This is a list of cricketers who played first-class cricket in England in matches between the 1861 and 1870 English cricket seasons. The sport of cricket had acquired most of its modern features by this time, and overarm bowling was established as a valid way to deliver the ball beginning in the 1864 season. [1]
The players included are those known to have played in matches which were given retrospective first-class status between 1861 and 1870, inclusive. [upper-alpha 1]
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club, formerly the governing body of cricket, retains considerable global influence.
The White Conduit Club (WCC) was a cricket club based on the northern fringes of London that existed from about 1782 until 1788. Although short-lived, it had considerable significance in the history of the game, as its members created the first Lord's venue and reorganised themselves as the new Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.
Through the Napoleonic Wars, county cricket virtually died as cricket was impacted by losses of investment and manpower.
In English cricket, the years 1846–1863 were the main period of the sport's "roundarm era". Although roundarm had been legalised amid great controversy, its timespan was relatively short. By 1863, there was an increasing demand for the legalisation of overarm bowling and this was achieved on 10 June 1864.