The eagerly awaited book 'Pears 150, the life and times of Worcestershire County Cricket Club 1865-2014' by Andrew Thomas will go on sale from Sunday – the opening day of the home clash with Durham.
It will be available to purchase for £28 from the Worcestershire Supporters' Association shop at the back of the Basil D'Oliveira Stand.
As the title suggests, it is a new history of the county cricket club to mark its 150th Anniversary Year.
Pears 150 consists of 540 A4 size pages and traces WCCC’s development from the earliest reported cricket in the county in 1820.
Apart from cricket, Pears 150 has 28 pages giving details about flooding on New Road and mentions many county, national and international events to help put the county cricket club in context.
Pears 150 has more than half a million words, 19 graphs, 22 charts, 14 maps, 23 tables and 243 photographs.
It is an ideal birthday gift, Christmas present, distraction during breaks in play, and cure for insomnia, for all fans of WCCC.
At £28, Pears 150 is expensive (mainly due to the unsponsored cost of printing). Therefore, over five weeks, a few pages from Pears 150 will be posted on the WCCC website, to help you decide whether this large and detailed reference book is value for money or not, at 5.2p a page.
As an appetiser, Andrew Thomas has compiled a quiz relating to events highlighted in the book with the answers available on the page numbers listed by each question.
1) Nov 1872, how did Worcester City CC attend their annual dinner and awards at The Grandstand Hotel? (p. 49 )
2) March 1874, what effect did a high tide and Severn Bore have in Worcester? (p. 53 )
3) Early 1891, after the big freeze, when river ice was more than a foot thick, what was discovered in an ice flow at Upton? (p.91 )
4) April 1893, what were WCCC’s ordinary colours before this date? Who introduced new colours and why did he choose them? (p. 95 )
5) June 1897, in what spectacular way was Queen Victoria’s Diamond (and previous Golden) Jubilee celebrated in Worcester? (p. 109 )
6) May 1900, how many woollen sweaters did Charles Corden wear while fielding v London County? (p. 122 )
7) 20-22 July 1911, what crossed the County Ground New Road Worcester? (p. 145 )
8) Early 1913, what did Lord Hawke’s Lunch Club XI attempt to do to WCCC? (p. 150 )
9) Jan 1928, what happened only a month after Stoke Edith Mansion burnt down? (p. 197 )
10) May 1934 & May 1939, what happened during these two matches v Essex at Chelmsford? (p. 211 & 223 )
11) March 1947, Worcester’s winter included the Long Frost (and deep snow), The Great Gale, and the worst flood since when? (p. 245 )
12) May 1948, what was unusual about former WCCC player Frank Chester’s return to New Road? (p. 247 )
13) In 1963, how many times did The Beatles and The Rolling Stones play at The Gaumont Cinema, Worcester? (p. 279 )
14) In 1964 & 1965, Tom (moved) & Dick (stayed), to achieve something Ken (stayed) & Peter (moved), never did? (p. 283 )
15) In 1974, WCCC won its 3rd Championship pennant and £3,000, but why were they then fined £1,000? (p. 305 )
16) November 1985, who was passing through Worcestershire, and later returned? (p.333 )
17) After 2 Championships in 1988 & 1989, about how many sponsors were thanked for their support in the 1990 Year Book? (p. 424 )
18) November 1992, what stopped a scheme to develop former flood land and rubbish dump, Cripplegate Park? (p. 349 )
19) June & July 2007, what cost £1,164,114? (p. 384 )
20) September 2008, when Graeme Hick retired after 1,214 matches, he was the last active WCCC player to achieve what? (p. 385 )
