History of English amateur cricket
Encyclopedia
The history of English amateur cricket describes the concept and importance of amateur players in English cricket
.
in Guildford
, Surrey
. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.
Originally, all cricketers were amateurs in the literal sense of the word. Village cricket
developed through the 17th century and teams typically comprised players who were all resident in the same village or parish. There is no evidence of professionalism before the English Civil War
or during the Commonwealth
but legal cases of the period have shown that cricket was played jointly by gentry and workers.
in 1660, cricket flourished because so many people had encountered it as children, especially at school. But what created major cricket in the immediate aftermath of the Restoration was gambling for, along with horse racing and prizefighting, cricket soon attracted the attention of those who were seeking to make wagers.
To boost their chances of winning, some gamblers formed their own county-class teams such as Kent
and Surrey
who played each other in 1709. Patrons like Edward Stead
, the Duke of Richmond
and Sir William Gage captained their teams and it was gentlemen like these, and the friends whom they invited to play, who began cricket's amateur tradition, while some players were paid a fee for taking part and this was the beginning of professionalism. Thus, a Sussex team of the 1720s might be captained by Richmond and include not only additional gentlemen like Gage but also professionals like Thomas Waymark
; and this was the pattern of first-class English teams for a period of 300 years from the 1660s to the 1960s. Waymark, for example, was employed by the Duke of Richmond as a groom and this became a common arrangement between patron and professional. Later in the 18th century, professionals like Edward "Lumpy" Stevens and John Minshull
were employed by their patrons as gardeners or gamekeepers. But in the longer term, the professional became an employee of his club and the beginnings of this trend could be observed in the 1770s when Hambledon
paid match fees to its players.
The original Lord's
was opened in 1787 and was intended to be the private preserve of a gentlemen's club which soon reconstituted itself as Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC). Only a gentleman could become a member but the club from its very beginning employed or contracted professionals. Lord's immediately began to stage major cricket matches and these attracted the crowds that some members had originally sought to avoid. MCC teams soon adopted the now age-old formula of "gentlemen" and "players" in the same team.
and Winchester College
by the time of the Commonwealth
. There is a reference to the game at St Paul's School, London about 1665 concerning John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
, who studied there.
In his Social History of English Cricket, Derek Birley
comments that school cricket was "alive and well during the interregnum" (1649-1660) and speculates that the game "must have been known to every schoolboy in the south-east" of England. However, he doubts that the sport at this time was part of any school's curriculum. Apart from Eton and Westminster School
, all schools in the 17th century had local intakes and no class segregation. Therefore, the sons of rich and poor families played together.
In 1706, William Goldwin
(1682-1747) published his Musae Juveniles, which included a Latin poem called In Certamen Pilae (On a Ball Game). This has 95 lines and is about a rural cricket match. Goldwin himself attended Eton and then graduated to King's College, Cambridge in 1700. It is almost certain that he encountered cricket at both establishments. There is a reference to cricket at Cambridge University in 1710 while Samuel Johnson
recorded that he played cricket at Oxford University in 1729. In 1760, the Reverend James Woodforde played for "the Winchester against the Eaton (sic)" at Oxford.
Horace Walpole entered Eton in 1726 and later wrote that "playing cricket as well as thrashing bargemen was common". The Sackville family which produced the Dukes of Dorset, most notably the 3rd Duke, sent its sons to Westminster, the 1st Duke studying there at the end of the 17th century; and it was through playing cricket at school that the game became a Sackville family tradition.
The spread of cricket to the northern counties by 1750 was partly due to "its transmission by interested clergy, schoolmasters and others educated at southern boarding schools". In the middle part of the 18th century, games involving teams of alumni became popular. These fixtures ranged from a team of Old Etonians playing the Gentlemen of England in 1751 to a game at the newly opened Lord's Old Ground
in 1788 which was entitled "Gentlemen Educated At Eton versus The Rest Of The Schools". The first school cricket match
which has been recorded was in 1794 between Westminster School and Charterhouse School
with pupils playing as City of London and City of Westminster at Lords Old Ground. Westminster School played its games at Tothill Fields, which was where Vincent Square now stands. It is known to have played matches against Eton in 1792 and 1796.
Birley recorded that the "sharpest rivalry" in the middle to late 18th century was between old boys of Eton and Westminster, as these were the two oldest public schools. Notable cricketing patrons who attended those schools include the 3rd Duke of Dorset (Winchester), the 4th Earl of Tankerville
and the 9th Earl of Winchilsea
(both Eton). Their fellow patron Sir Horatio Mann attended Charterhouse School
, an indication that cricket was gaining acceptance at many other schools. By 1800, it was firmly established in all public and most grammar schools.
