1790 English cricket season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Samuel Britcher

Samuel Britcher was a cricket scorer and archivist who recorded the full scorecards of numerous matches played in the early years of Marylebone Cricket Club after its official foundation during the 1787 English cricket season.Britcher is believed to have been MCC's first official scorer and he...

’s scorecards (to 1805) started in the 1790 English cricket season. The works of Mr Britcher have not been readily available and it is only recently that they have been studied in any depth, especially by Keith Warsop. Mr Britcher was the MCC scorer and we have learned a great deal from him, as some of the following entries reveal.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
10–12 May (M-W)	Lefthanded v Righthanded	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB101	Left-handed won by 39 runs
Left-handed v Right-handed was decidedly a major fixture though of novelty value.
20–21 May (Th-F)	MCC v Essex #	Lord’s (Dorset Square)	brit	MCC won by 8 wkts

3 June (Th)	Duke of Dorset v Earl of Earl of Winchilsea	Lord’s (Dorset Square)	SB101	Earl of Winchilsea's XI won by 3 wkts
This game is considered minor as eight players in the Dorset side are unknown and John Hammond was making his known debut. The Earl of Winchilsea side was mostly known amateurs plus John Boorman. Many of Dorset’s team were in the Sussex side that played in the minor match at Hambledon on 20 Sept 1791 (SB125).
10–12 June (Th-S)	Kent v Hampshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB103	Hampshire won by 8 wkts

24 June (Th)	Middlesex v Surrey	Lord's (Dorset Square)	FL18	result> unknown
This game might not have been played. There was an announcement in The World on the previous day which gave the teamsheets, but there is no report of the game having taken place. Middlesex: Hon. T J Twistleton, Mr G Louch, Mr Turner, W Fennex, T Shackle, ? White, Butler, Knowles, Cantrell, Mr Mansfield, T Lord senior. Surrey: T Sueter, John Wells, James Wells, John Walker, E Stevens, Butcher, Mr Vincent, T Ingram, Graham, Flint, Mr Harrington. In terms of recorded matches, Lumpy Stevens last played in 1789, but it appears that he did (intend to) play occasionally in 1790.
5–6 July (M-Tu)	Essex v MCC #	Langton Park, Hornchurch	brit	MCC won by 67 runs
# These two games only came to light in recent years as Britcher is the only source for them.
12–16 July (M-F)	All-England v Hampshire	Sevenoaks Vine	SB104	Hampshire won by 44 runs

19–21 July (M-W)	Earl of Winchilsea v A Smith	Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland	SB104	Smith's XI won by 7 wkts
Burley-on-the-Hill in Rutland was the Earl of Earl of Winchilsea’s country retreat, which he used as his base for foxhunting parties. It is not far from the Great North Road so communication with London was relatively easy at the time. Burley-on-the-Hill has been confused with Burghley Park near Stamford but it is quite different. Samuel Britcher refers to this game as All-England v Hampshire.
27–29 July (Tu-Th)	Sir H Mann v A Smith	Perriam Down	SB105	Smith's XI won by 6 wkts

4-7 Aug (W-S)	Earl of Darnley v Earl of Winchilsea	Windmill Down	SB106	Darnley's XI won by 185 runs

16-17 Aug (M-Tu)	MCC v Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB106	MCC won by 2 wkts

19-20 Aug (Th-F)	Middlesex v MCC	New Ground, Uxbridge Moor	SB107	MCC won by 56 runs

27-28 Aug (F-S)	Brighton v W&L ^	PoW Ground, Brighton	FL18	W&L won by 3 wkts

30-31 Aug (M-Tu)	All-England v Hampshire	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB108	Hampshire won by 10 wkts
Hampshire's team included four MCC men (venue was Lord's); ACS Guide calls the fixture MCC & Hampshire v All-England
3-4 Sept (F-S)	W&L v Brighton ^	Woodburn	FL18	Brighton won by 5 wkts
^ W&L = Wadhurst & Lambehurst.
8-9 Sept (W-Th)	Middlesex v Berkshire	Uxbridge	WDC	Middlesex won by 2 wickets
A pity the full score of this one has escaped. Berkshire had David Harris as a given man and the match was described as "a severe contest". The Middlesex team was called "the City of London and county of Middlesex" but we can safely assume it was a Middlesex XI. The venue was described as "the new cricket ground at Uxbridge".
16 Sept (Th)	Middlesex v Berkshire	venue unknown	WDC	Middlesex won by 3 wickets
WDC records this as London & Middlesex against "the parish of Warfield" which also had David Harris as a given man. Middlesex won by 3 wickets but the scores were not reported. There is an earlier game (in 1786) involving "the parish of Warfield" but for that match we have the teamsheet and it is the Berkshire XI. It is assumed here that this Warfield team was the same, especially with Harris involved, and that therefore this is a major match.
7-11 Sept (Tu-S)	Sir H Mann v S Amherst	Bishopsbourne Paddock	SB108	Amherst's XI won by 130 runs

13 Sept (M)	J Hammond v Earl of Winchilsea	Dandelion Paddock	SB109	Hammond's XI won by 5 runs
The Hammond v Earl of Winchilsea game on 13 Sept from source S&B is minor as it lacked recognised players.
13 Sept (M)	Brighton v Tunbridge Wells ^	PoW Ground, Brighton	FL18	TW forfeited

17 Sept (F)	Tunbridge Wells v Brighton ^	Tunbridge Wells	FL18	Brighton won by 8 wkts
^ The four Brighton games listed in the ACS Guide from source FL18 are considered minor matches due to lack of recognised players.

