1799 English cricket season
Encyclopedia
In the 1799 English cricket season, Surrey
again beat All-England
three times. As in the previous year, the number of matches declined due to the effect of the Napoleonic War.
A cricket club was formed at Seringapatam in south India
after the successful British siege.
With few matches being played, only six batsmen exceeded 150 runs:
The leading wicket-taker was Thomas Lord
with 16
Other top bowlers were John Wells
15; Thomas Boxall
13; Charles Cumberland
11; John Hammond
9
John Wells
with 10 ct, 5 st was the leading performer in the field
Thomas Ray
took 10 ct and other good fielders were Charles Warren
2 ct, 6 st; John Hammond
4 ct, 3 st; Thomas Burgoyne
7 ct; William Barton
7 ct
Surrey county cricket teams
Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...
again beat All-England
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
three times. As in the previous year, the number of matches declined due to the effect of the Napoleonic War.
A cricket club was formed at Seringapatam in south India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
after the successful British siege.
Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Source | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10–11 June (M-Tu) | MCC v Thursday Club ^ | Lord’s (Dorset Square) | SB252 | Thursday Club won by 54 runs |
| 17–18 June (M-Tu) | Montpelier v Richmond & Brentford # | Montpelier Gardens | SB253 | Montpelier won by 91 runs |
| 24–26 June (M-W) | MCC v Thursday Club ^ | Lord’s (Dorset Square) | SB254 | MCC won by 41 runs |
^ The two MCC games against its own Thursday Club are major fixtures as the majority of players on each side are recognised. The Thursday Club is effectively Middlesex. |
||||
| 27–28 June (Th-F) | Richmond & Brentford v Montpelier # | Richmond Green | SB254 | Montpelier won by 148 runs |
# The Montpelier v Richmond and Brentford games in S&B (p. 253-255) present a real difficulty because both teams are reasonable, indeed Montpelier are quite strong, but against each other and without "given men" they are not easily a major match. There are unknowns in the Richmond & Brentford sides and the results went convincingly in favour of Montpelier. The dilemma is almost solved by MCC games against similar sides since 1797. Thus, if a good quality town club with given men or at any rate a full team of recognised players competes against a good quality MCC side (or against All-England or a recognised county team), that is a major match. But, where it is a case of two such town clubs playing each other without a good number of noted given men, the game is not major. The Montpelier v Richmond & Brentford games seem to fail the given men test and, in any case, Richmond & Brentford did have some unrecognised players. |
||||
| 30 July - 1 Aug (Tu-Th) | All-England v Surrey | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB259 | Surrey won by 8 wkts |
| 1-3 Aug (Th-S) | R Whitehead v Lord Yarmouth | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB259 | Yarmouth's XI won by 4 wkts |
Evidently the Whitehead v Yarmouth game was arranged ad hoc on 1 Aug as the All-England v Surrey game finished on the same day (most of the players took part in both games) |
||||
| 13-16 Aug (Tu-F) | All-England v Surrey | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB262 | Surrey won by 143 runs |
| 16-17 Aug (F-S) | All-England v Surrey | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB263 | Surrey won by innings & 117 runs |
Another case of an extra game starting immediately that the first one finished. There is some doubt about the exact date of the second game which ACS have on the 15th as S&B states that the first game carried over to the 16th. |
||||
| 16-17 Sept (M-Tu) | Waltham & Herts v Middlesex | Waltham Abbey | WDC | drawn |
| 23-24 Sept (M-Tu) | Middlesex v Waltham & Herts | Lord's (Dorset Square) | FL18 | Middlesex won by 3 runs |
In both these two games, Waltham & Herts was a minor team. Herts played several games in late C18 but needed given men. |
||||
First mentions
- Hockley (Surrey cricketer)Hockley (Surrey cricketer)Hockley was an English professional cricketer who made 8 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1799 to 1805.-Career:He was associated with both Surrey and Hampshire.-External sources:*...
(Surrey/Hampshire) – played 8 matches from 1799 to 1805 - Woodroffe (Surrey cricketer)Woodroffe (Surrey cricketer)Woodroffe was an English amateur cricketer who made 4 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1799 to 1800.-Career:He was mainly associated with Surrey and was a member of Marylebone Cricket Club .-External sources:*...
(MCC and Surrey; amateur) – played 4 matches in 1799 & 1800 - Stephen Lushington (cricketer) (Surrey; amateur) – played 3 matches in 1799
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.With few matches being played, only six batsmen exceeded 150 runs:
- Tom WalkerThomas 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...
– 239 - Jack SmallJack SmallJohn Small junior was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club.Jack Small made his debut in 1784, his career continuing until 1811...
– 235 - John WellsJohn Wells (cricketer)John Wells was a famous English cricketer who played for Surrey.-Career:...
– 231 - Robert RobinsonRobert Robinson (cricketer)Robert Robinson was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire at the time of the Hambledon Club and also for Surrey....
– 227 - John HammondJohn 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....
– 192 - William Beldham – 179
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.The leading wicket-taker was Thomas Lord
Thomas Lord
Thomas Lord was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances in first-class cricket...
with 16
Other top bowlers were John Wells
John Wells (cricketer)
John Wells was a famous English cricketer who played for Surrey.-Career:...
15; Thomas Boxall
Thomas Boxall
Thomas Boxall was a famous English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was a very successful right arm bowler, believed to have been fast underarm....
13; Charles Cumberland
Charles Cumberland
Captain Charles Cumberland was an English cricketer of the late 18th century. He was an outstanding bowler, his style being right arm fast underarm; and he was arguably the best amateur bowler of the underarm era...
11; 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....
9
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.John Wells
John Wells (cricketer)
John Wells was a famous English cricketer who played for Surrey.-Career:...
with 10 ct, 5 st was the leading performer in the field
Thomas Ray
Thomas Ray (cricketer)
Thomas Ray was an English cricketer who played mainly for Berkshire and Middlesex. He was for many years employed by MCC as a professional who probably coached the members....
took 10 ct and other good fielders were Charles Warren
Charles Warren (cricketer)
Charles Warren was an English amateur cricketer who made 33 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1795 to 1826. Along with John Tanner, he was the last 18th century player to retire from first-class cricket, in his case at the age of 62.-Career:Warren was mainly associated with Middlesex...
2 ct, 6 st; 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....
4 ct, 3 st; Thomas Burgoyne
Thomas Burgoyne
Thomas John Burgoyne was an English amateur cricketer who made 24 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1796 to 1816.-Career:...
7 ct; William Barton
William Barton (Middlesex cricketer)
William Barton was an English cricketer who played mainly for Middlesex.Little is known of Barton who was an accomplished batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper...
7 ct