The most important of these "many other schools" was Harrow
, which would develop a great cricketing tradition during the 19th century and produce numerous quality players. Harrow had formerly been a grammar school but by the end of the 18th century it had become a public school. Cricket was welcomed at Harrow as elsewhere because it was seen as a useful method for keeping the boys occupied and out of mischief, this despite its strong gambling associations.
game at Lord's seems to have been organised by the boys themselves, not by the schools, and Lord Byron, who played for Harrow, is believed to have hired the venue. These two schools eventually developed a fierce rivalry that has become the schools cricket equivalent of Cambridge v Oxford or Yorkshire v Lancashire, but they did not meet again until 1818 (twice) and 1822; after that, the fixture has occurred annually except for 1829-1831, 1856 and in wartime. James Pycroft
in The Cricket Field commented on the betting at the 1825 game but, by 1833, the match had become a social highlight and The Times
noted "upwards of thirty carriages containing ladies". Also by this time, the main public schools had grouped themselves into an elite circle and all other schools were decidedly viewed as second class by comparison. The elite were Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby
, Westminster and Winchester.
Among prominent amateurs of the Napoleonic period, E H Budd
was an Etonian and William Ward
was a Wykehamist (i.e., a Winchester pupil). Other noted "old boys" were Edward Grimston
, Charles Harenc
, Charles Wordsworth
(all Harrow), John Kirwan
, Herbert Jenner
(both Eton) and William Meyrick
(Winchester).
Ward's old school of Winchester was the main challenger to Eton and Harrow. Harrow v Winchester was first played in 1825 and Eton v Winchester in 1826. Winchester won both of those games convincingly. H S Altham records that "there was a great public school festival at Lord's until its demise in 1854" which involved Eton, Harrow and Winchester. Meanwhile, of 234 "blues" awarded by Cambridge and Oxford from 1827 to 1854, 140 went to pupils of these three schools.
According to Pycroft, Winchester had the best players in the 1820s and 1830s for, at Oxford, their former pupils challenged and defeated the rest of the university and they also won a match against the combined universities at Lord's. Six Wykehamists played in the inaugural varsity match
in 1827 but the main participants in this were Charles Wordsworth of Harrow and Herbert Jenner of Eton. Charles Harenc of Harrow became the best amateur bowler of the 1830s. Notable Etonians of the time included Harvey Fellows
and the fearsome pace bowler Walter Marcon
.
The 1820s and 1830s saw the beginning of "Muscular Christianity
" in the public schools. Dr Thomas Arnold
at Rugby is often considered the "founder" of this movement but in terms of cricket it was at Winchester that the best effect was achieved, especially in their athletic approach to fielding. Although this was hyped as something new, there are plenty of references to outstanding athletic fielders in the 18th century such as Thomas Waymark
, John Small, Tom Taylor
and William Yalden
.
The earliest references to cricket at Rugby School
and Charterhouse date from the 1820s. Other schools that gained mention in the 19th century include Addiscombe Military Academy
, Cheltenham College
, Clifton College
, Malvern College
, Marlborough College
, Merchant Taylors' School
, Repton School
, Shrewsbury School
, Tonbridge School
, Uppingham School
, Wellington
and Whitgift School
.
The fixture that became the definitive expression of a cricketing class divide was first contested in 1806 when the two teams met twice. Even then, the amateurs realised they were at a real disadvantage and so their team in the inaugural match at Lord's included two of the greatest professional players, William Beldham and William Lambert
as "given men". Lambert made 57 out of 195 and, given the support he received from T A Smith
, who scored 48, his contribution ensured that the Gentlemen won by an innings and 14 runs. The Gentlemen team was actually quite good as it also included Beauclerk
, John Willes
, Edward Bligh
, George Leycester
and Arthur Upton
. In the second match, Beldham went back to the Players and only Lambert was a given man. Lambert again had an outstanding game and the Gentlemen won by 82 runs, though it was Beauclerk's first innings score of 58 from only 96 that was decisive.
The fixture was tried again in 1819 without much success and then, to quote Birley, it "struggled on". One of the least auspicious occasions was in 1821 when the Gentlemen "gave up" after they had scored only 60 and the Players had reached 270-6. Birley states that this was a Coronation Match to celebrate the accession of the much maligned King George IV
and that "it was a suitably murky affair!"
