1822 English cricket season

In the 1822 English cricket season, John Willes brought the roundarm issue to a head and sacrificed his own career in the process; the outstanding batsman James Saunders made his debut in first-class cricket.

Honours

• Most runs^[1] – E. H. Budd 354 (HS 87)
• Most wickets^[1] – John Sparks 27 (BB 5–?)

Events

• The roundarm issue came to a head in 1822 when, in the MCC v. Kent match at Lord's, John Willes of Kent opened the bowling and was no-balled for using a roundarm action, a style he had attempted to introduce since 1807. Willes promptly withdrew from the match and refused to play again in any important fixture.
• Roundarm was a natural reaction to the growing predominance of batsmen over the age-old underarm style of bowling. Its adherents argued that the legalisation of roundarm was essential to restore the balance between batting and bowling. However, high-scoring matches were still comparatively rare owing to vagaries in pitch conditions.
• 9 first-class matches were recorded in 1822:
  • 20–21 May — Cambridge University v Cambridge Town Club @ University Ground, Cambridge^[2]
  • 10–11 June — MCC First XII v MCC Second XII @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[3]
  • 24 June — MCC First XI v MCC Second XI @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[4]
  • 27–28 June — Godalming v MCC @ The Burys, Godalming^[5]
  • 1–2 July — MCC v Godalming @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[6]
  • 8–10 July — Gentlemen v Players @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[7]
  • 15–16 July — MCC v Kent @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[8]
  • 25–27 July — Kent v MCC @ West Kent CC, Chislehurst^[9]
  • 12–14 August — All-England v The Bs @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[10]

Debutants

1822 debutants included:

• Horace Bates (Kent)
• John Bayley (Surrey/MCC)
• Robert Broadbridge (Sussex)
• Percyvall Dyke (Kent)
• John Evans (Kent)
• James Grinham (Sussex)
• James Jordan (Kent)
• Edward Knight (Hampshire)
• James Ladbroke (Sussex)
• W Peto (Surrey)
• James Saunders (Sussex)
• William Henry Sewell (MCC)

References

Bibliography

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

Additional reading

• 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. 

External links

• Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825
• CricketArchive – 1822 first-class matches list
• CricketArchive – 1822 other matches list