North v South

Last updated

The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class matches between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often playing against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and others. Until international cricket became firmly established towards the end of the 19th century, the North v South match was one of the major fixtures in the cricketing calendar along with Gentlemen v Players. Indeed, North v South was really the major fixture because it could potentially showcase the best 22 players in the country, whereas Gentlemen teams in the other match were often very weak.

Contents

In all, there were 155 North v South matches in first-class cricket. The South won 62; the North won 55; 37 were drawn, and one match in 1889 was abandoned.

Early matches – 1836 to 1838

Cricket in the 18th century had been predominantly a southern game, played especially in London and the southeastern counties. It had spread to the northern counties by the 1770s and noted clubs were formed at Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield which eventually became the basis of county cricket in the north. In the 1820s, a number of northern players such as Sam Redgate, Tom Marsden, Thomas Barker and James Dearman established reputations which made cricket promoters aware of commercial possibilities in a North v South fixture. [1]

The inaugural North v South match was held at Lord's Cricket Ground on 11 and 12 July 1836 and the North won by 6 wickets to confirm their capability and potential. Barker took ten wickets in the match and scored the most runs with 25 and 12 not out. [2] The North's victory caused a sensation and a return match was quickly organised. This took place at Barker's Ground in Leicester and the South won by 218 runs. [3] Redgate for the North and William Lillywhite for the South took twelve and eleven wickets in the match respectively, but the outstanding performance was an innings of 125 not out by Alfred Mynn despite a serious leg injury sustained in practice. His condition worsened as the match went on and he had to withdraw. With insufficient medical resources locally, Mynn was lifted onto the roof of a stagecoach and secured there to be taken to London, where he was admitted to St Bartholomew's Hospital. The surgeon considered amputation but decided against it and Mynn was able to resume his cricket career in July 1838. [4] Mynn's injury raised the issue of leg guards which were generally frowned upon at the time, but the legalisation of roundarm bowling in 1835 meant that bowling was much faster than formerly and, gradually, pads were introduced. [5]

The next two North v South games took place in 1837 and 1838 and were won convincingly by the South. Interest faded and the fixture disappeared for eleven years until it was resurrected in the 1849 season. In the meantime (1840–48), the North played annual matches against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). A feature of North v South from the beginning was that players could represent either team depending on current residency or being "borderline", thus a player living in the Midlands might well change sides often. In the first four games alone, no less than six players represented both sides. The total appearances by players in the 1836 to 1838 matches were:

An annual event

From 1849, the match became virtually an annual fixture and was often contested two or three times in the same season. It was played four times in 1878. The revival was at Lord's on 16 and 17 July 1849 when the North won by 243 runs after William Clarke and John Wisden dismissed the South for 48 and 67. [6]

There was a change to the fixture's naming convention between 1866 and 1868 when the River Thames became the dividing line and the teams were called North of the Thames and South of the Thames. This effectively restricted the South's catchment to the counties of Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The match at Lord's on 2729 May 1889 had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to bad weather. Cricket magazine pointed out that three Lord's fixtures were abandoned during that month. [7] Despite the loss of that match, the fixture was played another five times in 1889 at The Oval, Chichester, Old Trafford, Scarborough and Hastings. North v South continued annually through to 1897 but was not held in either 1898 or 1899. It was revived in September 1900 when two matches were played, both at southern venues.

United Elevens

During the 1870s the fixture received competition in the shape of matches between the equivalent professional touring teams, the United North of England Eleven and the United South of England Eleven. There were 11 games involving the United sides and then one (the last) in 1880 when the United South played against the official North. Other variations featured teams called Gentlemen of the North, Gentlemen of the South, Players of the North and Players of the South who played against each other on several occasions.