In 1822, the Gentlemen did manage to win on level terms thanks to their triumvirate of great batsmen: Beauclerk, Budd and Ward. Budd scored 69 out of 138 in the first innings; Beauclerk and Ward built an unbeaten partnership in the second to secure the six wicket win; and really the Players were rather let down by their batting. Having good batsmen and ordinary bowlers was to become a Gentlemen tendency. The Players on the other hand were usually strong in bowling and generally good in batting.
From 1824 to 1837, the fixture was usually an odds match, the Gentlemen having as many as 18 in 1836. In two matches, the Players were handicapped by different stump lengths. In 1835, the Gents had Sam Redgate
as a given man and he caused a stir by clean bowling Fuller Pilch
twice for nought. In 1836, the great Alfred Mynn
played for the Gents for the first time along with Alfred "Dandy" Lowth
, another noted speed merchant even though he was still a 17 year old Winchester school boy; his promising career was cut short due to failing eyesight.
By 1841, the fixture was in disrepute and MCC refused to organise it. It was only through the efforts of C G Taylor
and the Hon. F Ponsonby
that the game could take place. They opened a subscription list to avert its collapse.
between Cambridge University
and Oxford University
took place at Lord's on 4 June 1827. The result was a draw. The captains were Charles Wordsworth (Oxford) and Herbert Jenner (Cambridge). It became an annual fixture in 1838.
Cambridge and Oxford were the only English universities until 1828, when the first college at London University was founded. Durham University was the fourth in 1832 and the first "redbrick" was Owens College at Manchester in 1851.
About the early days of the two university clubs, H S Altham (himself an Oxford "blue") states that OUCC played on "that part of Cowley Common that was called the Magdalen Ground, so-called because it had been appropriated by the Magdalen College Choir School, whose headmaster made it over" (to OUCC). Cowley Common is in fact some distance from the University itself and so "the cricketers used to enjoy a ride out across the fences!" OUCC moved to The Parks, its present venue, in 1881.
Altham says that CUCC began at a huge public area called Parker's Piece
but then became tenants at Fenner's
in 1846. The club secured the lease of Fenner's in 1873. Francis Fenner
had been a bowler with the Cambridge Town Club (CTC) and had acquired his land in 1846, perhaps for the express purpose of leasing it to CUCC. CTC and the subsequent Cambridgeshire CCC also played on Parker's Piece.
Playing standards at the two university clubs were ordinary until the 1860s. Altham admits that many CUCC and OUCC players were selected for the Gentlemen but points out that this owed "less to the strength of the universities than to the weakness of amateur cricket as a whole".
Noted CUCC players of the period include: C G Taylor
; Robert Broughton
, who was an outstanding cover point; George Boudier
; Robert T. King
, an all-rounder who had an outstanding season in 1849; Hon. F Ponsonby
; Joseph McCormick
; Joseph Makinson
, who played for Lancashire CCC; George Edward Cotterill
; Herbert Marshall
; Arthur Daniel
; Hon. C G Lyttelton
; Edward Sayres
; John Kirwan; Edward Blore
; Robert Lang
.
Noted OUCC players of the period include: Hon. Robert Grimston
; Villiers Smith
; Charles Coleridge
; Reginald Hankey
; Charlton Lane; the twins Arthur
and Alfred Payne
; Walter Fellows
; Richard Mitchell
, an outstanding batsman at Oxford who went on to greater things as coach at Eton in the 1870s; Alfred Lowth
; George B. Lee
; Henry Moberly
; Charles Willis
; Gerald Yonge
; C. D. B. Marsham
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
.
Co-development of amateur and professional cricket to 1800
Cricket probably began in England during the medieval period but there is no definite reference to it until the 16th century. The earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar SchoolRoyal Grammar School, Guildford
The Royal Grammar School is a selective English independent day school for boys in Guildford, Surrey. The school dates its founding to the death of Robert Beckingham in 1509 who left provision in his will to 'make a free scole at the Towne of Guldford'; in 1512 a governing body was set up to form...
in Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.
Originally, all cricketers were amateurs in the literal sense of the word. Village cricket
Village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels of the English cricket pyramid....
developed through the 17th century and teams typically comprised players who were all resident in the same village or parish. There is no evidence of professionalism before the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
or during the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
but legal cases of the period have shown that cricket was played jointly by gentry and workers.
Amateur and professional cricketers
In the great upsurge of sport after the RestorationEnglish Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
in 1660, cricket flourished because so many people had encountered it as children, especially at school. But what created major cricket in the immediate aftermath of the Restoration was gambling for, along with horse racing and prizefighting, cricket soon attracted the attention of those who were seeking to make wagers.
