The College Ground first hosted first-class cricket in 1872 when Gloucestershire played Surrey; Gloucestershire won the game by an innings and 37 runs thanks largely to W. G. Grace's match haul of 12–63. In August 1876, Grace became the first man to score a triple century in a county match when he hit 318 not out against Yorkshire; he had made the first triple hundred in all first-class cricket for the Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club at Canterbury just one week earlier.[1]
The Cheltenham Cricket Festival, held during the school holidays, has been a part of Gloucestershire's season ever since the 1870s.[2]
