List of Marylebone Cricket Club players (1787–1826)
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Cricketers who debuted for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in first-class cricket from the foundation of the club in 1787 until the end of the 1826 season are as follows. Many of the players continued to represent MCC after 1826 but they are only listed here, as it was in this period that they made their MCC debuts.
1826 was effectively the last season in which underarm bowling prevailed; the so-called "roundarm era" began in 1827 with the roundarm trial matches. Furthermore, the major source for the period, the first volume of Arthur Haygarth's Scores & Biographies, ends in 1826 and his second volume (1827–1840) begins with the roundarm trials.[1][2][3] All players in this list are sourced to either Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826) or Samuel Britcher's A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played (1790 to 1805) and not to any online source.[1][4]
During this period, MCC was the sport's predominant club with sole responsibility for the Laws of cricket and it was the main organiser of important matches. The club played a major role in cricket's long-term development by sustaining it through the Napoleonic Wars and providing the leadership needed to ensure its post-war recovery; during the Napoleonic Wars there was no formal county-based structure in cricket, let alone an international one, as in the two World Wars a century later. MCC played its home matches to 1826 at its three succeeding venues in London: Lord's "Old Ground" (1787–1810), Lord's "Middle Ground" (1811–1813) and the current Lord's from 1814. Although many of the players who represented the club were members or ground staff, others were associated with county clubs or teams and appeared for MCC by invitation. MCC teams have always operated at all levels of the sport and players who represented the club in minor cricket only are out of scope here (note, however, that the sources tend to treat the majority of MCC's senior matches to 1826 as important).
The details are the player's usual name followed by the span of years in which he was active as an MCC player in important matches (the span may include years in which he played in minor matches only for MCC and/or years in which he did not represent MCC in any matches) and then his name is given as it usually appeared on match scorecards (e.g., surname preceded by all initials). In cases where the player represented significant other teams besides MCC, these are given at the end of his entry.
William "Silver Billy" Beldham was an English professional cricketer who played for numerous teams between 1782 and 1821. He was born at Wrecclesham, near Farnham in Surrey, and died at Tilford, Surrey. In some sources, his name has been given as "Beldam" or "Beldum". A right-handed batting all-rounder, he is widely recognised as one of the greatest batsmen of cricket's underarm era. Using an underarm action, he bowled pitched deliveries at a fast medium pace. He generally fielded in close catching positions, mostly at slip and sometimes played as wicket-keeper.
The Reverend Lord Frederick de Vere Beauclerk, a 19th-century Anglican priest, was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer, the leading "amateur" player of the Napoleonic period.
Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly, styled Lord Strathavon from 1794 to 1836 and Earl of Aboyne from 1836 to 1853, was a Scottish peer, politician, courtier, and cricketer. He was a Member of Parliament, first as a Tory (1818–1830) and then a Whig.
Charles Cumberland was an English cricketer of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who is known to have played in 26 matches which are retrospectively rated first-class.
The Livingston family of New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included signers of the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Several members were Lords of Livingston Manor and Clermont Manor, located along the Hudson River in 18th-century eastern New York.
Reverend Henry Watson Barnard was an English clergyman and amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1815 and 1823. He served in the Church of England in Somerset and was a canon of Wells Cathedral.
John Barnard was an English amateur first-class cricketer who was a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge between 1817 and 1878. Barnard was the President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1829 and a noted collector of decorative porcelain.
Stephen Weston was an English antiquarian, clergyman and man of letters.
The Park was a cricket ground situated in the grounds of the mansion of George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea at Burley-on-the-Hill in Rutland.
Through the Napoleonic Wars, county cricket virtually died as cricket was impacted by losses of investment and manpower.
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