To boost their chances of winning, some gamblers formed their own county-class teams such as Kent
Kent county cricket teams
Kent county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Kent, jointly with Sussex, is the birthplace of the sport...
and Surrey
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:...
who played each other in 1709. Patrons like Edward Stead
Edward Stead
Edward Stead was a famous patron of English cricket, particularly of Kent county cricket teams, in the early 18th century.-Cricket career:...
, the Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
and Sir William Gage captained their teams and it was gentlemen like these, and the friends whom they invited to play, who began cricket's amateur tradition, while some players were paid a fee for taking part and this was the beginning of professionalism. Thus, a Sussex team of the 1720s might be captained by Richmond and include not only additional gentlemen like Gage but also professionals like Thomas Waymark
Thomas Waymark
Thomas Waymark was an English professional cricketer in the first half of the 18th century...
; and this was the pattern of first-class English teams for a period of 300 years from the 1660s to the 1960s. Waymark, for example, was employed by the Duke of Richmond as a groom and this became a common arrangement between patron and professional. Later in the 18th century, professionals like Edward "Lumpy" Stevens and John Minshull
John Minshull
John Minshull aka Minchin was a famous English cricketer during the 1770s...
were employed by their patrons as gardeners or gamekeepers. But in the longer term, the professional became an employee of his club and the beginnings of this trend could be observed in the 1770s when Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
paid match fees to its players.
The original Lord's
Lord's Old Ground
Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major cricket matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate.-Matches:...
was opened in 1787 and was intended to be the private preserve of a gentlemen's club which soon reconstituted itself as Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(MCC). Only a gentleman could become a member but the club from its very beginning employed or contracted professionals. Lord's immediately began to stage major cricket matches and these attracted the crowds that some members had originally sought to avoid. MCC teams soon adopted the now age-old formula of "gentlemen" and "players" in the same team.
Growth of cricket in the schools and universities
There are few 17th century references to cricket being played at or in the vicinity of schools, but the sport was played by pupils at Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
by the time of the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the republic which ruled first England, and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. Between 1653–1659 it was known as the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland...
. There is a reference to the game at St Paul's School, London about 1665 concerning John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, who studied there.
In his Social History of English Cricket, Derek Birley
Derek Birley
Sir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....
comments that school cricket was "alive and well during the interregnum" (1649-1660) and speculates that the game "must have been known to every schoolboy in the south-east" of England. However, he doubts that the sport at this time was part of any school's curriculum. Apart from Eton and Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, all schools in the 17th century had local intakes and no class segregation. Therefore, the sons of rich and poor families played together.
In 1706, William Goldwin
William Goldwin
William Goldwin was an English schoolteacher and vicar who left his mark on cricket by creating the sport's earliest known work of literature. Goldwin, whose name is sometimes spelt "Goldwyn", wrote a poem of 95 competent and sometimes graceful lines of Latin hexameters on a rural cricket match...
(1682-1747) published his Musae Juveniles, which included a Latin poem called In Certamen Pilae (On a Ball Game). This has 95 lines and is about a rural cricket match. Goldwin himself attended Eton and then graduated to King's College, Cambridge in 1700. It is almost certain that he encountered cricket at both establishments. There is a reference to cricket at Cambridge University in 1710 while Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
recorded that he played cricket at Oxford University in 1729. In 1760, the Reverend James Woodforde played for "the Winchester against the Eaton (sic)" at Oxford.
Horace Walpole entered Eton in 1726 and later wrote that "playing cricket as well as thrashing bargemen was common". The Sackville family which produced the Dukes of Dorset, most notably the 3rd Duke, sent its sons to Westminster, the 1st Duke studying there at the end of the 17th century; and it was through playing cricket at school that the game became a Sackville family tradition.
The spread of cricket to the northern counties by 1750 was partly due to "its transmission by interested clergy, schoolmasters and others educated at southern boarding schools". In the middle part of the 18th century, games involving teams of alumni became popular. These fixtures ranged from a team of Old Etonians playing the Gentlemen of England in 1751 to a game at the newly opened Lord's Old Ground
Lord's Old Ground
Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major cricket matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate.-Matches:...
in 1788 which was entitled "Gentlemen Educated At Eton versus The Rest Of The Schools". The first school cricket match
First school cricket match
The first school cricket match of which there is a record took place in London on 5 August 1794 between Westminster School and Charterhouse School.-Description:...
which has been recorded was in 1794 between Westminster School and Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
with pupils playing as City of London and City of Westminster at Lords Old Ground. Westminster School played its games at Tothill Fields, which was where Vincent Square now stands. It is known to have played matches against Eton in 1792 and 1796.
