1839 English cricket season

1839 English cricket season

← 1838 1840 →

1839 was the 53rd season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). ^{[note 1]} Sussex County Cricket Club was formally established as the first county cricket club and replaced the ad hoc county elevens representing the traditional county of Sussex in top-class cricket.

Important matches

1839 match list

Events

1 March. Formation of Sussex County Cricket Club out of the Sussex Cricket Fund organisation that had been set up in 1836.

The new Sussex club played its first important match against MCC at Lord’s on 10 & 11 June.

Leading batsmen

Ned Wenman was the leading runscorer with 332 @ 18.44

Other leading batsmen were: CG Taylor, F Pilch, J Cobbett, T Sewell, A Mynn, J Guy, GL Langdon

Leading bowlers

James Cobbett was the leading wicket-taker with 85

Other leading bowlers were: FW Lillywhite, J Bayley, E Sayres, A Mynn, WR Hillyer, GB Lee, S Redgate, J Dean, CG Taylor, JH Kirwan

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.

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 (1997) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 2 (1827–1840). 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.

External links

• CricketArchive – season summaries