First mentions

John Hammond
John Hammond (cricketer)
John Hammond was an English cricketer of the late 18th and early 19th century. He was one of the greatest early Sussex players....
Hon. E Capel (MCC; amateur) – played 3 matches from 1790 to 1790
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan
Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan succeeded to his title on 24 February 1811, following the death of his uncle James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan....

aka Hon. Robert Brudenell (MCC; amateur) – played 8 matches from 1790 to 1793
W Oxley (Essex cricketer)
W Oxley (Essex cricketer)
W Oxley was an English professional cricketer who made 10 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1790 to 1793.-External sources:*...

(Essex) – played 10 matches from 1790 to 1793
Thomas Nicoll
Thomas Nicoll
Thomas Vere Richard Nicoll was an English amateur cricketer who made 14 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1790 to 1794.-Career:...

(Middlesex; amateur) – played 14 matches from 1790 to 1794
W Beeston (Middlesex cricketer)
W Beeston (Middlesex cricketer)
W Beeston was an English professional cricketer who made 11 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1789 to 1799. He was the brother of John Beeston.-External sources:*...

(Middlesex) – played 11 matches from 1790 to 1799
Richard Fielder
Richard Fielder
Richard Fielder was an English professional cricketer who made 20 known appearances in major cricket matches between 1790 and 1801.-Career:...

(Kent) – played 20 matches from 1790 to 1801
George Leycester
George Leycester
George Hanmer Leycester was an English amateur cricketer who made 50 known appearances in major cricket matches between 1790 and 1808....

(MCC; amateur) – played 50 matches from 1790 to 1808
Simmonds (Essex cricketer)
Simmonds (Essex cricketer)
Simmonds was an English professional cricketer who made 3 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1790 to 1791.-External sources:*...

– played three matches to 1791

Leading batsmen

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.

William Beldham with 317 scored the most runs in 1790

Other leading runscorers were: James Aylward

James Aylward

James Aylward was a noted English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He was a left-handed batsman....

257; Jack Small

Jack Small

John Small junior was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club.Jack Small made his debut in 1784, his career continuing until 1811...

245; George Louch

George Louch

George Louch was an English cricketer and match organiser during the 18th century. He was especially noted for his fielding and was an early stalwart of Marylebone Cricket Club.He was a native of Chatham and was evidently educated at Westminster...

239; George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea

George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea

George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea KG PC FRS was an important figure in the history of cricket. His main contributions to the game were patronage and organisation but Winchilsea, an amateur, was also a very keen player....

209; Joey Ring

Joey Ring

John "Little Joey" Ring was an English cricketer who played for Kent.Joey Ring was one of Kent’s best batsmen in the late 18th century and was employed by Sir Horatio Mann at Bourne as a huntsman...

206; Robert Clifford 193; Tom Walker

Thomas Walker (cricketer)

Thomas "Tom" Walker was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire in the days of the Hambledon Club and later for Surrey. He was famous for his brilliant defensive batting. He is also credited with introducing, roundarm bowling, the predecessor of modern overarm bowling.-Career:Walker was born...

174; Colonel Charles Lennox

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond

Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox KG, PC was a British soldier and politician and Governor General of British North America.-Background:...

173; William Brazier

William Brazier

William Brazier was a noted English cricketer of the late 18th century who played mostly for Kent....

160

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

Robert Clifford with 33 took the most wickets in the season

Other leading bowlers were William Beldham with 28 wickets; David Harris 24; Richard Purchase

Richard Purchase

Richard Purchase was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club.He was only 16 when he made his debut in 1773.Born in Liss, Hampshire, he played for his county in 1773 and 1774 but then did not appear again until 1781...

21; William Bullen

William Bullen

William Bullen was an outstanding English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century. Hailing from Kent, Bullen was a great all-rounder, noted in the key sources as a fast bowler and a "powerful hitter"....

17; Henry Fitzroy

Henry Fitzroy

Henry Fitzroy may refer to:*Henry FitzRoy , illegitimate son of Henry I of England*Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the only illegitimate child acknowledged by Henry VIII...

14; William Fennex

William Fennex

William Fennex was a famous English cricketer. He was a noted all-rounder and right arm fast bowler...

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled": the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

Tom Taylor

Thomas Taylor (cricketer)

Thomas Taylor was a famous English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club. He is generally regarded as one of the most outstanding players of the 18th century....

with 15 took the most catches in 1790

Other leading fielders were William Beldham with 12 catches; Stephen Amherst

Stephen Amherst

Stephen Amherst was an English amateur cricketer who was also a noted patron and organiser of first-class matches....

9; John Wells

John Wells (cricketer)

John Wells was a famous English cricketer who played for Surrey.-Career:...

9; George Louch 8; Richard Purchase 7

Matches

First mentions

Leading batsmen

Leading bowlers

Leading fielders

External sources

Further reading