Somerset County Cricket Club
(1875-present)

Aged 149

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Somerset. Founded in 1875, Somerset was initially regarded as a minor county until official first-class status was acquired in 1895. Somerset has competed in the County Championship since 1891 and has subsequently played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club's limited overs team was formerly named the Somerset Sabres, but is now known only as Somerset. Somerset's early history is complicated by arguments about its status. It is generally regarded as a minor county from its foundation in 1875 until 1890, apart from the 1882 to 1885 seasons when it is considered by substantial sources to have been an unofficial first-class team, holding important match status. There are, however, two matches involving W. G. Grace in 1879 and 1881 which are considered first-class by some authorities. In 1891, Somerset joined the County Championship, which had just become an officially recognised competition, and has important match status from 1891 to 1894. The county is classified as an official first-class team from 1895 by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the County Championship clubs; classified as a List A team since the beginning of limited overs cricket in 1963; and classified as a senior Twenty20 team since 2003. Somerset have never won the County Championship, their highest finish being second, which they achieved in 2001, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2019. The club won their first silverware in the late 1970s, winning both the Gillette Cup and John Player League in 1979. In the years since, Somerset have experienced some success in one-day cricket, winning the Gillette Cup on two further occasions, the Benson & Hedges Cup twice and the John Player League once more. The team has reached the final of the Twenty20 cup competition on five occasions, winning it in 2005. They won the 2019 Royal London One-Day Cup, their first since emerging victorious in the 2001 edition. The club has its headquarters at the County Ground, Taunton, where in the present-day almost all of its games are played. Since 2005, Somerset also play at Taunton Vale against MCC Universities teams (including first-class matches in 2012 and 2015); Taunton Vale is also the regular home venue for the Second XI team. The club have played at a number of other grounds in their past, with a significant number of matches at Clarence Park (until 1996), Weston-super-Mare and the Recreation Ground, Bath (until 2011).

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