Agricultural Showgrounds is the home venue of Frome Cricket Club who play in the Somerset Division of the West of England Premier League. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1882, when Frome played United Eleven
Frome Cricket Club was re-formed in 1925 and has played at Fromefield since it’s incorporation, the ground is on the former showfield site and indeed the cricket ground used to give way in September to be used for the main cattle and show jumping ring for the annual Frome and district cheese and agricultural show which even involved digging a water jump each year!
For many years as with most of the county, friendly cricket was played against local towns and villages in and around the Somerset and Wiltshire border so close to Frome with regular Derby games against Trowbridge, Warminster and Bath.
In the early 1970’s though, things were changing and Frome, under the captaincy of Brian Stockhill were instrumental in the formation of the Somerset Cricket League in 1973. Although this was a good move for Somerset Cricket it sadly meant our local games against friends from over the Wiltshire border slowly diminished and our now pre-season friendlies.
Frome were again instrumental in reorganisation of league restructure with the formation of the Alliance cricket league which incorporated Somerset and Bristol clubs and then in 1999 was integrated into the current West of England Premier League structure.
The Fromefield ground was used as a county ground for Somerset County CC up until the early 1970’s when the last 1st class match took place in the John player Sunday League against Leicestershire, although we currently host Junior county matches each year.
Arguably the most famous Somerset County match staged at Frome was in May 1935 when Somerset found themselves a man short for a game against Essex so a young lad by the name of Harold Gimblett, who had not really impressed in trials but on his last day of trials was told to get himself to Frome and having missed the train from Taunton, hitched a lift in a lorry and strode out to bat with Somerset 107-6, 80 minutes later he finished with 123 with Somerset going on to win the match.
Over the years, Frome CC has produced three first class cricketers for Somerset, most notably the Demon of Frome, Colin Dredge who played alongside such greats as Ian Botham, Viv Richards et al during the late seventies and early eighties. Colin iscurrently now in 2022 president of the club, He was followed by Mark Harman, who is now back at the club coaching and playing and more recently, Alex Barrow.
Frome now run 3 Saturday sides and currently the 1st XI play in the WEPL Prem 2, the 2nd XI in the Somerset Cricket League division 1 and in 2018 the 3rdXI was reformed to promote junior players into senior cricket and currently paly in the Somerset cricket league divison 7. Due to a lack of playing fields within Frome, the 3rdXi play in the picturesque village of Mells.
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