PLAYING

CLIFTON COLLEGE
The Avenue
Bristol
BS8 3HE
Established 1862
Notable fixtures Cheltenham
College, Rugby School, Sherborne,
King’s Taunton, Bromsgrove
Master i/c Cricket John Bobby
Cricket professional Paul Romaines
(Gloucestershire), Jim Williams
(Glamorgan, 2016)
Teams U14AB, U15AB, 1st XI 2nd
XI, 3rd XI. Girls’ cricket years 9/10
Facilities 1st XI ground –The Close
– plus four other squares, two
artificial outdoor pitches, eight
grass nets, two bowling machine
nets, four indoor nets
Club/county affiliation
Gloucestershire, Somerset
Brief history The highest individual
score in any match remains the
unbeaten 628 made by AEJ Collins
during a house match at Clifton
in 1899. A previous world record
(404 not out) was also scored at
Clifton, by EFS Tylecote for The
Classical v The Modern. One of
the home grounds of WG Grace
with Gloucestershire using the
school regularly until 1932. The
centrepiece of the school is the
1st XI ground immortalised in
the Newbolt poem, “There’s a
breathless hush in The Close
tonight”. There are few finer school
grounds, with the backdrop of
the college buildings providing a
wonderful stage to watch and play
Cricketers of note James Kirtley
(Sussex & England), Matt Windows
(Gloucestershire)
thecricketer.com / 17