Chapter 1: History & Origins

The ecclesiastical records blame cricket for the two men's absence from church on Easter Sunday 1611, which is the first definite mention of the game in Sussex.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, 'A brief history of Sussex' (espncricinfo.com/story/a-brief-history-of-sussex-261967) · recall

Vinall was struck by a bat while trying to catch the ball at Horsted Green in Sussex, and died of the injury: the first known cricket fatality.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline (espn.com/cricket/story/_/id/22771053) · recall

The 1697 game, played for fifty guineas, is the first reference to a 'great match' with eleven players a side.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline (espn.com/cricket/story/_/id/22771053) · recall

Kent against Surrey in 1709 is the first recorded inter-county match.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline (espn.com/cricket/story/_/id/22771053) · recall

On 6 May 1709 William Byrd II of Westover, Virginia, wrote that he and three friends 'played at cricket' before breakfast, and that he won a small stake.

Source: The Diary of William Byrd II of Virginia, 1709-1712, selections, National Humanities Center (nationalhumanitiescenter.org); USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history) · recall

Clement Downing, a midshipman, wrote that the men of two Company vessels and the East Indiaman London passed time with 'cricket and other exercises' on a riverbank by the Gulf of Cambay; his book appeared in 1737.

Source: Kent Cricket Heritage Trust, 'Kent in India 1721' (heritage.kentcricket.co.uk) · recall

Eleven maids of Bramley played eleven of Hambledon, both Surrey villages, on Gosden Common near Guildford; Hambledon won by 127 notches to 119.

Source: Bramley History Society, the 1745 women's match (bramleyhistorysociety.org.uk), after Nancy Joy, 'Maiden Over' · recall

1611, 1624, 1697 and 1745.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history pages; Bramley History Society · recall

Byrd's diary (1709), the New York Gazette's report of London v New York (1751), Franklin and the Laws (1754), the Dartmouth engraving (1793).

Source: USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history) · recall

The bat belonged to John Chitty of Knaphill, near Woking. It weighs 2lb 4oz, its blade curves like a hockey stick for a ball rolled along the ground, and it is held by Surrey at The Oval.

Source: Wisden Almanack 2024, 'Around the South in nine objects' (wisden.com); ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline · recall

The Australian War Memorial dates the first recorded match in Australia to Sydney, December 1803, by which time cricket was already being played in the young colony.

Source: Australian War Memorial, 'Not Just Cricket' (awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions-online/cricket) · recall

The Madras Courier of 23 February 1792 reported the Calcutta Cricket Club's fixtures against Barrackpore and Dum Dum, the earliest firm proof of the club.

Source: Calcutta Cricket & Football Club, club history (ccfc1792.com) · recall

At the St George's club ground in Manhattan, Canada made 82 and 63, the United States 64 and 58: a 23-run win for Canada watched by more than 20,000 people over three days.

Source: USA Cricket, 'The oldest sports international in the world' (usacricket.org) · recall

Twelve English professionals sailed from Liverpool in September 1859 and played in Montreal, at Hoboken near New York, and in Philadelphia.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline (espn.com/cricket/story/_/id/22771053); USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history) · recall

Felix Spiers and Christopher Pond first tried to bring Charles Dickens to Australia; when he declined, they invited a team of leading English cricketers instead.

Source: SS Great Britain Trust, 'England Cricket Team' and 'New Exhibition Tells Story of First ENG Vs AUS Tour' (ssgreatbritain.org) · recall

Brunel's SS Great Britain left Liverpool in October 1861 and reached Melbourne to a rapturous welcome in December; the ship's museum in Bristol tells the story of the tour.

Source: SS Great Britain Trust, 'England Cricket Team' and 'New Exhibition Tells Story of First ENG Vs AUS Tour' (ssgreatbritain.org) · recall

Charles Lawrence, an ex all-England cricketer, was captain-coach of the thirteen men from Victoria's Western District; between May and October 1868 they won 14, drew 19 and lost 14.

Source: Sport Australia Hall of Fame, 1868 tour of England (sahof.org.au) · recall

1859, 1861-62, 1868 and 1874: the baseball players, who also played cricket, made the first American tour of England.

Source: ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline; SS Great Britain Trust, 'England Cricket Team' and 'New Exhibition Tells Story of First ENG Vs AUS Tour' (ssgreatbritain.org); USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history) · recall

1868, 1878, 1884 and 1897: Philadelphia was the heart of American cricket in the late 1800s.

Source: USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history) · recall

A touring eleven often played local sides of eighteen or twenty-two to even up the contest; at Hoboken England made 156 and bowled out the American XXII for 38 and 54.

Source: USA Cricket, Our History (usacricket.org/history); ESPNcricinfo history of cricket timeline · recall

Beauclerk was a Church of England priest who openly played for money; he was President of MCC in 1826.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history, MCC Presidents; ESPNcricinfo, Lord Frederick Beauclerk profile · recall

His own estimate was about 600 guineas a year, a large income at the time, and he was not shy of saying so.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Lord Frederick Beauclerk profile; Wisden on cricket's betting age · recall

Accused of 'selling' the England v Nottingham match, Lambert never played at Lord's again.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, William Lambert profile; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

The match at Ball's Pond in north London is often called the first women's county match.

Source: MCC Museum, women's cricket history; ESPNcricinfo, women's cricket timeline · recall

The regiment still owns the ground in Finsbury, where cricket drew crowds of thousands in the 1740s.

Source: Honourable Artillery Company, history of the Artillery Garden (hac.org.uk) · recall

Tankerville kept Lumpy on his staff at Walton-on-Thames, which let him play in the earl's big matches.

Source: Surrey Cricket heritage; ESPNcricinfo, Lumpy Stevens profile · recall

His birthplace in Thirsk is now the town's museum, with a plaque to the founder of Lord's.