Birley recorded that the "sharpest rivalry" in the middle to late 18th century was between old boys of Eton and Westminster, as these were the two oldest public schools. Notable cricketing patrons who attended those schools include the 3rd Duke of Dorset (Winchester), the 4th Earl of Tankerville
Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville
Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville , styled Lord Ossulston from 1753 to 1767, was a British nobleman, a collector of shells and a famous patron of Surrey cricket in the 1770s. He agreed a set of cricket rules that included the first mention of the Leg before wicket rule. His wife, Emma, was...
and the 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....
(both Eton). Their fellow patron Sir Horatio Mann attended Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, an indication that cricket was gaining acceptance at many other schools. By 1800, it was firmly established in all public and most grammar schools.
The most important of these "many other schools" was Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
, which would develop a great cricketing tradition during the 19th century and produce numerous quality players. Harrow had formerly been a grammar school but by the end of the 18th century it had become a public school. Cricket was welcomed at Harrow as elsewhere because it was seen as a useful method for keeping the boys occupied and out of mischief, this despite its strong gambling associations.
Schools cricket from 1805 to 1863
Eton and Harrow definitely played each other in 1805 and there is evidence suggesting a game in 1804, perhaps sooner. The 1805 Eton v HarrowEton v Harrow
The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual cricket match between Eton College and Harrow School. It one of the longest-running annual cricket fixtures in the world. It is the last annual school cricket match played at Lord's Cricket Ground...
game at Lord's seems to have been organised by the boys themselves, not by the schools, and Lord Byron, who played for Harrow, is believed to have hired the venue. These two schools eventually developed a fierce rivalry that has become the schools cricket equivalent of Cambridge v Oxford or Yorkshire v Lancashire, but they did not meet again until 1818 (twice) and 1822; after that, the fixture has occurred annually except for 1829-1831, 1856 and in wartime. James Pycroft
James Pycroft
James Pycroft is chiefly known for writing The Cricket Field, one of the earliest books about cricket, published in 1851. Pycroft mythologised cricket as a noble, manly and essentially British activity James Pycroft (1813, Geyers House, Wiltshire – 1895-03-10, Brighton, Sussex) is chiefly known...
in The Cricket Field commented on the betting at the 1825 game but, by 1833, the match had become a social highlight and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
noted "upwards of thirty carriages containing ladies". Also by this time, the main public schools had grouped themselves into an elite circle and all other schools were decidedly viewed as second class by comparison. The elite were Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, Westminster and Winchester.
Among prominent amateurs of the Napoleonic period, E H Budd
EH Budd
Edward Hayward Budd was a noted English cricketer and all-round sportsman. He was a prominent right-handed batsman and an occasional medium pace lob bowler...
was an Etonian and William Ward
William Ward (cricketer)
William Ward was a noted English cricketer. He came from an affluent family which owned property on the Isle of Wight. He was educated at Winchester College, and then received financial training in Antwerp.-Life and career:William Ward was a prominent right-handed batsman and an occasional slow...
was a Wykehamist (i.e., a Winchester pupil). Other noted "old boys" were Edward Grimston
Edward Grimston
The Honourable Edward Harbottle Grimston was an English amateur cricketer and a Conservative Party politician who held a seat in the House of Commons from 1835 to 1841.- Cricket :...
, Charles Harenc
Charles Harenc
Charles Harenc was an English cricketer in the mid-19th century. He was a member of the great Kent team of the 1840s and also played for MCC. Harenc was an amateur player who began his first-class career at Oxford University...
, Charles Wordsworth
Charles Wordsworth
The Reverend Charles Wordsworth, M.A. was bishop of Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at a public schools in England and Scotland...
(all Harrow), John Kirwan
John Kirwan (cricketer)
John Henry Kirwan was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1836 to 1842...
, Herbert Jenner
Herbert Jenner
Herbert Jenner was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1825 to 1838. He changed his name to Herbert Jenner-Fust in 1864.-Life:...
(both Eton) and William Meyrick
William Meyrick
William Meyrick was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1828 to 1837. Mainly associated with Cambridge University Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club , he made 9 known appearances in first-class matches...
(Winchester).
Ward's old school of Winchester was the main challenger to Eton and Harrow. Harrow v Winchester was first played in 1825 and Eton v Winchester in 1826. Winchester won both of those games convincingly. H S Altham records that "there was a great public school festival at Lord's until its demise in 1854" which involved Eton, Harrow and Winchester. Meanwhile, of 234 "blues" awarded by Cambridge and Oxford from 1827 to 1854, 140 went to pupils of these three schools.
