Frank Howe Sugg

Prior to WWI Frank Sugg had a brief encounter with the Club in 1911, when he guested in both of that year's games against Chelmarsh. He claimed 5-9 from 10 overs in the first game, and hit an unbeaten 111 in the return fixture. He was in the area visiting his nephew at Bridgnorth Grammar School, who was also a useful cricketer.

Sugg had played first class cricket for his native Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire, and played twice for England. He also played professional football, notably for Bolton Wanderers and others, and was accomplished at long distance swimming, shooting, weightlifting and the shot putt.

Following his retirement from first-class sport, Sugg spent two years on the first-class umpires list (1925-26) and then joined his brother Horace, also a first-class cricketer, in their sports equipment company. With shops in London and Liverpool the family business prospered and the connection with the club continued as they supplied Bridgnorth CC with kit.

Sydney Francis Barnes

S.F. Barnes was, and in many cricket circles still is, a legend of the game. His cricketing prowess reached its peak around the turn of the twentieth century when he was selected to play for England on the tour of Australia, as reward for his performances for Lancashire CCC.

It was not until 1937 that he made his debut for the club at the ripe old aage of 65, but he topped the bowling averages the following year, claiming 126 wickets at a miserly 6.94 apiece, and topped the batting averages to boot.

He was a complicated character and a stickler for detail, once asking the eleven-year-old scorer, former Club President Chris Steward, "How many have you got me down for today, young shaver?"

Syd Richards

Having been spotted playing on the town's Recreation Ground (now the Innage Lane Car Park) and recommended by the Reverend Oldham, Syd Richards joined the club in 1892. He made the 1st XI by 1897 and retired from cricket, still playing at the top level, in 1926 having been captain from 1921 to 1924.

He was an all-round athlete. He was offered a professional football contract when aged 16 and playing for Bridgnorth Town FC, he played as centre-forward for the town's hockey first team, and won prizes as a sprinter at the athletics events as part of the Bridgnorth Regatta.

He was a consistent run scorer, amassing 6000 career runs, and whilst only an occasional bowler took significant amounts of wickets. He claimed a hat-trick against Worfield in 1922, and in 1917 played for Shropshire and scored 103.

Cyril Washbrook

Cyril Washbrook's father was a calico printer who moved from Clitheroe in Lancashire to Danesford in 1928. By 1930, Cyril was captain of Bridgnorth Grammar School and scored his first century.

He played for Bridgnorth CC in 1931/32, scoring 2,050 runs in 34 innings with a best of 129 v Mr Tomkinson's XI. He left to play for Lancashire CCC in the following season on a contract that released him at the end of August. Returning to Cricket Meadow to play the final three games of the season, he scored 101* v Worcester City, 130* v The Troops (a touring team from London) and 104 v Newport.

Cyril maintained contact with the club after retiring from the game and saw the first day's play at Cricket Meadow when Shropshire CCC entertained a Lancashire CCC 2nd XI in a 1981 Minor Counties fixture.

James Albert Gough

A thirteen year club career began for Albert Gough in 1924. He was an opening batsman and a high quality wicketkeeper, who also tended the ground - which received high praise during this time.

He had trials for both Worcestershire CCC and Warwickshire CCC and played for Old Hill CC in the Birmingham League in 1936. As an all-round sportsman he also played centre-half for Bridgnorth Town FC, earning the nickname "The Shadow".

In his thirteen seasons he scored 10,401 runs from 362 innings. In 1928 he became the first player from the club to score 1,000 runs in a season, and repeated the feat four times in his career.

Albert died suddenly in May 1937 after an operation for Appendicitis lead to further complications. He was thirty three.

Ken Arch

Ken Arch was a genuine all-rounder, and not just at cricket - he was also an accomplished footballer and tennis player. He had a love-hate relationship with the club, leading to a fractured career as he would stop playing mid-season or have a season at another club. That aside his record is remarkable.

On five occasions he scored 1,000 runs in a season.
He took 100 wickets in a season six times.
Four times he did the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season.
He scored a century and claimed a hat-trick in a game against Welshpool in 1963, and took a total of 127 wickets in that season.
His highest score was an unbeaten 123 v Wednesbury in 1960.
Hi best bowling analysis was 9-20 v Greenflies in 1957.
He took nine wickets in an innings on four occasions, and claimed five hat-tricks.
He scored nine centuries in total, three of these in the 1967 season.

Ken finished his playing career in 1975, but remained involved at the club as a coach and latterly as an umpire. Two of his sons had successful careers at the club before moving away to work.

Philip Gough

Phil Gough was the last of a family legacy at Bridgnorth CC when he retired from playing in 1990, having followed his grandfather, uncles and father to the crease.

He scored eleven centuries in a career that began in 1957, and his century v Shifnal in 1959 was the first league ton by a Bridgnorth player. On nine occasions he scored a 1,000 runs in a season, and twice scored the figure in three consecutive seasons.

He played a number of games for Glamorgan CCC 2nd XI in the 1961 season. In 1980 he scored a club record 1,520 runs in the season, breaking his own record of 1,373 from 1963.

His career totals saw him total 26,341 runs in 1,050 innings for Bridgnorth CC at an average of just under 30.

David Breakwell

In a career spanning twenty nine years, Dave Breakwell earned the respect of opposition batsmen as a bowler who 'just kept coming at you'.

A real workhorse, he would be given the ball at the start of the innings and would invariably still be bowling at the end of it. Before bowling restrictions he would often be unchanged in a spell.

He totalled over 9,600 overs, claiming 1,771 wickets at a miserly 15.13 runs apiece. In 1979, Dave bowled a record number of overs, 591, in a single season. In the same season he twice claimed nine wickets in an innings, and his haul of 100 for the season was the sixth time he had reached the mark, thus equalling Ken Arch's record.

He spent the 1963 and 1964 seasons with Worcestershire CCC 2nd XI, taking 55 wickets. In 1969 he played for Dudley in the Birmingham League.

Also a keen golfer, Dave now prepares the tracks at Cricket Meadow.