Essex county cricket team (1732–1794)

For the history of Essex cricket since the foundation of the county club, see Essex County Cricket Club.

Essex county cricket team (1732–1794)

Team information
Established	by 1732
Last match	1794
Home venue	Langton Park, Hornchurch
History
Notable players	John Boorman

Between 1732 and 1794, the Essex county cricket team, always known as Essex, was organised by individual patrons and other groups, in particular the Hornchurch Cricket Club. Essex is known to have played matches, some against other county teams, during that period. After 1794, however, Essex was virtually absent from cricket records until January 1876, when the modern Essex County Cricket Club was founded.

18th century

Fulfilment of wagers

The first definite mention of cricket in connection with the county is a highly controversial match in 1724 between Chingford and Edwin Stead's XI, which is recorded in The Dawn of Cricket by H. T. Waghorn. The venue is unknown but, if it were at Chingford, it is also the earliest reference to cricket being played in Essex as well as by Essex. The game echoed an earlier one in 1718 as the Chingford team refused to play to a finish when Stead's team had the advantage. A court case followed and, as in 1718, it was ordered to be played out presumably so that all wagers could be fulfilled. Lord Chief Justice Pratt presided over the case and he ordered them to play it out on Dartford Brent, though it is not known if this was the original venue. The game was completed in 1726. ^[1]

Essex & Hertfordshire, 1732

The earliest reference to a team called Essex is in July 1732 when a combined Essex & Herts team played against the London Cricket Club. ^[1] In July 1737, there was London v Essex at the Artillery Ground, London winning by 45 runs. In a return game at Ilford on 1 August 1737, Essex won by 7 runs. ^[1]

Hornchurch

References are then occasional until 1785 when the Hornchurch Cricket Club, based at Langton Park, became prominent. This club had a good team that was effectively representative of Essex as a county. However, the sources sometimes differed among themselves as to whether the team should be called Essex or Hornchurch. But there is no doubt that the team held important match status until 1794, after which the county abruptly disappeared from the records for a long time.

Players

Essex was largely reliant upon having given men to play for them in important matches. Among those who played for Essex, most of them as given men or guests, were John Boorman, George Boult, Butcher, Thomas Clark, Robert Denn, William Fennex, Richard Francis, John Gouldstone, Thomas Ingram, Michael Remington, Thomas Scott, John Stevens, and Richard Wyatt.

19th century

Little was heard of Essex cricket from 1794 until the formation of Essex County Cricket Club on 14 January 1876 at a meeting in the Shire Hall, Chelmsford. ^[2] The new club did not achieve first-class status until 1894. The team played its inaugural match on 14, 15 & 16 May 1894 against Leicestershire County Cricket Club (who were also making their debut) at Leyton. In 1895, both of these clubs and Warwickshire County Cricket Club joined the County Championship.

References

1. G. B. Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
2. Wisden Cricketers Almanack 1877

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• 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.
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23450280.
• Haygarth, Arthur (1997) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 2 (1827–1840). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN   978-19-00592-23-9.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC   1086375331.
• Waghorn, H. T. (2005) [1906]. The Dawn of Cricket. London: J. W. McKenzie. ISBN   978-09-47821-17-3.

External links

• The development of Cricket in Eastern Essex Archived 20 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine