1791 English cricket season

1791 English cricket season

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The emergence of the Brighton club in the 1791 English cricket season heralded a brief revival of Sussex cricket, which had been prominent during the early 18th century. As with Hornchurch Cricket Club and Essex, the Brighton team was a fair representation of Sussex as a county, and the county name is used where the opposition is another county team or England. The club's venue was the Prince of Wales Ground in Brighton, which had its name changed over the years and was known as Box's Ground in the 19th century. Details of 26 matches are known, but only a few can be considered top-class. ^{[note 1]}

Brighton Cricket Club

Brighton played Middlesex on the Prince of Wales Ground from 19 to 22 September. Middlesex won by 21 runs. ^[5] Although Brighton lost to Middlesex, the club's emergence at this time heralded a brief revival of Sussex cricket which had been prominent during the early 18th century. As with Hornchurch/Essex and others, the Brighton team was a fair representation of Sussex as a county, and the county name is sometimes used in the club's matches. ^[5]

Nottingham v MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) ventured north to play Nottingham on King's Meadow. The match took place on 29 and 30 August. MCC won by 10 wickets. The MCC team was good quality, and it is clear that the Nottingham team was representative of its county. The match is historically important, and is also recorded in William North's 1832 book of Nottingham Old Club Match Scores. ^[6]

MCC played in several more matches this season, including four against Essex, and two each against Kent and Middlesex. ^[7]

Hampshire

Hampshire lost all five of the top-class matches they played, four against England and one against Surrey. ^[8]

Other events

Lord's was the scene of an Old Etonians v Gentlemen match from 30 May to 2 June. This sort of event recurred frequently at Lord's as it established itself within the social scene. The teams were composed mainly of leading amateurs, but they would tend to include professionals as given men. The Gentlemen won this match by 6 wickets. ^[9]

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. Haygarth 1996, p. 125.
6. Haygarth 1996, p. 123.
7. ACS 1981, p. 28.
8. Haygarth 1996, pp. 115–122.
9. Haygarth 1996, p. 111.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Haygarth, Arthur (1996) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN   978-19-00592-23-9.
• Warner, Pelham (1946). Lords: 1787–1945. London: Harrap. OCLC   877106024.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   894274808.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN   978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• Britcher, Samuel (1791). A Complete List of all the Grand Matches of Cricket that have been Played (1790–1805; annual series). London: W. S. Blake. OCLC   83523010.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. London: Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only).