1798 English cricket season

1798 English cricket season

← 1797 1799 →

1798 was the twelfth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It was by now commonplace for important matches to involve town clubs rather than county teams. Details of 20 matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
2 & 3 May (W–Th)	F Beauclerk v J Tufton	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB230	Beauclerk's XI won by 19 runs
The above was excluded from a previous classification but the players are recognised so this has important match status. However, the return game between Beauclerk and Tufton on 24 August was nine a side with weak teams (SB245).
9–10 May (W–Th)	MCC v London	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB231	MCC won by 5 wkts
28–29 May (M–Tu)	MCC v Montpelier ^	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB232	Montpelier won by 55 runs
6–8 June (W–Th)	All-England v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB233	All-England won by 128 runs
13–14 June (W–Th)	Montpelier v MCC ^	Montpelier Gardens	SB234	MCC won by 175 runs
^ As in 1797, Montpelier had a fairly strong team, especially with given men, so their two games v MCC were good quality. The majority of players are recognised.
20–21 Jun (W–Th)	MCC v Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB235	Middlesex won by 10 wkts
26–27 June (Tu–W)	MCC v All-England	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB235	MCC won by 17 runs
11–13 July (W–F)	MCC v All-England	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB238	MCC won by 7 wkts
13–14 July (F–S)	F Beauclerk v R Whitehead	Lord’s (Dorset Square)	SB238	Whitehead's XI won by 7 wkts
The Beauclerk v Whitehead game on 13–14 July (SB238) was single innings, whether this was intentional or not, and the names of four Whitehead players are unknown. All things considered, this is a marginal fixture needing further analysis.
26–28 July (Th–S)	Hampshire v MCC	Stoke Down	SB240	MCC won by 78 runs
2–3 Aug (Th–F)	MCC v Hampshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB241	Hampshire won by 102 runs
13–15 Aug (M–W)	All-England v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB243	All-England won by innings & 12 runs
16–17 Aug (Th–F)	All-England v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB244	All-England won by 13 runs
16–17 Aug (Th–F)	Woolwich v Croydon #	Barrack Field, Woolwich	brit	Woolwich won by 88 runs
29 Aug (W)	Croydon v Woolwich #	Duppas Hill, Croydon	brit	Woolwich won by innings & 25 runs
5–6 Sept (W–Th)	Middlesex v Hertfordshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB247	Middlesex won by 93 runs
Herts had a weak team here and was not an important team unless with given men.
26 Sept (W)	Montpelier v Woolwich &c.	Montpelier Gardens	FLPV	Montpelier won by 138 runs
This was a single innings game and the teams were local club standard only. Woolwich &c. in full is Woolwich, Crayford & Dartford (also on 8–9 October below).
1–2 Oct (M–Tu)	Yorkshire Militia v Nottingham Militia	Wetherby	FLPV	NM won by 58 runs
8–9 Oct (M–Tu)	Woolwich &c. v Montpelier #	Barrack Field, Woolwich	brit	drawn
# These three matches were unknown till Britcher’s scores came to light recently. They are minor matches involving local clubs only.

First mentions

• Henry Bentley
• Capt. / Col. Peregrine Maitland, (MCC and Surrey; amateur) – played 27 matches to 1808
• Charles Reed (Kent) – played 7 matches from 1798 to 1810
• Williams (MCC cricketer) (MCC; amateur) – played 6 matches in 1798
• J. Eavers (MCC) – played 5 matches from 1798 to 1802
• James Bennett (Hampshire) – played 5 matches from 1798 to 1805
• Bourke (MCC cricketer) (MCC; amateur) – played 2 matches in 1798
• Donnithorn (MCC cricketer) (MCC; amateur) – played 2 matches in 1798
• Greenham (Hampshire cricketer) – played 2 matches in 1798
• Johnston (Middlesex cricketer) – played 2 matches in 1798

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.

Fewer matches were recorded in 1798 than in previous years. The batsmen who scored over 100 runs were:

Lord Frederick Beauclerk – 369

Andrew Freemantle – 217

Benjamin Clifton – 187

John Tufton – 185

Thomas Ray – 179

Jack Small – 177

Tom Walker – 164

William Fennex – 148

Robert Robinson – 147

T A Smith – 146

Hampton – 141

William Beldham – 136

John Wells – 135

Harry Walker – 127

John Hammond – 112

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 Boxall just led the bowlers with 42 wickets, beating Lord Frederick Beauclerk who took 40

Other leading bowlers were John Wells 30; William Fennex 23; Tom Walker 16; David Harris 15; Thomas Lord 15

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 with 9 ct, 9 st and John Wells with 10 ct, 8 st were the joint leading fielders in 1798

Lord Frederick Beauclerk took the most catches with 14, followed by William Fennex 11; Andrew Freemantle 8 ct, 2 st; William Beldham 7 ct, 1 st; Thomas Ray 7 ct.

Notes

1. Some eleven-a-side matches played before 1864 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources, but there was no such standard at the time. The term came into common use from around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised, and 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. However, matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status. ^[1] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant. ^[2] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
2. ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.

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.
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23450280.
• Haygarth, Arthur (1996) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN   978-19-00592-23-9.
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century (PDF). Vol. 88. Lewes: West Sussex Record Office. ISBN   978-08-54450-55-8.
• Waghorn, H. T. (2005) [1906]. The Dawn of Cricket. London: J. W. McKenzie. ISBN   978-09-47821-17-3.
• 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 (1798). 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).