1820 English cricket season

1820 English cricket season
Cricket formats	major, including single wicket

In the 1820 English cricket season, Fuller Pilch made his first known appearance at Lord's.

Honours

According to Wisden, the original Northamptonshire CCC was founded in 1820 but was subject to substantial reorganisation and reformation in 1878. 1820 also has the earliest mention of wicket-keeping gloves.
William Ward scored 278 for MCC v. Norfolk at Lord's in 1820, the first known double century and a new world record for the highest individual innings in all forms of cricket, beating James Aylward's score of 167 in 1777. Opinion about the match's status is divided and Aylward continued to hold the record in first-class cricket until 1826.
With cricket still recovering from the effects of the Napoleonic War, only a few first-class matches were recorded in 1820:
- 23 May — Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University @ Parker's Piece, Cambridge
- 30 May — Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University @ Parker's Piece, Cambridge
- 19–20 June — Gentlemen v Players @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[2]
- 3–5 July — All-England v Hampshire @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[3]
In addition, on 24 July, the MCC v Norfolk match at Lord's.^[4] Note that this match has dubious provenance and is not always regarded as first-class.^[5]

1820 debutants included:

↑ 1.0 1.1 Note that scorecards created in the first quarter of the 19th century are not necessarily accurate or complete; therefore any summary of runs, wickets or catches can only represent the known totals and computation of averages is ineffectual.
↑ Haygarth, p.430.
↑ Haygarth, p.432.
↑ Haygarth, p.433.
↑ Rae, p.207.

Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
Rae, Simon (1998). W. G. Grace: A Life. ISBN 978-0-571-17855-1.