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First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each, although in practice a team might play only one innings or none at all.
In the years from 1726 to 1750, cricket became an established sport in London and the south-eastern counties of England. In 1726, it was already a thriving sport in the south east and, though limited by the constraints of travel at the time, it was slowly gaining adherents in other parts of England, its growth accelerating with references being found in many counties. Having been essentially a rural pastime for well over a century, cricket became a focus for wealthy patrons and gamblers whose interests funded its growth throughout the 18th century.
In the 1772 English cricket season, it became normal practice to complete match scorecards and there are surviving examples from every subsequent season. Scorecards from 1772 have been found for three eleven-a-side matches in which the Hampshire county team played against an England team, and for one top-class single wicket match between Kent and Hampshire. The three Hampshire v England matches have been unofficially recognised by certain sources as first-class, although no such standard existed at the time. Prior to 1772, only four scorecards have survived, the last from a minor match in 1769.
White Conduit Fields in Islington was an early venue for cricket and several major matches are known to have been played there in the 18th century. It was the original home of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Later it was used by The Islington Albion Cricket Club, who played their last game at the ground in 1834. Maps from the time show that the cricket field was a few hundred metres north of the White Conduit House, in the land surrounding the modern Richmond Crescent, and paintings suggest it was also possibly on the adjacent field to the south at the modern Barnard Park.
Hertfordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hertfordshire.
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffield were styled Yorkshire. Sheffield generally held first-class status, depending on the quality of their opponents, from 1827 to 1855.
William Palmer was an English cricketer who played during the 1760s and 1770s. He was born and died in Coulsdon, Surrey. As a top-order batsman, he was a member of the local Coulsdon Cricket Club and also played county cricket for Surrey. Most of Palmer's career was before cricket's statistical record began in the 1772 season so relatively little is known of him. However, he regularly played in noteworthy matches until 1776. He has been recorded in 24 eleven-a-side matches and in one top-class single wicket match. He was last recorded playing for Coulsdon against Chertsey in 1784 when he was 47 years old.
A variety of Kent county cricket teams played matches from the early 18th century until the formation of the original county club in 1842. The county's links to cricket go back further with Kent and Sussex generally accepted as the birthplace of the sport. It is widely believed that cricket was first played by children living on the Weald in Saxon or Norman times. The world's earliest known organised match was held in Kent c.1611 and the county has always been at the forefront of cricket's development through the growth of village cricket in the 17th century to representative matches in the 18th. A Kent team took part in the earliest known inter-county match, which was played on Dartford Brent in 1709.
The 1742 English cricket season was the 46th cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of ten significant matches, including two famous matches London and Slindon in September.
The 1782 English cricket season was the 11th in which matches have been awarded retrospective first-class cricket status. The scorecards of four first-class matches have survived. The great fast bowler David Harris made his first-class debut and the Hambledon Club moved to Windmill Down as a new home venue.
Henry Rowett was an English amateur cricketer who played for Surrey teams during the 1760s. He was chiefly noted for his patronage of Caterham Cricket Club which was prominent between 1767 and 1770. Nothing is known of Rowett apart from his involvement in cricket matches.
Bourne Cricket Club was based at Bishopsbourne, near Canterbury in Kent, and played several major matches in the 18th century when it was one of the teams which effectively represented Kent as a county. Its home venue was Bourne Paddock. Bourne was patronised by Sir Horatio Mann, owner of the Bourne Park House estate, and was in reality his own private club. When Sir Horatio relocated to Dandelion, near Margate, the Bourne club ceased to exist.
The Forest New Ground at Nottingham was a first-class cricket venue used by Nottingham Cricket Club in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Caterham Cricket Club is an English cricket club at Caterham in Surrey. The club runs teams in the Surrey County League and plays at Old Cats playing fields in Caterham. The modern club dates from the 1870s.
Coulsdon Cricket Club was an English cricket club based at Coulsdon, Surrey. The club is believed to have been formed in the early 1760s and it had for a time a great rivalry with Chertsey Cricket Club.
Suffolk county cricket teams were the cricket teams that represented the historic county of Suffolk before the first official formation of Suffolk County Cricket Club in 1864.
Westerham Common, also known as Westerham Heath, was a cricket ground near Westerham in west Kent. It was used primarily in the 18th century when historically significant matches were played.
Richmond Green cricket ground, on The Green at Richmond, London, has been a venue for cricket matches since the 17th century. The earliest reference dates from May 1666 and some top-class matches were played there in the first half of the 18th century. A match in 1731, which culminated in a riot, is the earliest in cricket history of which team scores are known. The result of a match in July 1741 is the sport's earliest known tie.
Cricket must have reached Hertfordshire by the end of the 17th century. The earliest reference to cricket in the county is dated 1732 and is also the earliest reference to Essex as a county team. On Thursday, 6 July 1732, a team called Essex & Hertfordshire played London Cricket Club in a first-class match at Epping Forest "for £50 a side". The result is unknown.
In English cricket, the years from 1751 to 1775 are notable for the rise of the Hambledon Club and the continuing spread of the sport across England. The Laws of Cricket underwent a re-codification in 1775, including the introduction of the leg before wicket rule and the addition of the third stump to the wicket.
References
- ↑ ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS.
- ↑ Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell. pp. 46–52.
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