1799 English cricket season

1799 English cricket season

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Surrey defeated England three times in the 1799 English cricket season. As in the previous year, the number of matches may have declined due to the impact of the Napoleonic War. Fewer were reported, but there was loose censorship in place. Details of ten matches are known, but few were important. ^{[note 1]}

The earliest known mention of cricket in Devon has been found. A cricket club was formed at Seringapatam in south India after the successful British siege.

England v Surrey

England played against Surrey three times in 1799, and all three games ended in convincing wins by Surrey. All the matches were played on Lord's Old Ground between 30 July and 17 August. Surrey's margins of victory were 8 wickets, 143 runs, and an innings & 117 runs. These were the season's only important matches. ^[5]

Other events

Cricket in the county of Devon was first referenced in 1799. ^[6]

Following the siege of Seringapatam in south India, a cricket club was established there. ^[6]

There were two matches in June between Montpelier and a combined Brentford/Richmond team. Montpelier won both games, by 91 runs at home, and by 148 runs away. ^[7]

MCC played two matches in June against its own Thursday Club, many of whose members were Middlesex players. The Thursday Club won the first by 54 runs, ^[8] and MCC the second by 41 runs. ^[9]

Middlesex played Waltham & Hertfordshire twice in September. The first match at Waltham Abbey was drawn. ^[10] Middlesex won the second on Lord's Old Ground by 3 runs. ^[11]

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 important or, at least, historically significant. ^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. "FC 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, pp. 259, 262–263.
6. Bowen 1970, p. 268.
7. Haygarth 1996, pp. 253–254.
8. Haygarth 1996, p. 252.
9. Haygarth 1996, p. 254.
10. Waghorn 2005.
11. Buckley 1935.

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 FC Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• 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.
• 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.
• Britcher, Samuel (1799). 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).