Suffolk county cricket teams

Suffolk county cricket teams
Established: c. 1764
Last match: 1859
Home venue: Field Lane, Bury St Edmunds

Suffolk county cricket teams is the umbrella term given to teams that represented the historic county of Suffolk before the first official formation of Suffolk County Cricket Club in 1864.

18th century

Cricket had probably reached Suffolk by the end of the 17th century. The earliest known reference to cricket in Suffolk was in 1743.[1][2] The first mention of a Suffolk representative team is in 1764, with Suffolk played Norfolk at Bury St Edmunds racecourse (today the location of Rougham Airfield) on 23 August. Norfolk won this match, which was reported in the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Tuesday 28 August.[3] Suffolk played two further matches against Norfolk on 10 and 12 September at Scole, Norfolk.[2]

19th century

A team representative of Suffolk is next recorded as playing in 1827 against the Marylebone Cricket Club.[2] It was during this time that The Bury Club of Suffolk became prominent, with its reputation enhanced when Fuller Pilch joined in 1824. It was The Bury Club, playing under the name of Suffolk, that played two first-class matches against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1830, with one match played at Lord's and the other at Field Lane, Bury St Edmunds.[4] Each side won one match each. Suffolk's next recorded match came in 1864 against the Cambridge Town Club from the neighbouring county of Cambridgeshire, however this match wasn't first-class.[2] In 1847, Suffolk returned to first-class cricket with two matches against the Marylebone Cricket Club, with both matches played at the same venue as the matches seventeen years previous.[4] This time the Marylebone Cricket Club won both matches by large margins. Teams representative of Suffolk continued to play minor matches until at least 1859, when an All England Eleven played the county.[2] Suffolk County Cricket Club was formed on 27 July 1864, becoming representative of Suffolk.

Players

See List of Suffolk county cricket teams first-class players and Category:Suffolk cricketers

References

  1. ↑ Bowen, p.263
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Other Matches played by Suffolk". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Buckley, p.43
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "First-Class Matches played by Suffolk". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 January 2013.

Bibliography