, Nobby Clark and Vallance Jupp, the club barely made ends meet. The global economic crisis had such a serious impact on the affairs of Northamptonshire that in 1931 the leadership seriously considered the possibility of liquidation. From 1935 to 1939, the team did not win a single first-class match.
With the arrival of the future captain Dennis Brookes, the situation began to change gradually. After the war, several talented players joined the team’s ranks, including Freddie Brown, Frank Tyson, Keith Andrew and George Tribe. Interestingly, not all of them were of British origin, so the club was soon given the unofficial nickname “League of Nations”. In 1957, Northamptonshire again reached the final of the County Championship, and in 1965 made another attempt to compete for the trophy, but again unsuccessfully.
From 1958 to 1985, Northamptonshire was led by Ken Turner – one of the most successful managers in the club’s history. His methods of doing business helped not only to save impressive funds but also to attract new investments (in particular, it was during this period that rock concerts were often held on the basis of Northamptonshire). The team continued to attract foreigners (Bishan Bedi, Sarfraz Nawaz and others), thanks to whom a historic victory was won over the Australians in 1972. In 1976, Northamptonshire won a serious trophy for the first time in its history – the Gillette Cup. A little later, Allan Lamb (South Africa) joined the team, who later joined the “Glorious Five”, who made a total of 30 thousand runs for the club. Despite Lamb’s outstanding performance, he was never able to lead his club to the County Championship title: in his last season (1995), Northamptonshire settled on the 3rd line.
A little later, such stars as Lance Klusener and Monty Panesar joined the club. Despite the fact that Northamptonshire was noticeably “stormy” at the turn of the century (in particular, the club could not stay in the first division and was relegated to the second), during this period, several significant trophies were won, including the NatWest t20 Blast.
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: awards
| Awards | Winner | Finalist |
| County Championship | – | 4 |
| NatWest t20 Blast | 2 | 1 |
| National League/Pro40 | – | 1 |
| NatWest Trophy | 2 | 5 |
| Benson & Hedges Cup | 1 | 2 |
| Minor Counties Championship | 2 | 2 |
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: records
- Dennis Brookes has played the most matches for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club (492). He also scored a maximum of 28980 runs.
- Nobby Clark took the maximum wickets – 1102.
- The most effective pair of Northamptonshire bowlers are Robert White and Michael Powell.
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club: club legends
George Thompson took 1829 wickets in first-class and Minor Counties Championship matches and also recorded more than 13 thousand runs. He retired from sports in 1922. His epitaph reads: “The best player the county has ever produced.”
One of the most outstanding players in the history of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club was Colin Milburn. Unfortunately, his career was tragically interrupted in 1969 after the player lost an eye in a car accident.
