1817 English cricket season

1817 English cricket season

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1817 was the 31st season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Cricket was hit by a controversial match-fixing scandal. Details of seven matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Events

• The 1817 season saw the first recorded instance of the Cambridge University v. Cambridge Town Club fixture that became almost annual until the 1860s. It was also the earliest important match to involve either team. There was a very fine line between Cambridge Town Club and Cambridgeshire CCC, the one dovetailing with the other. Similar scenarios were Nottingham/Notts, Manchester/Lancashire & Sheffield/Yorkshire.
• William Lambert scored two centuries (107* & 157) in the same match, the first player known to achieve the feat in an important match. Lambert was then banned for life by MCC from appearing at Lord's on the grounds that he had "sold" an earlier Nottingham versus All-England match. Nottingham had won the game by 30 runs despite a first innings deficit and many gamblers lost heavily. Whether Lambert was actually guilty is highly questionable and certainly no proper hearing was ever organised. The whole affair is believed to have been contrived by Lord Frederick Beauclerk who wished to settle an "old score".
• According to James Pycroft in The Cricket Field, the size of the wickets was increased in 1817 to 27 inches (690 mm) by 8 inches (200 mm), but it seems more likely that the rule was introduced in 1819.
• With cricket recovering from the effects of the Napoleonic War, a total of 7 first-class matches were recorded in 1817:
  • 30 May – Cambridge University v Cambridge Town Club @ Parker's Piece, Cambridge
  • 2–4 June – All-England v The Bs @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[5]
  • 10–12 June – All-England v Surrey @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[6]
  • 18–20 June – Lord F Beauclerk's XI v W Ward's XI @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[7]
  • 2–5 July – Sussex v Epsom @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[8]
  • 6–8 August – MCC v Hampshire @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[9]
  • 13–14 August – E H Budd's XI v W Ward's XI @ Lord's Cricket Ground ^[9]
• Another match that has sometimes been regarded as first-class is Old Etonians v Old Wykehamists at Lord's on Monday 14 July.

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.397.
6. Haygarth, p.398.
7. Haygarth, p.400.
8. Haygarth, p.402.
9. Haygarth, p.405.

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.