| Team information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1764 |
| Last match | 1875 |
A variety of Norfolk county cricket teams played matches from the mid-18th century until the formation of the current Norfolk County Cricket Club in 1876. They represented the historic county of Norfolk.
Norfolk representative sides played six first-class matches between 1820 and 1836.
The earliest reference to cricket in Norfolk is from 1745, [1] although the game was known in the county before that date. [2] FS Ashley-Cooper, writing in 1910 recounted a "tradition" of a club playing at Swaffham as early as 1700, [3] and games played in London and South-East England featured in press reports in the Norwich press during the 1720s and 30s. [2]
The first county match played by a representative Norfolk team was against a Suffolk side at Bury St Edmunds Racecourse in August 1764, with three further matches played during the same year between the sides, one at Diss and the other two at nearby Scole. [4] [5] Norfolk sides continued to play matches, including a 1797 match at the Racecourse Ground in Swaffham against an England XI featuring several leading cricketers [6] [3]
An 1820 match at Lord's against MCC [7] is considered to have first-class status, although the Norfolk side is considered to be weak and the match is considered "borderline". [8] [9] [10] [11] The match, which saw the debut of Fuller Pilch, [3] was primarily made up of players from Holt Cricket Club. The following two years saw the Holt side play matches against Nottingham. [12]
The first Norfolk County Club was organised in 1826 or 1827 by Lord Suffield. [3] [13] [14] [15] During the 1830s a number of matches involving Norfolk or Gentlemen of Norfolk sides are recorded, [16] including against MCC in 1830, and by 1831 the Norfolk County Club was considered one of the strongest clubs in the country by The Sporting Magazine . [3] [17] Five matches played between 1833 and 1836 against Yorkshire sides, primarily organised by Sheffield Cricket Club, have been given first-class status, although the matches were played by professional cricketers rather than the amateurs who made up Suffield's County Club. [8] [18] [19]
Although matches against sides such as MCC and the Cambridge Town Club were played, the County Club had largely ceased to operate by 1848, [20] [21] although it was "revived" in 1862 and subscriptions continued to be paid until the end of the 1860s by which time the club was in debt. [15] [22] Sides used the Norfolk name into the 1870s, including against MCC, Cambridgeshire, Cambridge University, and Essex. [23] [24] [25] The current county club was founded in October 1876, with the fifth Lord Suffield as President, and played its first matches in 1877. [13] [22] [26]