1825 English cricket season

1825 English cricket season

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1825 was the 39th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The pavilion at Lord's was destroyed by fire. Many irreplaceable documents which recorded early cricket matches are believed to have been lost. The impact of this upon cricket's history is that it is only since 1825 that surviving records can be viewed with anything like complete confidence. Inter-county matches are recorded for the first time since 1796. Two of the greatest players of the 19th century, William Lillywhite and Ned Wenman, made their first known appearances in important matches. ^{[note 1]}

Important matches by date

• 23 May. Cambridge University v Cambridge Town Club on the University Ground, Cambridge. University won by 109 runs. ^{[5] [6]}
• 13–14 June. Sussex v Kent on the Royal New Ground, Brighton. Sussex won by 243 runs. The first inter-county match to be played since 1796. ^{[7] [6]}
• 16 June. Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) v Godalming at Lord's, Marylebone. MCC won by 86 runs. ^{[8] [6]}
• 23 June. Godalming v MCC at The Burys, Godalming. Godalming won by an innings & 139 runs. ^{[9] [6]}
• 27 June. Hampshire v Godalming at Bramshill Park, Hampshire. Unfinished. ^{[10] [6]}
• 27–28 June. Kent v Sussex on Hawkhurst Moor. Kent won by 16 runs. ^{[10] [6]}
• 4–7 July. Gentlemen XVI v Players XI at Lord's. Gentlemen won by 72 runs. ^{[11] [6]}
• 11 July. England v The Bs at Lord's. England won by 134 runs. ^{[11] [6]}
• 18 July. Godalming v Hampshire at The Burys. Godalming won by 202 runs. ^{[12] [6]}
• 8–9 August. Sussex v Hampshire at Petworth Park. Sussex won by 177 runs. ^{[13] [6]}
• 15 August. Hampshire v Sussex at Bramshill Park. Hampshire won by 72 runs. ^{[14] [6]}
• 5 September. Sheffield v Leicester on the Darnall New Ground, Sheffield. Leicester won by 10 wickets. ^[15]
• 12 September. Bury St Edmunds v Nottingham at Rougham Park, Bury St Edmunds. Bury St Edmunds won by 33 runs. ^[16]

County cricket

Inter-county cricket was revived for the first time since 1796 with Sussex playing two matches each against Hampshire and Kent, the home team winning every time. Hampshire and Kent did not play each other. Based on the known results, the strongest team was probably Sussex, but there was no Champion County as such. ^{[note 2]}

Other events

• On Thursday 28 July, a schools match at Lord's between Harrow and Winchester had just concluded and then, during the night, the pavilion burned down with the consequent loss of valuable scorecards, records and trophies. Thomas Lord claimed he lost £2600 in paid subscriptions, none of which were ever recovered, raising the questions of why it wasn't in the bank and why he apparently wasn't insured.
• William Ward purchased the lease of Lord's ground from Thomas Lord, who retained freehold. Lord had been proposing to build houses on the land which brought cries of outrage from the gentlemen players. Ward, a rich banker as well as a fine batsman, stepped in and bought the leasehold to save the ground for cricket.

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.
2. "Champion County" is an unofficial seasonal title proclaimed by media or historians prior to December 1889 when the official County Championship was constituted.

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, p. 511.
6. ACS 1981, p. 33.
7. Haygarth 1996, p. 514.
8. Haygarth 1996, p. 515.
9. Haygarth 1996, p. 516.
10. Haygarth 1996, p. 517.
11. Haygarth 1996, p. 520.
12. Haygarth 1996, p. 521.
13. Haygarth 1996, p. 525.
14. Haygarth 1996, p. 527.
15. Haygarth 1996, p. 530.
16. Haygarth 1996, pp. 532–532.

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.
• 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.