Cricket

Nottinghamshire has some magnificent cricketing heroes, both past and present, who in turn have led to the success of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and also the England Cricket team.

Wilfred Flowers (1856-1926)

Calverton born cricketer Wilfred Flowers (1856-1926) was the first Nottinghamshire player to score a 'cricketer's double' - 100 wickets and 1000 runs in the 1883 season. He was the mainstay of the Nottinghamshire side during the county's golden years. He also played for England eight times and took part in the Australia tour in 1884 and 1886.

Stuart Broad

Born in Nottinghamshire in 1986, Stuart Broad was born to be a cricketer and would regularly visit Trent Bridge to watch his father Chris, an Ashes hero himself, open the batting for Nottinghamshire.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Stuart plays with Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. He also plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and was their Twenty20 team captain. In 2013, he was integral in England’s Ashes victory over Australia.

Broad is now a 4x Ashes winner, following a stunning 2015 summer series, which climaxed with Broad claiming an astonishing eight wickets for just fifteen runs, in front of a jubilant Trent Bridge crowd. The hometown hero's Australian demolition job inspired England to reclaim the Ashes right here in Nottingham.  

Derek Randall

Born in Retford, Derek played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. His club career spanned 1972 to 1983. During this time, he hit 1,000 runs in a season eight times and scored two double centuries. His highest score of 209 against Middlesex in 1979 was accompanied by 146 in the same game. In late 1976 he started his England career in India. His achievements include 393 matches played for Nottinghamshire, 47 test appearances, and 23,069 county runs including 14 centuries averaging 38.32. He finally hung up his bat in 2001 aged 50.

Harold Larwood MBE (1904-1995) / William Voce (1909-1984)

Cricketers Larwood (1904-1995) and Voce (1909-1984) started their careers playing for Kirkby in Ashfield. Larwood played 21 test matches and was a bowler of great speed combined with considerable control. He could release lightning deliveries at over 95mph with deadly accuracy. He was a force to be reckoned between 1926 and 1933. A hard hitting and successful batsman, he made 98 against Australia in the final test in 1933. Strongly associated with the famous 1932/33 bodyline tour, his genuine cricketing excellence was often overshadowed by controversy. With his Notts team-mate Voce, Larwood was a pioneer of the infamous ‘bodyline’ bowling used in the 1932-33 tour of Australia. This led to changes in the laws of cricket being introduced in 1934

Bill Voce's name is usually associated with Larwood's. They even had a stand and a pub at Trent Bridge named after them. Voce was a great fast bowler. After Larwood finished playing for England and Voce was recalled in 1936, he was the test sides main strike bowler. He made his test debut aged 20 on a tour to the West Indies in 1929 and played 27 test matches during his career.

Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann is an English international cricketer who plays for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Stuart is noted for being an attacking spinner and one of his many great achievements is in 2009 when he became the first English spinner to take 50 wickets in a calendar year. He was also part of the victorious England Ashes team in 2013.