1846 English cricket season

1846 English cricket season

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1846 was the 60th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). ^{[note 1]} William Clarke founded his All-England Eleven (the AEE) which, taking advantage of the railways, travelled throughout Great Britain and was a significant factor in the spread of cricket throughout the country.

Important matches

• 1846 match list

Events

The earliest first-class match at the Oval was Surrey Club v. MCC on 25 & 26 May. Only 194 runs were scored in the match with a top score of 13. William Hillyer took 14 wickets to help MCC win by 48 runs.

The new Surrey County Cricket Club played its first important match against Kent at the Oval on 25 & 26 June, winning by 10 wickets.

Social conditions, including the railways, were a major factor in the debut of the travelling All England Eleven (AEE). The team was founded in Nottingham by William Clarke, who also opened the Trent Bridge cricket ground. The first AEE match was at Sheffield in September and they played others in Manchester and Leeds.

The All England Eleven played its inaugural fixture against a Sheffield XX in September. The AEE team was: W Clarke, J Dean, W Dorrinton, F Pilch, A Mynn, J Guy, W Martingell, T Sewell, G Butler, VC Smith and W Hillyer. Other players who represented the AEE in its early days included G Parr, FW Lillywhite, N Felix, W Denison, T Box and OC Pell.

Leading batsmen

T Box was the leading runscorer with 413 @ 20.65

Other leading batsmen were: N Felix, CG Taylor, A Mynn, WR Hillyer, J Dean, RP Long, TM Adams, G Parr

Leading bowlers

WR Hillyer was the leading wicket-taker with 152

Other leading bowlers were: A Mynn, FW Lillywhite, J Dean, W Martingell, W Clarke, J Wisden

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.
• 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