1794 English cricket season
| Cricket formats | first-class and single wicket |
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In the 1794 English cricket season, Berkshire had the strongest county team.
Matches
| Date | Match Title | Venue | Source | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13–14 May (Tu-W) | MCC v London | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB163 | MCC won by 77 runs |
| 21–22 May (W-Th) | MCC v London | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB163 | London won by innings & 30 runs |
| 26–29 May (M-Th) | MCC v Middlesex | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB164 | MCC won by 100 runs |
| 9–11 June (M-W) | All-England v Surrey | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB165 | Surrey won by 197 runs |
| 18–20 June (W-F) | R Leigh v E G Morant | Oldfield Bray | SB165 | Leigh's XI won by 89 runs |
| 30 June - 2 July (M-W) | R Leigh v G Louch | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB166 | Leigh's XI won by 132 runs |
| 7–8 July (M-Tu) | Berkshire v MCC | Oldfield Bray | SB167 | MCC won by 3 wkts |
| 21–22 July (M-Tu) | E G Morant v R Leigh | Dartford Brent | SB168 | Morant's XI won by 33 runs |
| 23–24 July (W-Th) | T Walker v D Harris | Dartford Brent | SB169 | Walker's XI won by 53 runs |
| 29–30 July (Tu-W) | MCC v Berkshire | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB170 | MCC won by 56 runs |
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In S&B and the ACS list, this game is called Earl of Winchilsea’s XI v E G Morant’s XI but it is clearly an MCC team hosting the Oldfield club of Berkshire, so it is called MCC v Berkshire here. Has been excluded from earlier classifications due to "weak teams". However, both sides consist of recognised players and it is a major fixture. | ||||
| 7-9, 11 Aug (Th-M) | MCC v All-England ^ | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB172 | MCC won by 59 runs |
| 12-13 Aug (Tu-W) | MCC v Berkshire | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB174 | Berkshire won by 7 runs |
| 13-14 Aug (W-Th) | MCC v Berkshire | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB174 | Berkshire won by 6 wkts |
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This game started as soon as previous one ended | ||||
| 19-20 Aug (Tu-W) | Hampshire v All-England ^ | Stoke Down | SB173 | All-England won by 6 wkts |
| 21-23 Aug (Th-S) | Hampshire v All-England ^ | Stoke Down | SB175 | Hampshire won by 6 wkts |
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^ The All-England teams in these three games are variously described as amalgams of counties (e.g., Kent & Surrey) but they are really All-England teams. Interestingly, Sussex are not included in the amalgams but their best player John Hammond was in all three teams. ACS is inconsistent here, stating that one of the teams is All-England but the other two are amalgams. | ||||
| 27-30 Aug (W-S) | Berkshire v Kent | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB176 | Berkshire won by 49 runs |
| 10-13, 15 Sept (W-M) | All-England XIII v Surrey | Lord's (Dorset Square) | SB176 | All-England won by 3 runs |
| 16-19 Sept (Tu-F) | All-England XIII v Surrey | Dartford Brent | SB177 | All-England won by 150 runs |
First mentions
- John Lambert
- Edward Winter
- Briden (MCC cricketer)
- James Beeston aka Tom Brown (Middlesex) – played 24 matches to 1808
- Rice (Middlesex cricketer) aka James or A Smith (Middlesex; amateur) – played 13 matches to 1797
- George Shepheard (Middlesex) – played ten matches to 1799
- Wheeler (Middlesex cricketer) (Middlesex) – played ten matches to 1797
- Gates (Berkshire cricketer) (Berkshire) – played eight matches to 1807
- Rubegall (Middlesex cricketer) (Middlesex) – played six matches to 1798
- R. Brandling (MCC; amateur) – played five matches to 1795
- John Beldham (Surrey) – played three matches to 1795
- John Burgess (cricketer) (Kent) – played two matches to 1795
- J. Jackson (London) – played two matches to 1795
- West (Berkshire cricketer) (Berkshire) – played two matches to 1794
Leading batsmen
Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.
William Beldham scored 488 runs in 1794 to lead the batsmen
Other good performances were by Tom Walker with 462 runs; Joey Ring 417; Harry Walker 393; John Wells 379; Thomas Ray 299; Jack Small 282; Henry Tufton 251; John Hammond 230; William Fennex 225; Charles Anguish 215; Andrew Freemantle 193; George Louch 182
Leading bowlers
Note that the wickets credited to an 18th-century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.
Thomas Lord was the leading bowler in 1794 with 44 wickets, just ahead of Tom Walker with 42
Other good performances were by David Harris with 38; Thomas Boxall 31; Hampton 24; John Wells 21; William Fennex 19; William Beldham 17; Gates 17; Timber 17; Richard Purchase 14; John Hammond 13
Leading fielders
Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled": the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.
John Hammond took 21 catches and made 8 stumpings to be the leading fielder in 1794, although the most catches were taken by William Beldham with 24, but he had no stumpings.
George Louch with 16 ct led the rest, including Harry Walker 15 ct; Thomas Ray 12 ct; John Wells 12 ct; and Tom Walker 11 ct
References
Bibliography
- Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1924). Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772–1796. Jenkins.
- Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
- Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
- Mote, Ashley (1997). The Glory Days of Cricket. Robson.
- Nyren, John (1998). Ashley Mote, ed. The Cricketers of my Time. Robson.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
- Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.
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.
- Britcher, Samuel, A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played (1790 to 1805), annual series
- Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
- McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
- Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.
External links
- Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825
- CricketArchive – 1794 first-class matches list
- CricketArchive – 1794 other matches list
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