1816 English cricket season

1816 English cricket season

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1816 was the 30th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Manchester Cricket Club was founded and became the forerunner of Lancashire County Cricket Club (founded in 1864). Details of eight matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Events

• The 1816 season saw the formation of the Manchester Cricket Club which took part in a number of major matches until Lancashire CCC was established in 1864. Manchester was representative of Lancashire as a county in the same way that Sheffield Cricket Club and Nottingham Cricket Club represented Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
• The issue of roundarm bowling was already controversial enough in 1816 for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) to amend the Laws of Cricket to prohibit it: ^[5]

The ball must be bowled (not thrown or jerked), and be delivered underhand, with the hand below the elbow. But if the ball be jerked, or the arm extended from the body horizontally, and any part of the hand be uppermost, or the hand horizontally extended when the ball is delivered, the Umpires shall call "No Ball".

• With cricket recovering from the effects of the Napoleonic War, a total of 8 first-class matches were recorded in 1816:
  • 10–11 June — MCC v Hampshire @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[6]
  • 17–19 June — E H Budd's XI v G Osbaldeston's XI @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[7]
  • 24–25 June — MCC v Hampshire @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[8]
  • 3–6 July — All-England v The Bs @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[8]
  • 29 July–2 August — Sussex v Epsom @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[9]
  • 5–6 August — Gentlemen of All-England v Old Etonians @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[10]
  • 14–16 August — MCC v Middlesex @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[11]
  • 21–23 August — Epsom v Hampshire @ Epsom Down ^[12]

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, p.385–387.
6. Haygarth, p.388.
7. Haygarth, p.389.
8. Haygarth, p.390.
9. Haygarth, p.393.
10. Haygarth, p.394.
11. Haygarth, p.395.
12. Haygarth, p.396.

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.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.