1795 English cricket season

1795 was the ninth season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The enigmatic Thursday Club made its bow. In Samuel Britcher's opinion, it was the Middlesex county XI. Details of 26 matches are known, but few can be considered important/top-class.^{[note 1]}

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source
4–5 May (M-Tu)	MCC v Thursday Club ^	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[5]	MCC won by 2 wkts

11–12 May (M-Tu)	MCC v Thursday Club ^	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[5]	Thursday Club won by 8 wkts

12–14 May (Tu-Th)	MCC v Thursday Club ^	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[6]	Thursday Club won by 38 runs
^ The teams consist of recognised players and there is historical significance so these are important matches. The Thursday Club is often called Middlesex and it is difficult to work out which is which as many of the same players represented both teams. It would be an easy option to label all these teams Middlesex but not necessarily correct.
25–27 May (M-W)	MCC v Thursday Club/Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[7]	MCC won by 94 runs

1–3 June (M-W)	C Lennox v Earl of Winchilsea	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[8]	Lennox's XI won by 48 runs

9–11 June (Tu-Th)	C Lennox v Earl of Winchilsea	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[8]	Lennox's XI won by 10 wkts

15 June (M)	Bullingdon v MCC #	Bullingdon ^[9]	MCC won by 8 wkts

16–17 June (Tu-Th)	Frensham v Bramshot #	Wheatsheaf Common ^[9]	drawn (rain)

16–17 June (Tu-Th)	Oxford XVI v MCC XII #	Bullingdon ^[10]	MCC won by 9 wkts

22–25 June (M-Th)	MCC v All-England	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[11]	MCC won by 15 runs

26 & 29 June (F & M)	MCC v Thursday Club/Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[12]	T/M won by 3 wkts

2–3 July (Th-F)	MCC v Bullingdon ^#	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[12]	MCC won by innings & 382 runs
^# Some games in S&B and the ACS list are unimportant due to lack of recognised players. These include the MCC games against Bullingdon and the Frensham v Bramshot game played in Hampshire.
6–8 July (M-W)	Surrey v Thirteen of England	Moulsey Hurst ^[13]	Surrey won by 76 runs

8–10 July (W-F)	Lennox v Earl of Winchilsea	Moulsey Hurst ^[14]	Lennox won by 129 runs

16–18 July (Th-S)	Middlesex v Berkshire	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[14]	Middlesex won by 233 runs

20–22 July (M-W)	Earl of Winchilsea v R Leigh	Windmill Down ^[15]	Winchilsea's XI won by 113 runs

23–25 July (Th-S)	Earl of Winchilsea v R Leigh	Stoke Down ^[15]	Leigh's XI won by 3 wkts
This match was unfinished at 25 July but through the sheer determination of the participants, it was eventually concluded on Tuesday 28 June 1796, nearly a whole year later!
6-7 Aug (Th-F)	MCC v Berkshire	Lord's (Dorset Square) ^[16]	MCC won by 2 wkts

10-12 Aug (M-W)	Surrey v Thirteen of England	Moulsey Hurst ^[17]	England won by 38 runs

12-15 Aug (W-S)	Surrey v Thirteen of England	Moulsey Hurst ^[17]	England won by 27 runs

24-26 Aug (M-W)	England v Hampshire	Dartford Brent ^[18]	England won by 16 runs

27-29 Aug (Th-S)	All-England v Hampshire	Dartford Brent ^[18]	Hampshire won by 4 wkts
This may have been the last time Dartford Brent was used for an important match. Games in Dartford after 1795 were played at Bowman's Lodge on Dartford Heath.
31 Aug - 2 Sept (M-W)	Kent v England	Penenden Heath, nr Maidstone ^[19]	England won by 5 wkts

7-10 Sept (M-Th)	Sir H Mann v R Leigh	Dandelion Paddock ^[19]	Mann's XI won by 37 runs
This match is given a 1796 date in WDC and is titled J Small v T Walker. The 1795 details are believed correct. Dandelion Paddock was near Margate.
10-12 Sept (Th-S)	Sir H Mann v Earl of Darnley	Dandelion Paddock ^[20]	Darnley's XI won by 242 runs

14-16 Sept (M-W)	Sir H Mann v R Leigh	Dandelion Paddock ^[21]	Leigh's XI won by innings & 98 runs

Other events

To be completed.

Notes

^ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.^[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.^[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.^[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant.^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

^ "First-Class matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
^ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC 851705816.
^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 178.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 17.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 180.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 181.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 182.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 183.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 184.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 185.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 186.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 187.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 188.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 189.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 190.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 191.
^ ^a ^b Haygarth 1996, p. 193.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 194.
^ Haygarth 1996, p. 195.

Bibliography

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 85045528.
ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 10586869.
Haygarth, Arthur (1996) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN 978-19-00592-23-9.
Warner, Pelham (1946). Lords: 1787–1945. London: Harrap. OCLC 877106024.

Matches

Other events

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading