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)	England Thirteen v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	[17]	England won by 3 runs
16-19 Sept (Tu-F)	England Thirteen v Surrey	Dartford Brent	[18]	England won by 150 runs

Other events

To be completed.

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).