Worcestershire CCC will be celebrating some of the most successful periods in their history when they stage their 150th Anniversary Gala Evening-Awards Night at New Road this evening.
Players from those trophy laden eras will be looking back at the times – including the 1960s and 1980s – when Worcestershire were the dominant force in county cricket.
The night will also be combined with the County's annual awards including Players' Player, Young Player and the Dick Lygon Award.
More than 450 people will be attending what promises to be a night to remember in a huge Marquee erected on the outfield.
Here below are the former – and in the case of Daryl Mitchell – current players who will be recalling those heady times in the Club's proud history.
1960s Norman Gifford
Norman made his debut for Worcestershire in 1960, was a member of the 1964 and 1965 Championship winning sides and skippered the side to the 1974 title when he was also named a Wisden Cricketer Of The Year.
He played 15 tests for England and at the age of 44 skippered England in ODI cricket against Australia and Pakistan.
Norman ended his first class career in 1988 with 2,068 wickets. He celebrated his 75th birthday this year and is currently Worcestershire's spin bowling coach.
1960s Roy Booth
Roy joined Worcestershire from Yorkshire in 1956 and was first choice keeper at New Road for 13 seasons and like Norman was an integral part of the 1964-1965 Championship winning sides.
In 1964 he became the last wicket-keeper to complete 100 dismissals in an English season – the second time he achieved this feat.
Roy played his last game for Worcestershire in 1970 and finished with 948 catches and 178 stumpings in addition to scoring over 10,000 first class runs.
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1970s Paul Pridgeon
Like Norman Gifford, Paul was part of three County Championship winning squads and played for Worcestershire from 1972 to 1989, finishing his career with 530 first class wickets and 217 List A wickets.
He took 50 or more wickets in a season on six occasions with a best return of 72 in 1983 and registered his best Championship figures of 7-44 against Leicestershire in 1987.
Paul's most prolific List A season was 1988 with 30 victims as Worcestershire won the Sunday League. After hanging up his spikes he became Cricket Professional at Shrewsbury School and still has strong links with the County via their satellite academy. ______________________________________________________________________________
1980s and 1990s
Steve Rhodes Steve joined Worcestershire 30 years ago from Yorkshire and was first choice keeper for 20 years. helping the County to back to County Championship titles and a host of one-day trophies during the 1980s and early 1990s including the 1991 Benson and Hedges Cup and 1994 NatWest Trophy wins.
He played 11 Tests and nine ODIs for England and ended his career with 1139 first class catches and 124 stumpings in addition to nearly 700 List A dismissals. As a determined and pugnacius batsman, he scored almost 15,000 first class runs at an average of 33 with 12 centuries.
After retiring in 2004, Steve became assistant coach to Tom Moody but was quickly promoted to Director of Cricket the following year and has led the side to four promotions in the Championship and the 2007 Pro 40 League title plus helping to develop the current crop of young talent at New Road.
1980s and 1990s Tim Curtis
Opening batsman Tim was the glue which held the Worcestershire innings together for many years during the success of the 1980s and 1990s and he scored nearly 21,000 first class runs at an average of 41, passing 1,000 runs in a season 11 times.
But he was also prolific in List A cricket and is one of only two players – along with Graeme Hick – to score more than 10,000 one-day runs for Worcestershire, helping the County to Sunday League titles in 1987 and 1988.
He was appointed captain in 1992 and lifted the 1994 NatWest Trophy. Tim made five Test appearances for England and after retiring in 1996, had a spell as chairman of the PCA. He is currently Director of Sport at Worcester RGS and is Vice Chairman at New Road. ______________________________________________________________________________
2000s Daryl Mitchell
Current captain Daryl made his debut 11 years ago and has led the side since taking over from Vikram Solanki at the tail-end of the 2010 season. He has been a reliable and consistent performer for a decade and has scored more than 9,215 first class runs at an average of nearly 40.
He has topped the 1,000 run mark in a season on three occasions with his best return in 2014 when he scored 1,334 runs with five centuries – the second highest tally in Division Two of the LV = County Championship. In addition Daryl has amassed 2,572 List A runs at an average of 33.40, helping the team to win the Pro40 League in 2007, and has become a major force in T20 cricket.
He has led Worcestershire to promotion in the County Championship on two occasions – in 2010 after replacing Solanki for the last five games, and in 2014.
2000s Matt Mason
Australian born Matt was part of the Worcestershire for the best part of a decade after joining the County in 2002 and played in the 2003 and 2004 one-day finals at Lord's against Gloucestershire.
He collected 50 plus first class wickets in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and then in 2006 achieved his career best figures of 8-45 against Gloucestershire at New Road. Matt was also a useful late order hard-hitting batsman.
Matt, who has an Irish passport, retired mid-way through 2011 with a total of 318 first class and 94 List A wickets. He became Worcestershire's bowling coach and is also now assistant coach and an important member of the backroom staff.
