THE HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn, and no price-clip to dw/dj.Colour scenic,action sports photographic upper wrap (match at club's ground) with b/w+colour club's badge to rear wrap.Minimal shelf- wear and negligible creasing to dw/dj edges,no nicks or tears present with the merest hint of sunning/fading to upper board's spine/backstrip edge.Top+fore-edges bright and generally clean,contents near pristine.Publisher's unblemished plain blue cloth boards with bright,crisp, blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,1-258pp includes title+half-title pages,contents list,a personal view from Bomber Wells - an ex-player,13 chapters+48pp statistical section,profuse b/w contemporary action, team and individual portrait photographs,a select bibliography and an index. That a William Gilbert Grace happened to be born in Downend,Bristol,in 1848 was of prime importance to Gloucestershire cricket.The County Club was in turn born from the Grace family,and the 'Shire of Graces' became powerful enough to win the Championship four times in five seasons from 1873 to 1877.Alas,the success did not last,and Gloucestershire are one of the few first-class counties not to have won the Championship in modern times.A second place in 1969,a further near-miss or two and a couple of one-day trophies in the 1970's are the biggest successes the County can claim in the first 90 years of the 20thC. However,one thing the County has never lacked is character. Its specialities have been majestic batsmen and outstanding slow bowlers.In the front rank of the batsmen are 'The Champion',W.G. himself,and Walter Hammond,like Grace undoubtedly for a while the best in the world.The best hitter in the world was also a Gloucestershire batsman,Gilbert Jessop.And in recent years who has batted with more style than Tom Graveney? That he left Gloucestershire amid controversy is,of course,part of the story of this book.The slow bowlers to bring fame to Gloucestershire are men like Charlie Parker,whose independent character no doubt helped to restrict his Test appearances to one,Tom Goddard, Sam Cook, Bomber Wells, David Allen and John Mortimore. Gloucestershire have had some outstanding overseas players in recent times,too,the best being Mike Procter and Zaheer Abbas. All of which means that although Gloucestershire have won little in 100 years,it is not for want of the greatest players.Their cricket,and their story, are both among the most interesting of those of all the counties.This book contains all the usual statistics,like the records of all the County's first- class cricketers,which has helped win previous titles in the series such good notices. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence, then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **