Lot Essay
The Gillette Cup is a knock-out competition played between seventeen 1st-class country sides and the five leading Counties in the Minor Counties Championship of the previous year. The first competition took place in 1963 and was won by Sussex who defeated Worcestershire by 14 runs.
This competition was the first-ever to offer "Man of the Match" awards and Peter Marner became the first recipient of a gold medal in the preliminary round match between Lancashire and Leicestershire at Old Trafford on 1st May 1963. For this match and every match thereafter an adjudicator was appointed (always a distinguished retired cricketer), who when the match is over, awards and presents the "Man of the Match" medal to the player.
The first round proper was played on 22nd May when a total of eight ties were played. In the Worcestershire v. Surrey match, Worcestershire totalled 229 runs after their innings. Surrey quickly took control of the match and scored 82 runs before losing a wicket. The match seemed to be slipping away from Worcestershire until Jim Standen took-over. He quickly took five wickets for 14 runs in 15 overs to destroy any chance of a Surrey win and because of this bowling display was awarded the "Man of the Match" award.