According to Pycroft, Winchester had the best players in the 1820s and 1830s for, at Oxford, their former pupils challenged and defeated the rest of the university and they also won a match against the combined universities at Lord's. Six Wykehamists played in the inaugural varsity match
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...
in 1827 but the main participants in this were Charles Wordsworth of Harrow and Herbert Jenner of Eton. Charles Harenc of Harrow became the best amateur bowler of the 1830s. Notable Etonians of the time included Harvey Fellows
Harvey Fellows
Harvey Winson Fellows was an English amateur cricketer. He was the brother of Walter Fellows.-Career:Fellows was a right-handed batsman and a roundarm right arm fast bowler...
and the fearsome pace bowler Walter Marcon
Walter Marcon
Walter Marcon was an English cricketer who played six first-class matches for Oxford University in 1843 and 1844...
.
The 1820s and 1830s saw the beginning of "Muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity
Muscular Christianity is a term for a movement originating during the Victorian era which stressed the need for energetic Christian activism in combination with an ideal of vigorous masculinity...
" in the public schools. Dr Thomas Arnold
Thomas Arnold
Dr Thomas Arnold was a British educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement...
at Rugby is often considered the "founder" of this movement but in terms of cricket it was at Winchester that the best effect was achieved, especially in their athletic approach to fielding. Although this was hyped as something new, there are plenty of references to outstanding athletic fielders in the 18th century such as Thomas Waymark
Thomas Waymark
Thomas Waymark was an English professional cricketer in the first half of the 18th century...
, John Small, 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....
and William Yalden
William Yalden
William "The Yold" Yalden was a noted English cricketer. He was a very good batsman but was primarily known as a wicket-keeper....
.
The earliest references to cricket at Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
and Charterhouse date from the 1820s. Other schools that gained mention in the 19th century include Addiscombe Military Academy
Addiscombe Military Academy
The East India Company Military Seminary, colloquially known as Addiscombe Seminary, Addiscombe College, or Addiscombe Military Academy was a British military academy at Addiscombe, Surrey, in what is now the London Borough of Croydon. It was established in 1809, and closed in 1861...
, Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
, Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, Malvern College
Malvern College
Malvern College is a coeducational independent school located on a 250 acre campus near the town centre of Malvern, Worcestershire in England. Founded on 25 January 1865, until 1992, the College was a secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18...
, Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
, Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
, Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
, Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
, Uppingham School
Uppingham School
Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...
, Wellington
Wellington School, Somerset
Wellington School is a British co-educational independent school in Wellington, Somerset, England catering for both day pupils and boarders. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader....
and Whitgift School
Whitgift School
Whitgift School is an independent day school educating approximately 1,400 boys aged 10 to 18 in South Croydon, London in a parkland site.- History and grounds :...
.
Gentlemen v. Players from 1806 to 1863
William Lambert (cricketer)
William Lambert was an English professional cricketer in the first two decades of the 19th century...
as "given men". Lambert made 57 out of 195 and, given the support he received from T A Smith
Thomas Assheton Smith II
Thomas Assheton Smith was an English landowner and all-round sportsman who was notable for being one of the outstanding amateur cricketers of the early 19th century. He was a Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1821 to 1837...
, who scored 48, his contribution ensured that the Gentlemen won by an innings and 14 runs. The Gentlemen team was actually quite good as it also included Beauclerk
Lord Frederick Beauclerk
Lord Frederick Beauclerk was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer for 35 years from 1791 to 1825. On his retirement, he served as president of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1826.Beauclerk was the fourth son of the 5th Duke of St Albans and became a clergyman. He was Vicar...
, John Willes
John Willes (cricketer)
John Willes was an English cricketer who, though he made only five known first-class appearances, had a significant impact on the game's history and development...
, Edward Bligh
Edward Bligh
Edward Bligh , styled The Honourable from birth, was an Irish politician, a noted amateur cricketer and a prominent early member of the Marylebone Cricket Club....
, 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....
and Arthur Upton
Arthur Upton
The Honourable Colonel Arthur Percy Upton was a noted amateur cricketer during the Napoleonic era.-Cricket career:...
. In the second match, Beldham went back to the Players and only Lambert was a given man. Lambert again had an outstanding game and the Gentlemen won by 82 runs, though it was Beauclerk's first innings score of 58 from only 96 that was decisive.
The fixture was tried again in 1819 without much success and then, to quote Birley, it "struggled on". One of the least auspicious occasions was in 1821 when the Gentlemen "gave up" after they had scored only 60 and the Players had reached 270-6. Birley states that this was a Coronation Match to celebrate the accession of the much maligned King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
and that "it was a suitably murky affair!"
