Officers Club Services Ground

The Officers Club Services Ground is a cricket ground in Fleet Road, Aldershot, Hampshire, England. Aldershot had been a small village until 1853, but was transformed following the purchase of 25,000 acres of land by the War Office for military training.[1] Over the following two decades Aldershot was transformed into a garrison town, by 1874 a number of cricket grounds, including the Officers Club Services Ground, had been constructed for use by the various regiments garrisoned there.[1]

Officers Club Services Ground
Ground information
LocationAldershot, Hampshire
Coordinates51.2603°N 0.7713°W / 51.2603; -0.7713
Establishment1861
Team information
Army (1906–present)
Hampshire (1905–1948)
As of 29 December 2011
Source: Ground profile

History

The first recorded match to have been played there was in 1861 between the Knickerbockers and I Zingari. Over the coming decade the ground was used by the Aldershot Division in matches primarily against I Zingari and the Marylebone Cricket Club, though not exclusively as some matches were against other parts of the armed forces.[2] A pavilion was built in 1887.[1] Hampshire first played first-class cricket there in the 1905 County Championship against Surrey,[3] with Hampshire losing this match by 7 wickets.[4] Hampshire used the ground twice more as a venue before World War I, playing Surrey in 1906 and Somerset in 1910. This season also saw its first-class use by an armed services team, when a combined Army and Navy team played a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities team, which marked the final first-class match played there before World War I.[3] First-class cricket did not return immediately after the war, the first match of note came in May 1932 when the Army played the touring Indians in a two-day non-first-class match, which was abandoned without a ball bowled.[2][5] Later that year in June, first-class cricket returned to the ground when the Army played the touring South Americans, which the Army won by 5 wickets.[6]

The following season the Army played another first-class match against the touring West Indians, which ended in a draw. Of note was the Army's opening partnership of 286 in their first-innings between Reginald Hudson and Cyril Hamilton.[7] This was the final first-class match held there before World War II,[3] despite visits from the touring Australians in 1934 and 1938, and from the West Indians in 1939, none of which were rated first-class.[2] A new pavilion was constructed to replace the original in 1936 and was opened by General Sir John Francis Gathorne-Hardy.[1]

Minor matches between various armed services teams and the Oxford University Authentics were played during the war. Following the end of the war, Hampshire returned to playing first-class cricket at the ground,[3] playing two matches in 1948 against Cambridge University, which was drawn,[8] and the Combined Services, which Hampshire won by an innings and 60 runs.[9] These matches were the last first-class matches Hampshire would play there. First-class cricket wouldn't return until 1964, when the final first-class held there was played between the Combined Services and Oxford University.[3] Both the Army and the Combined Services continued to play at the ground after this, doing so to this day.[2] More recently, a Women's Twenty20 International was played there in 2011 between India Women and New Zealand Women,[10] which India Women won by 3 wickets.[11]

Records

First-class
gollark: I estimate that the power supply for it will fail by maybe tomorrow.
gollark: Well, not crash, be booted off.
gollark: Oh, you would just crash too.
gollark: So it should run out reasonably fast, actually.
gollark: I accidentally made it much bigger than it should have been and also not hollow.

See also

References
  1. "Ground profile: Officers Club Services Ground". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. "Other matches played on Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  3. "First-Class Matches played on Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  4. "Hampshire v Surrey, 1905 County Championship". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  5. "Army v Indians, 1932". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  6. "Army v South Americans, 1932". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  7. "Army v West Indians, 1933". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  8. "Hampshire v Cambridge University, 1948". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  9. "Hampshire v Combined Services, 1948". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  10. "Women's International Twenty-20 Matches played on Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  11. "India Women v New Zealand Women, 2011". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  12. "Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot - Lowest Team Totals in first-class cricket". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  13. "Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot - Centuries in first-class cricket". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  14. "Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot - Seven Wickets in an Innings in first-class cricket". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  15. "Officers Club Services Ground, Aldershot - Most Wickets in a Match in first-class cricket". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 December 2011.

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