20th century

The fixture's popularity waned as international cricket expanded and it was played less frequently in the 20th century. Following the two games in September 1900, there were only eight instances between then and September 1920, all of them in the 1904 to 1908 period. Between the two world wars, there were eleven matches. The fixture was resurrected in 1946 after the end of the Second World War and, except for 1953, was played annually, sometimes more than once a season, through to 1958. [8] Then there was a three-year hiatus until the final first-class match took place 6 to 8 September 1961 at Stanley Park, Blackpool, the South winning by two wickets. [9] The fixture was finally ended by the advent of limited overs cricket, which left no space for it in an already crowded calendar.

Revival

The last North v South contest of the 20th century was a one-day 50 over match at Trent Bridge in the 1971 season, which the South won by 9 runs. [10] There was a temporary revival in March 2017 when a three-match series, under one-day 50 overs rules, was staged in the United Arab Emirates. In March 2018, a similar series was played in Barbados as part of the English county cricket pre-season schedule. [11] [12]

List of first-class North v South matches

Scorecards of all these matches from 1836 to 1961 are held on the CricketArchive database.

List of first-class North v South matches
#DateVenueWinnersWinning marginRef
111 July 1836 Lord's, St John's Wood, London North6 wickets scorecard
222 August 1836 Barker's Ground, Leicester South218 runs scorecard
310 July 1837Lord'sSouth5 wickets scorecard
425 June 1838Lord'sSouth8 wickets scorecard
516 July 1849Lord'sNorth243 runs scorecard
630 August 1849 Parr and Wisden's Ground, Leamington Spa North9 wickets scorecard
715 July 1850Lord'sNorthinnings and 19 runs scorecard
88 August 1850Leamington SpaNorthinnings and 118 runs scorecard
93 July 1851 The Oval, Kennington, London North60 runs scorecard
1014 July 1851Lord'sNorth12 runs scorecard
111 July 1852The OvalNorthinnings and 8 runs scorecard
127 July 1853The OvalSouth70 runs scorecard
1327 July 1854 Higher Common Ground, Tunbridge Wells South2 wickets scorecard
1428 May 1855Lord'sNorth18 runs scorecard
159 August 1855Tunbridge WellsSouthinnings and 39 runs scorecard
1630 June 1856Lord'sSouth6 wickets scorecard
177 August 1856 Broughton Cricket Club Ground, Salford Drawn scorecard
1820 July 1857Lord'sSouth14 runs scorecard
1913 August 1857Tunbridge WellsNorth8 wickets scorecard
207 September 1857 Trent Bridge, Nottingham Drawn scorecard
2112 July 1858Lord'sNorth4 wickets scorecard
2227 June 1859Lord'sSouth10 wickets scorecard
2315 August 1859 St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury North90 runs scorecard
2430 August 1860 Merefield Ground, Rochdale Drawn scorecard
2517 September 1860 London Road, Sleaford North53 runs scorecard
2615 July 1861Lord'sSouth4 wickets scorecard
275 September 1861 Aston Park, Aston, Birmingham South43 runs scorecard
2829 May 1862 Old Trafford, Manchester Drawn scorecard
2921 July 1862Lord'sNorthinnings and 10 runs scorecard
3021 May 1863Old TraffordNorth10 wickets scorecard
3120 July 1863Lord'sNorth29 runs scorecard
3227 August 1863 Wavertree Road Ground, Liverpool North84 runs scorecard
3327 June 1864SleafordDrawn scorecard
3411 August 1864Old TraffordNorth9 wickets scorecard
355 September 1864 Cattle Market Ground, Islington Southinnings and 29 runs scorecard
3612 June 1865Lord'sSouth52 runs scorecard
377 August 1865CanterburySouth27 runs scorecard
382 July 1866Lord'sSouthinnings and 43 runs scorecard
393 June 1869The OvalNorth9 wickets scorecard
4026 July 1869 Bramall Lane, Sheffield South66 runs scorecard