In 1822, the Gentlemen did manage to win on level terms thanks to their triumvirate of great batsmen: Beauclerk, Budd and Ward. Budd scored 69 out of 138 in the first innings; Beauclerk and Ward built an unbeaten partnership in the second to secure the six wicket win; and really the Players were rather let down by their batting. Having good batsmen and ordinary bowlers was to become a Gentlemen tendency. The Players on the other hand were usually strong in bowling and generally good in batting.
From 1824 to 1837, the fixture was usually an odds match, the Gentlemen having as many as 18 in 1836. In two matches, the Players were handicapped by different stump lengths. In 1835, the Gents had Sam Redgate
Sam Redgate
Samuel Redgate was a famous English professional cricketer who played for Nottingham Cricket Club and Nottinghamshire CCC from the 1830 to the 1846 season....
as a given man and he caused a stir by clean bowling Fuller Pilch
Fuller Pilch
Fuller Pilch was an English cricketer. Described as "the greatest batsman ever known until the appearance of W. G. Grace", the right-hand batting Pilch played 229 first class cricket matches between 1820 and 1854 for an assortment of counties, including Kent, Hampshire, Surrey and Surrey, as well...
twice for nought. In 1836, the great Alfred Mynn
Alfred Mynn
Alfred Mynn was an English cricketer during the game's "Roundarm Era". He was a genuine all-rounder, being both an attacking right-handed batsman and a formidable right arm fast bowler. The noted cricket writer John Woodcock ranked him as the fourth greatest cricketer of all time. Simon Wilde...
played for the Gents for the first time along with Alfred "Dandy" Lowth
Alfred Lowth
Alfred James "Dandy" Lowth was an English amateur cricketer...
, another noted speed merchant even though he was still a 17 year old Winchester school boy; his promising career was cut short due to failing eyesight.
By 1841, the fixture was in disrepute and MCC refused to organise it. It was only through the efforts of C G Taylor
Charles Taylor (cricketer)
Charles George Taylor was an English cricketer in the mid-19th century who played, as an amateur, mainly for Sussex and MCC, having begun his career at Cambridge University...
and the Hon. F Ponsonby
Frederick Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough
Frederick George Brabazon Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough was a British peer and cricketer. He was the third son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough and his wife Lady Maria Fane...
that the game could take place. They opened a subscription list to avert its collapse.
University cricket from 1827 to 1863
The first University MatchThe University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...
between Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
took place at Lord's on 4 June 1827. The result was a draw. The captains were Charles Wordsworth (Oxford) and Herbert Jenner (Cambridge). It became an annual fixture in 1838.
Cambridge and Oxford were the only English universities until 1828, when the first college at London University was founded. Durham University was the fourth in 1832 and the first "redbrick" was Owens College at Manchester in 1851.
About the early days of the two university clubs, H S Altham (himself an Oxford "blue") states that OUCC played on "that part of Cowley Common that was called the Magdalen Ground, so-called because it had been appropriated by the Magdalen College Choir School, whose headmaster made it over" (to OUCC). Cowley Common is in fact some distance from the University itself and so "the cricketers used to enjoy a ride out across the fences!" OUCC moved to The Parks, its present venue, in 1881.
Altham says that CUCC began at a huge public area called Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece is a flat and very roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is commonly known as Reality Checkpoint...
but then became tenants at Fenner's
Fenner's
Fenner's is the University of Cambridge's cricket ground.-History:Fenner's has hosted first-class cricket since 1848, and many of the world's great players have graced the wicket. The ground was established on land leased for the purpose by Francis Fenner, after whom the ground is named.Playing for...
in 1846. The club secured the lease of Fenner's in 1873. Francis Fenner
Francis Fenner
Francis Phillips Fenner was an English cricketer for Hampshire. A right-arm fast bowler, Fenner took 176 wickets for his county at 19.00 from his 54 first-class appearances from 1829 until 1856....
had been a bowler with the Cambridge Town Club (CTC) and had acquired his land in 1846, perhaps for the express purpose of leasing it to CUCC. CTC and the subsequent Cambridgeshire CCC also played on Parker's Piece.
Playing standards at the two university clubs were ordinary until the 1860s. Altham admits that many CUCC and OUCC players were selected for the Gentlemen but points out that this owed "less to the strength of the universities than to the weakness of amateur cricket as a whole".
Noted CUCC players of the period include: C G Taylor
Charles Taylor (cricketer)
Charles George Taylor was an English cricketer in the mid-19th century who played, as an amateur, mainly for Sussex and MCC, having begun his career at Cambridge University...
