London County Cricket Club was originally formed by Dr. WG Grace in 1899. His philosophy was to give "invaluable First Class match experience to many cricketers who could not otherwise get it and who would be all the better for it when they come to play in County Cricket”.
Over one hundred years later, those same words still ring true, and are the underlying ethos of the reformed London County.
Former Somerset, Essex and Leicestershire wicket keeper / batsman Neil Burns had strongly held beliefs during his time as a professional cricketer that more should be done to open doors to those who for whatever reason had been missed by the First Class counties.
After his retirement from the first class game, Neil Burns decided to reform London County Cricket Club to act as a vehicle for that development and support of cricketers. The official relaunch took place during 2004 and exactly 100 years after the last London County match, versus MCC, the two clubs met once again at Beaconsfield Cricket Club with London County led by Honorary Captain Sir Vivian Richards.
In the time since that reformation, much work has been done to realise Neil's vision for the organisation. In each year, a Search 4 A Star talent identification event has been held. Overseas tours and winter academies have been run alongside summertime development squads and mentoring sessions.
With the team of high quality professionals from a range of disciplines who Neil has pulled together, London County continues to grow year on year, becoming recognised in the cricket world, both domestically and internationally as a "safe environment" for people to be allowed to develop.
We are very sensitive and proud of the history of the Club and the ethos of those founding members over 100 years ago, and we take those ideas and standards forward to the modern day as we offer "all round opportunity".
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