419 August 1869CanterburySouth8 wickets scorecard
426 June 1870Lord'sNorth6 wickets scorecard
438 August 1870CanterburyDrawn scorecard
445 September 1870 Dewsbury and Savile Ground, Dewsbury Northinnings and 154 runs scorecard
4529 May 1871Lord'sSouthinnings and 49 runs scorecard
4631 July 1871The OvalDrawn scorecard
477 August 1871CanterburySouth100 runs scorecard
4829 April 1872Liverpool WavertreeSouthinnings and 20 runs scorecard
4916 May 1872 Prince's Cricket Ground, Chelsea, London Drawn scorecard
5020 May 1872Lord'sSouth52 runs scorecard
5125 July 1872The OvalSouth8 wickets scorecard
525 August 1872CanterburyNorthinnings and 46 runs scorecard
5315 May 1873Prince'sDrawn scorecard
542 June 1873Lord'sNorth84 runs scorecard
5524 July 1873The OvalSouthinnings and 58 runs scorecard
564 August 1873CanterburySouth7 wickets scorecard
5725 May 1874Lord'sSouth8 wickets scorecard
584 June 1874Prince'sNorth3 runs scorecard
5917 May 1875Lord'sSouth10 wickets scorecard
6027 May 1875Prince'sSouth5 wickets scorecard
6128 June 1875Trent BridgeDrawn scorecard
6215 July 1875 Fartown Ground, Huddersfield Drawn scorecard
6319 August 1875Tunbridge WellsNorthinnings and 58 runs scorecard
642 September 1875 Argyle Street, Kingston upon Hull South23 runs scorecard
656 September 1875 Tyler's Ground, Loughborough North125 runs scorecard
661 June 1876Prince'sSouth153 runs scorecard
675 June 1876Lord'sSouth85 runs scorecard
6817 July 1876Trent BridgeSouth8 wickets scorecard
6920 July 1876The OvalDrawn scorecard
707 September 1876 Milnrow Road, Rochdale Drawn scorecard
7121 May 1877Lord'sSouth3 wickets scorecard
7231 May 1877Prince'sSouthinnings and 162 runs scorecard
7321 June 1877The OvalSouth1 wicket scorecard
7423 July 1877Argyle Street, HullNorthinnings and 14 runs scorecard
756 June 1878Prince'sDrawn scorecard
7610 June 1878Lord'sNorth3 wickets scorecard
7727 June 1878Trent BridgeSouth10 wickets scorecard
7819 September 1878The OvalNorthinnings and 123 runs scorecard
792 June 1879Lord'sNorth49 runs scorecard
8017 July 1879The OvalNorth9 wickets scorecard
8114 July 1881The OvalNorthinnings and 91 runs scorecard
8214 May 1883Lord'sNorth170 runs scorecard
8321 June 1883The OvalNorth22 runs scorecard
8430 August 1883Tunbridge WellsNorthinnings and 38 runs scorecard
852 June 1884Lord'sSouth66 runs scorecard
8625 May 1885Lord'sSouth9 wickets scorecard
8725 June 1885The OvalNorth8 wickets scorecard
889 July 1885Old TraffordDrawn scorecard
8914 June 1886Lord'sNorth9 wickets scorecard
9030 May 1887Lord'sNorth6 wickets scorecard
915 September 1887 North Marine Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Drawn scorecard
928 September 1887 Central Recreation Ground, Hastings North27 runs scorecard
9313 September 1888HastingsSouth47 runs scorecard
9416 May 1889The OvalNorthinnings and 25 runs scorecard
9527 May 1889Lord'sAbandoned scorecard
963 June 1889 Priory Park, Chichester South8 wickets scorecard
9711 July 1889Old TraffordDrawn scorecard
985 September 1889ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
9912 September 1889HastingsNorth152 runs scorecard
10019 May 1890Lord'sSouth135 runs scorecard
10111 September 1890HastingsSouth9 runs scorecard
10211 May 1891Lord'sSouth34 runs scorecard
10329 June 1891 Edgbaston, Birmingham Drawn scorecard
10431 August 1891ScarboroughSouth6 runs scorecard
10510 September 1891HastingsDrawn scorecard
10630 June 1892EdgbastonNorth6 wickets scorecard
1078 September 1892HastingsSouthinnings and 10 runs scorecard
10811 September 1893HastingsNorth25 runs scorecard
1092 August 1894The OvalDrawn scorecard
11030 August 1894ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1116 September 1894HastingsDrawn scorecard