; Robert Broughton
Robert Broughton (cricketer)
Robert John Porcher Broughton was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1836 to 1864....
, who was an outstanding cover point; George Boudier
George Boudier
George John Boudier was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1840 to 1847....
; Robert T. King
Robert T. King
Robert Turner King was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1846 to 1851.Robert Turner King was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
, an all-rounder who had an outstanding season in 1849; Hon. F Ponsonby
Frederick Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough
Frederick George Brabazon Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough was a British peer and cricketer. He was the third son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough and his wife Lady Maria Fane...
; Joseph McCormick
Joseph McCormick (cricketer)
Joseph McCormick was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1854 to 1866.Joseph McCormick was educated at Bingley Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge...
; Joseph Makinson
Joseph Makinson
Joseph Makinson was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1856 to 1873....
, who played for Lancashire CCC; George Edward Cotterill
George Edward Cotterill
George Edward Cotterill was an English amateur cricketer.-Career:Cotterill was educated at Brighton College and St John's College, Cambridge...
; Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall (cricketer)
Herbert Menzies Marshall was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1861 to 1864....
; Arthur Daniel
Arthur Daniel
Arthur William Trollope Daniel was an English all-round sportsman and amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1861 to 1869....
; Hon. C G Lyttelton
Charles Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham
Charles George Lyttelton, 8th Viscount Cobham , known as The Lord Lyttelton from 1876 to 1889, was a British peer and Liberal Member of Parliament.-Biography:...
; Edward Sayres
Edward Sayres
Edward Sayres was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1838 to 1842.Edward Sayres was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge...
; John Kirwan; Edward Blore
Edward Blore (cricketer)
Edward William Blore was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1848 to 1855....
; Robert Lang
Robert Lang (cricketer)
Robert Lang was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1860 to 1862 for Cambridge University....
.
Noted OUCC players of the period include: Hon. Robert Grimston
Robert Grimston (cricketer)
The Honourable Robert Grimston was an English amateur cricketer.-Career:...
; Villiers Smith
Villiers Smith
Villiers Shallet Charnock Smith was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1844 to 1849....
; Charles Coleridge
Charles Coleridge
Charles Edward Coleridge was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1848 to 1852....
; Reginald Hankey
Reginald Hankey
Reginald Hankey was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1853 to 1860.Born at Marylebone, London, he was a right-handed batsman and right arm medium pace roundarm bowler who was mainly associated with Oxford University, Marylebone Cricket Club and Surrey, and made 18...
; Charlton Lane; the twins Arthur
Arthur Payne (cricketer)
Arthur Frederick Payne was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1854 to 1867...
and Alfred Payne
Alfred Payne
Alfred Payne was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1852 to 1864. He was the twin brother of Arthur Payne....
; Walter Fellows
Walter Fellows
Walter Fellows was an English amateur cricketer. He was the brother of Harvey Fellows.-Career:...
; Richard Mitchell
Richard Mitchell (cricketer)
Richard Arthur Henry Mitchell was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1861 to 1883....
, an outstanding batsman at Oxford who went on to greater things as coach at Eton in the 1870s; Alfred Lowth
Alfred Lowth
Alfred James "Dandy" Lowth was an English amateur cricketer...
; George B. Lee
George B. Lee
George Bolles Lee was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1837 to 1845....
; Henry Moberly
Henry Moberly
Henry Edward Moberly was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1842 to 1845....
; Charles Willis
Charles Willis
Charles Francis Willis was an English amateur cricketer.-Career:...
; Gerald Yonge
Gerald Yonge
Gerald Edward Yonge was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1844 to 1853....
; C. D. B. Marsham
C. D. B. Marsham
The Rev. Cloudesley Dewar Bullock Marsham was an English cricketer, primarily playing for Oxford University....
.
The All-England Eleven
In the middle of the 19th century, William Clarke's All-England Eleven (AEE) was a highly successful all-professional venture which did much to popularise the game. The earliest overseas tours were also all-professional affairs. It was not long before amateurs became involved in the AEE.Further reading
- James, C. Beyond A Boundary, Hutchinson, 1963
- Pycroft, JamesJames PycroftJames Pycroft is chiefly known for writing The Cricket Field, one of the earliest books about cricket, published in 1851. Pycroft mythologised cricket as a noble, manly and essentially British activity James Pycroft (1813, Geyers House, Wiltshire – 1895-03-10, Brighton, Sussex) is chiefly known...
. The Cricket Field, Longman, 1854