1814 English cricket season
1814 was the 28th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The current Lord's was opened and staged its first match. Jem Broadbridge made his debut in important matches. Details of four matches are known.[note 1]
Events
- The site of Lord's Middle Ground was requisitioned by Parliament for the building of the Regent's Canal. Thomas Lord contacted the Eyre family, erstwhile owners of the ground, and persuaded them to lease to him another parcel of land in St John's Wood, about half a mile further north at a place called North Bank. This site had previously been a duckpond. In the winter of 1813–14, Lord again had his turf literally dug up and removed. He built a high perimeter fence, a tavern and a pavilion at what became the current Lord's ground.
- On 22 June 1814, MCC played the first match at Lord's against Hertfordshire, then as now a minor county.
- The first match of importance at Lord's was played 13–15 July 1814 when MCC hosted a team called St John's Wood that included a number of Surrey players including William Beldham, William Lambert and William Ward.
- Jem Broadbridge made his first-class debut.
- With the Napoleonic War at its height, cricket continued to be badly impacted by the consequent loss of both manpower and investment. First-class matches had become few and far between since 1810 and only 4 are recorded in 1814:
- 13–15 July — MCC v St John's Wood @ Lord's[5]
- 28–29 July — Brighton v Epsom @ Royal New Ground, Brighton
- 2–4 August — Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI v Douglas Kinnaird's XI @ Lord's[6]
- Another match that has sometimes been regarded as important is Beauclerk's XI v George Osbaldeston's XI @ Goodwood Park on 22–23 July.
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.
- ^ Haygarth, p. 375.
- ^ Haygarth, p. 376.
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.
Further reading
- Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC 894274808.
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-04-13278-60-9.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.