1122 September 1895ScarboroughNorth8 wickets scorecard
1135 September 1895HastingsSouth109 runs scorecard
1147 September 1896HastingsSouth5 wickets scorecard
1152 September 1897ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1169 September 1897HastingsNorth8 wickets scorecard
1176 September 1900HastingsDrawn scorecard
11813 September 1900Lord'sDrawn scorecard
1195 September 1904ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1208 September 1904HastingsNorth10 wickets scorecard
12128 August 1905 Whitegate Park, Blackpool North8 wickets scorecard
1224 September 1905ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1233 September 1906ScarboroughNorthinnings and 71 runs scorecard
1245 September 1907ScarboroughNorth7 wickets scorecard
1257 September 1908HastingsSouth5 wickets scorecard
12610 September 1908The OvalSouthinnings and 54 runs scorecard
1272 September 1920HastingsSouth52 runs scorecard
12820 September 1922 The Saffrons, Eastbourne North7 wickets scorecard
12923 June 1923Old TraffordSouth38 runs scorecard
1309 September 1925 Stanley Park, Blackpool South96 runs scorecard
13125 June 1927 (Test Trial)Bramall LaneDrawn scorecard
1323 September 1927 Cheriton Road, Folkestone Drawn scorecard
1338 September 1928 Dean Park Cricket Ground, Bournemouth South4 wickets scorecard
13418 June 1932Old TraffordDrawn scorecard
13513 June 1936Lord'sDrawn scorecard
13622 May 1937Lord'sSouth6 wickets scorecard
13711 September 1946ScarboroughNorth130 runs scorecard
13827 August 1947 St George's Road, Harrogate North86 runs scorecard
1393 September 1947 Leyland Motors Ground, Kingston upon Thames South4 wickets scorecard
1406 September 1947ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1414 September 1948HastingsSouth5 wickets scorecard
1424 September 1948Leyland Motors Ground, Kingston upon ThamesDrawn scorecard
1431 June 1949 (Test trial)EdgbastonDrawn scorecard
1443 September 1949ScarboroughDrawn scorecard
1457 September 1949 Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon Thames North4 wickets scorecard
1462 September 1950Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon ThamesNorth8 wickets scorecard
1476 September 1950ScarboroughSouth3 wickets scorecard
1481 September 1951Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon ThamesNorth4 wickets scorecard
1496 September 1952Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon ThamesSouthinnings and 79 runs scorecard
1504 September 1954 Recreation Ground, Torquay South61 runs scorecard
1513 September 1955TorquaySouth109 runs scorecard
1521 September 1956TorquayDrawn scorecard
1537 September 1957TorquaySouth1 wicket scorecard
1546 September 1958TorquaySouth38 runs scorecard
1556 September 1961Stanley Park, BlackpoolSouth2 wickets scorecard

References

  1. Birley, p.73.
  2. "South v North, July 1836". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  3. "North v South, August 1836". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  4. Birley, pp.73–74.
  5. Birley, p.77.
  6. "South v North, July 1849". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. "Pavilion Gossip", Cricket, issue 209, 30 May 1889, p. 154.
  8. "North v South first-class fixtures (Scorecard Oracle)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. "North v South, September 1961". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. "North v South, July 1971". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  11. "North v South: Mark Wood strikes on return while Ben Duckett makes century". BBC Sport. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  12. "Barbados to host North-South series & MCC champion county match". BBC Sport. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

    Bibliography