1789 English cricket season

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1789 English cricket season
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The 1789 English cricket season was the third after the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Details of 25 matches are known. [note 1]

Contents

The French Revolution escalated after the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July when cricket patron John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, was the British ambassador in Paris. Dorset was reportedly planning a goodwill visit to France by an England team, but the crisis forced him to return home and the venture was cancelled before the team could leave England.

Proposed visit to Paris by an England team

The British ambassador to France, the Duke of Dorset, a leading patron of cricket, planned the formation of an England team to visit Paris on a goodwill tour and play matches there in August. [5] The team, captained by William Yalden, reportedly assembled in London and travelled to Dover on 10 August where, unexpectedly, they met the Duke himself coming the other way. He was returning to England following the escalation of the French Revolution and the venture was cancelled. [5] [6] [7] According to John Major in More Than A Game, "the whole story is nonsense". [8] On 16 July, two days after the Storming of the Bastille, Dorset had written to Foreign Secretary Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds, about the crisis and had warned other British residents to leave Paris so, Major contends, he would hardly have invited a cricket team to come to France at such a time. [9]

Dorset is known to have left Paris on 8 August. [10] He did not return and was temporarily replaced by his Embassy Secretary, Lord Robert Stephen FitzGerald, as Minister Plenipotentiary. New credentials were delivered by his official successor, Earl Gower, on 20 June 1790. Dorset's credentials were terminated on 29 June 1790. [10] If the venture had gone ahead, it would have been the first-ever international cricket tour but, instead, it became the first to be cancelled for political reasons. [6]

Matches

A total of 14 first-class matches were played during the season and involved teams from each of Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. An England side took part in three matches, two against the Hampshire XI and one against the Kent XI while a Gentlemen of England side played against the Middlesex XI. There were two matches between teams from West Kent and East Kent and a team from Hornchurch Cricket Club hosted MCC in August. A match between teams named A to M and N to Z was played at Lord's Old Ground. [11] [12] [13]

datematch titlevenuesourceresult
22–23 May (F-S) Sir H Mann v S Amherst CoxheathFLPVAmherst's XI won by 5 wkts
25 May (M) Gents of All-England v Middlesex Lord's (Dorset Square)style="text-align:center;" [14] Middlesex won by innings & 64 runs
3–4 June (W-Th) Earl of Earl of Winchilsea v Sir H Mann Lord's (Dorset Square)style="text-align:center;" [15] Earl of Winchilsea's XI won by 140 runs
This match was postponed after 4 June and completed on Mon 15 & Tues 16 June 1789
8 June (M) Uxbridge v Moulsey Hurst New Ground, Uxbridge Moorstyle="text-align:center;" [15] MH won by 53 runs
Uxbridge was arguably a Middlesex XI and Moulsey Hurst arguably a Surrey XI.
10–12 June (W-F) Surrey v Kent Moulsey Hurststyle="text-align:center;" [16] Kent won by 3 wkts
26-27 Jun (F-S) All-England XIII v Hampshire Lord's (Dorset Square)style="text-align:center;" [17] Hampshire won by 6 wkts
This match was postponed after 27 June and completed on Thurs 2 July 1789
29–30 June (M-Tu) Sir H Mann v S Amherst Coxheathstyle="text-align:center;" [17] Mann's XI won by 8 runs
8–9 July (W-Th) MCC v Essex #Lord's (Dorset Square)style="text-align:center;" [18] Essex won by 102 runs
13–14 July (M-Tu) Hampshire v Kent Windmill Downstyle="text-align:center;" [19] Kent won by 56 runs

The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on Tuesday 14 July at the outset of the French Revolution

23–25 July (Th-S) All-England v Kent New Ground, Uxbridge Moorstyle="text-align:center;" [20] All-England won by innings & 10 runs
30 July - 1 Aug (Th-S) Surrey v Hampshire Moulsey HurstFLPVSurrey won by 221 runs
Neither side was fully representative of the counties, but the majority of players are recognised so the match is included as a major fixture.
4-5 Aug (Tu-W) Sir H Mann v S Amherst Coxheathstyle="text-align:center;" [21] Mann's XI won by 57 runs
6-7 Aug (Th-F) Essex v MCC #Langton Park, HornchurchFLPVEssex won by 6 wkts
Re the Essex v MCC games, some reports referred to the Essex side as Hornchurch. The Hornchurch Club at this time was representative of Essex as a county.
11-14 Aug (Tu-F) Kent v Surrey Bishopsbournestyle="text-align:center;" [21] Surrey won by 9 wkts
18-21 Aug (Tu-F) Kent v Hampshire Bishopsbournestyle="text-align:center;" [22] Hampshire won by 29 runs
2-5 Sept (W-S) All-England v Hampshire Sevenoaks Vinestyle="text-align:center;" [23] Hampshire won by 15 runs
7-9 Sept (M-W) Middlesex v London Lord's (Dorset Square)FLPVLondon won by 2 wkts
Excluded from earlier classifications due to "weak teams" and a view that Middlesex was really the Uxbridge club. The majority of players are recognised so this is a major match here.
10-11 Sept (Th-F)Chelsea v MCCChelseaFLPVdrawn?
This was definitely not a major fixture, due to lack of recognised players. It was "postponed till next week" but no report of a conclusion has been found. In Chelsea's second innings, the scorecard shows all eleven batsmen as out!
18-19 Sept (F-S)Bridge & Bourne v AldingtonBishopsbourneFLPVB&B won by 7 wkts
This game included James Aylward as a given man to Aldington. There were a handful of recognised players taking part.
21 Sept (M) Leicester v Nottingham ^Loughboroughstyle="text-align:center;" [24] Nottingham won by innings & 16 runs
23-24 Sept (W-Th)East Kent v Isle of ThanetDandelion Paddock, MargateFLPVEast Kent won by 10 wkts
5-6 Oct (M-Tu) Leicester v Nottingham ^Loughboroughstyle="text-align:center;" [25] Leicester won by 1 run
This match was postponed after 6 October and completed on Mon 2 November 1789.
7 Oct (W)Gordon Castle Club v 55th RegimentAberdeenFLPVGordon CC won by innings & 258 runs
This match was evidently organised by the Hon. Charles Lennox who scored 136 for the Gordon Castle Club.

Single wicket

9–10 July (Th–F) : Six of Hampshire v Six of Kent @ Itchin Stoke Down. Match drawn (bad weather).

Leading batsmen

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.

William Beldham with 306 scored the most known runs in 1789.

Other leading batsmen were James Aylward with 297 runs; John Wells 240; Harry Walker 228; Tom Walker 225; Richard Purchase 224; John Small 222; Thomas Ingram 219; George Louch 215; William Brazier 210; Joey Ring 198

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th-century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

Robert Clifford with 39 took the most known wickets in 1789.

Other leading wicket-takers were David Harris with 38; Richard Purchase 30; John Boorman 25; William Bullen 25; Butcher 19; Noah Mann 18

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled": the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

Robert Clifford was also the most successful fielder with 16 known victims (15 ct, 1 st)

William Beldham took 15 catches, John Wells had 14 victims (13 ct, 1 st), star fielder George Louch took 12 catches and there were 9 catches each taken by John Boorman, William Bullen and Henry Crozoer.

Notes

  1. ↑ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources. [1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective. [2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. [3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant. [4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

  1. ↑ "First-Class matches in England in 1772" . CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  2. ↑ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC   851705816.
  3. ↑ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
  4. ↑ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
  5. 1 2 Goulstone, John; Swanton, Michael (8 August 1989). "Carry on Cricket – The Duke of Dorset's 1789 Tour" . History Today. Vol. 39, no. 8. London: History Today Ltd. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  6. 1 2 Keating, Frank (3 December 2001). "A pre-tour wrangle with India is par for the course". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Lot 491: The first printing of the 1788 MCC Laws of Cricket in an English newspaper". London: Bonhams. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. p. 86. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7.
  9. ↑ Major, p. 87.
  10. 1 2 Bindoff, S. T.; Smith, E. F. Malcolm; Webster, C. K. (1934). "British Diplomatic Representatives (1789–1852)". Camden Third Series, Volume 50. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 47–48.
  11. ↑ Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) (1981) A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
  12. ↑ England Domestic Season 1789 - Fixtures and Results, CricInfo. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  13. ↑ First-class matches in England, 1789, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2019-12-10. (subscription required)
  14. ↑ Waghorn 2005.
  15. 1 2 Haygarth 1996, p. 91.
  16. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 92.
  17. 1 2 Haygarth 1996, p. 93.
  18. ↑ Buckley 1935.
  19. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 94.
  20. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 95.
  21. 1 2 Haygarth 1996, p. 96.
  22. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 97.
  23. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 98.
  24. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 99.
  25. ↑ Haygarth 1996, p. 100.

Bibliography

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