1825 English cricket season

In the 1825 English cricket season, the pavilion at Lord's Cricket Ground was destroyed by fire. Many irreplaceable documents which recorded early cricket matches are believed to have been lost. The impact of this upon cricket's history is that it is only since 1825 that surviving records can be viewed with anything like complete confidence. Two of the greatest players of the 19th century, William Lillywhite and Ned Wenman, made their debuts in first-class cricket.

Honours

• Most runs^[1] – Jem Broadbridge 552 (HS 135)
• Most wickets^[1] – Jem Broadbridge 31 (BB 6–?)

Events

• On Thursday 28 July, a schools match at Lord's between Harrow and Winchester had just concluded and then, during the night, the pavilion burned down with the consequent loss of valuable scorecards, records and trophies. Thomas Lord claimed he lost £2600 in paid subscriptions, none of which were ever recovered, raising the questions of why it wasn't in the bank and why he apparently wasn't insured.
• William Ward purchased the lease of Lord's ground from Thomas Lord, who retained freehold. Lord had been proposing to build houses on the land which brought cries of outrage from the gentlemen players. Ward, a rich banker as well as a fine batsman, stepped in and bought the leasehold to save the ground for cricket.
• Inter-county cricket was revived for the first time since 1796 with Sussex playing two matches each against Hampshire and Kent, the home team winning every time. Hampshire and Kent did not play each other.
• A total of 11 first-class matches were recorded in 1825, the most in any season since the 18th century and the onset of the Napoleonic Wars:
  • 23 May — Cambridge University v Cambridge Town Club at University Ground, Cambridge^[2][3]
  • 13–14 June — Sussex v Kent at Royal New Ground, Brighton^[4]
  • 16 June — MCC v Godalming at Lord's Cricket Ground^[5]
  • 23 June — Godalming v MCC at The Burys, Godalming^[6]
  • 27 June — Hampshire v Godalming at Bramshill Park, Hampshire^[7]
  • 27–28 June — Kent v Sussex at Hawkhurst Moor^[7]
  • 4–7 July — Gentlemen XVI v Players XI at Lord's Cricket Ground^[8]
  • 11 July — All-England v The Bs at Lord's Cricket Ground^[9]
  • 18 July — Godalming v Hampshire at The Burys, Godalming^[10]
  • 8–9 August — Sussex v Hampshire at Petworth Park^[11]
  • 15 August — Hampshire v Sussex at Bramshill Park, Hampshire^[12]

Debutants

1825 debutants included:

• William Lillywhite (Sussex)
• Ned Wenman (Kent)
• James Burt (Hampshire)
• Richard Cheslyn (MCC)
• Herbert Jenner (CU/MCC)
• Henry Kingscote (MCC)
• Charles Lanaway (Sussex)
• George Meads (Sussex)
• Richard Mills (Kent)
• Thomas Stearn (Cambridgeshire)
• Edward Thwaites (Kent)

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 – 1825 first-class matches list
• CricketArchive – 1825 other matches list