1794 English cricket season

1794 English cricket season

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1794 was the eighth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Berkshire had the strongest county team. Details of 18 matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
13–14 May (Tu-W)	MCC v London	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[5]	MCC won by 77 runs
21–22 May (W-Th)	MCC v London	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[5]	London won by innings & 30 runs
26–29 May (M-Th)	MCC v Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[6]	MCC won by 100 runs
9–11 June (M-W)	All-England v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[7]	Surrey won by 197 runs
18–20 June (W-F)	R Leigh v E G Morant	Oldfield Bray	[7]	Leigh's XI won by 89 runs
30 June - 2 July (M-W)	R Leigh v G Louch	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[8]	Leigh's XI won by 132 runs
7–8 July (M-Tu)	Berkshire v MCC	Oldfield Bray	[9]	MCC won by 3 wkts
21–22 July (M-Tu)	E G Morant v R Leigh	Dartford Brent	[10]	Morant's XI won by 33 runs
23–24 July (W-Th)	T Walker v D Harris	Dartford Brent	[11]	Walker's XI won by 53 runs
29–30 July (Tu-W)	MCC v Berkshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[12]	MCC won by 56 runs
In S&B and the ACS list, this game is called Earl of Winchilsea's XI v E G Morant's XI but it is clearly an MCC team hosting the Oldfield club of Berkshire, so it is called MCC v Berkshire here. Has been excluded from earlier classifications due to "weak teams". However, both sides consist of recognised players and it is a major fixture.
7-9, 11 Aug (Th-M)	MCC v All-England ^	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[13]	MCC won by 59 runs
12-13 Aug (Tu-W)	MCC v Berkshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[14]	Berkshire won by 7 runs
13-14 Aug (W-Th)	MCC v Berkshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[14]	Berkshire won by 6 wkts
This game started as soon as previous one ended
19-20 Aug (Tu-W)	Hampshire v All-England ^	Stoke Down	[15]	All-England won by 6 wkts
21-23 Aug (Th-S)	Hampshire v All-England ^	Stoke Down	[16]	Hampshire won by 6 wkts
^ The All-England teams in these three games are variously described as amalgams of counties (e.g., Kent & Surrey) but they are really All-England teams. Sussex are not included in the amalgams but their best player John Hammond was in all three teams. ACS is inconsistent here, stating that one of the teams is All-England but the other two are amalgams.
27-30 Aug (W-S)	Berkshire v Kent	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[17]	Berkshire won by 49 runs
10-13, 15 Sept (W-M)	All-England XIII v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[17]	All-England won by 3 runs
16-19 Sept (Tu-F)	All-England XIII v Surrey	Dartford Brent	[18]	All-England won by 150 runs

First mentions

Counties

• Shropshire

Players

• John Lambert
• Edward Winter
• Briden (MCC cricketer)
• James Beeston aka Tom Brown (Middlesex) – played 24 matches to 1808
• Rice (Middlesex cricketer) aka James or A Smith (Middlesex; amateur) – played 13 matches to 1797
• George Shepheard (Middlesex) – played ten matches to 1799
• Wheeler (Middlesex cricketer) (Middlesex) – played ten matches to 1797
• Gates (Berkshire cricketer) (Berkshire) – played eight matches to 1807
• Rubegall (Middlesex cricketer) (Middlesex) – played six matches to 1798
• R. Brandling (MCC; amateur) – played five matches to 1795
• John Beldham (Surrey) – played three matches to 1795
• John Burgess (cricketer) (Kent) – played two matches to 1795
• J. Jackson (London) – played two matches to 1795
• West (Berkshire cricketer) (Berkshire) – played two matches to 1794

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 scored 488 runs in 1794 to lead the batsmen

Other good performances were by Tom Walker with 462 runs; Joey Ring 417; Harry Walker 393; John Wells 379; Thomas Ray 299; Jack Small 282; Henry Tufton 251; John Hammond 230; William Fennex 225; Charles Anguish 215; Andrew Freemantle 193; George Louch 182

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.

Thomas Lord was the leading bowler in 1794 with 44 wickets, just ahead of Tom Walker with 42

Other good performances were by David Harris with 38; Thomas Boxall 31; Hampton 24; John Wells 21; William Fennex 19; William Beldham 17; Gates 17; Timber 17; Richard Purchase 14; John Hammond 13

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.

John Hammond took 21 catches and made 8 stumpings to be the leading fielder in 1794, although the most catches were taken by William Beldham with 24, but he had no stumpings.

George Louch with 16 ct led the rest, including Harry Walker 15 ct; Thomas Ray 12 ct; John Wells 12 ct; and Tom Walker 11 ct

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. 163.
6. Haygarth 1996, p. 164.
7. Haygarth 1996, p. 165.
8. Haygarth 1996, p. 166.
9. Haygarth 1996, p. 167.
10. Haygarth 1996, p. 168.
11. Haygarth 1996, p. 169.
12. Haygarth 1996, p. 170.
13. Haygarth 1996, p. 172.
14. Haygarth 1996, p. 174.
15. Haygarth 1996, p. 173.
16. Haygarth 1996, p. 175.
17. Haygarth 1996, p. 176.
18. Haygarth 1996, p. 177.

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 (1794). 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).