Source: Thirsk Museum (thirskmuseum.org), Thomas Lord's birthplace; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

1755, 1787, 1811 and 1817.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history; ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline · recall

The Duke, Britain's ambassador in Paris, met his cricketers at Dover as he fled the Revolution in August 1789.

Source: Kent Cricket heritage, the 3rd Duke of Dorset; ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline · recall

Their patron, the Duke of Dorset, was Britain's ambassador in Paris; he met them at Dover on his way home.

Source: Kent Cricket heritage, the 3rd Duke of Dorset; ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline · recall

The Eleven played local sides, often of twenty-two, all over Britain and made money from the gate.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, William Clarke profile; Trent Bridge history (trentbridge.co.uk) · recall

He bowled slow underarm, cleverly flighted, long after roundarm had taken over.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, William Clarke profile · recall

He married the widow who kept the Trent Bridge Inn and laid out the ground behind it.

Source: Trent Bridge history (trentbridge.co.uk) · recall

Players tired of Clarke's pay and manner left to start a rival travelling team.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, John Wisden profile; Wisden, history of the travelling elevens · recall

Mynn stood over six feet and weighed some eighteen stone; Kent's supporters called him their Lion.

Source: Kent Cricket heritage, Alfred Mynn; ESPNcricinfo, Alfred Mynn profile · recall

He ran a school at Blackheath and thought parents might frown on a professional-style cricketer.

Source: Kent Cricket heritage, Felix; ESPNcricinfo, Nicholas Felix profile · recall

It fired balls at the batter with a spring, so a player could practise without a bowler.

Source: MCC Museum collection; Kent Cricket heritage, Felix · recall

1838, 1845, 1846 and 1852.

Source: ESPNcricinfo; Trent Bridge history · recall

After Clarke died in 1856; then 1859, 1863-64 and 1976.

Source: Trent Bridge history; ESPNcricinfo, George Parr profile · recall

Parr's Tree was a Trent Bridge landmark until a storm brought it down in 1976.

Source: Trent Bridge history (trentbridge.co.uk), Parr's Tree · recall

Blythe died near Passchendaele in November 1917; Kent keep a memorial to him at Canterbury.

Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Colin Blythe; Kent Cricket heritage · recall

Cotter served with the 12th Light Horse and died during the charge at Beersheba.

Source: Australian War Memorial, Albert 'Tibby' Cotter · recall

Verity was wounded leading his company in Sicily and died a prisoner of war in Italy.

Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Hedley Verity; Yorkshire CCC heritage · recall

The matches were not official Tests but drew huge crowds in the summer the war in Europe ended.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, the 1945 Victory Tests; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

Miller flew Mosquito fighter-bombers with the RAAF in Europe.

Source: Australian War Memorial, Keith Miller; ESPNcricinfo, Keith Miller profile · recall

Grace thought it unfitting for fit men to play cricket while others fought; the season soon ended.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, W. G. Grace and the 1914 season; Wisden 1915 · recall

Huts and wire went up on the outfield, but no prisoners were ever held there.

Source: Kia Oval history (kiaoval.com) · recall

Cotter took 89, Blythe 100 and Verity 144.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, player profiles · recall

1919; Sydney, December 1920; The Oval, August 1939; Wellington, March 1946.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Test records by date · recall

The bomb landed outside the ground; when play restarted Jack Robertson hit the next ball for six.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history, Lord's in the Second World War · recall

Parsi clubs in Bombay took up cricket in the mid-1800s and sent teams to England in 1886 and 1888.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, the Parsi tours of England; MCC Museum · recall

Dr Pavri took 170 wickets on that tour and is often called the father of Parsi cricket.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Mehallasha Pavri profile · recall

Baloo rose from the Dalit community, then barred from much of Indian life, to become India's best bowler.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Palwankar Baloo profile; The Cricket Monthly · recall

Bhupinder Singh of Patiala led the first all-India team; it won six of its fourteen first-class matches.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, the 1911 All-India tour · recall

The Maharaja of Porbandar felt his form was not good enough, so Nayudu became India's first Test captain.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, India in England 1932; C. K. Nayudu profile · recall

He is the only man to have played Test cricket for both England and India.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi profile · recall

K. S. Duleepsinhji played 12 Tests for England from 1929 to 1931, making 173 on his Ashes debut.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, K. S. Duleepsinhji profile; BCCI, Duleep Trophy · recall

1886, 1911, 1932 and 1934-35.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Indian cricket timeline · recall

1896, 1929, 1932 and 1961.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, player profiles · recall

Amarnath made 118 against England; Mushtaq Ali made India's first Test hundred abroad in 1936.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Lala Amarnath profile; India v England, Bombay 1933 · recall

Plum Warner was born in Port of Spain, where their father was Attorney General.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, West Indies in England 1900; Pelham Warner profile · recall

He was the first West Indian to do the double on a tour of England.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Learie Constantine profile · recall

He was called to the bar in London and later served Trinidad and Tobago as High Commissioner.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Learie Constantine profile; Middle Temple · recall

He was made a life peer as Baron Constantine of Maraval and Nelson.

Source: UK Parliament, Lord Constantine; ESPNcricinfo, Learie Constantine profile · recall

Headley was born in Colon, where his father worked on the canal, and grew up in Jamaica.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, George Headley profile · recall

They beat England by 289 runs in the third Test of the 1929-30 series.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, West Indies v England, Georgetown 1930 · recall

Worrell died of leukaemia aged 42; the service was held there that April.

Source: Westminster Abbey, Sir Frank Worrell; ESPNcricinfo, Frank Worrell profile · recall

1900, 1928, 1930 and 1950.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, West Indies cricket timeline · recall

The series went Barbados, Trinidad, British Guiana, Jamaica, from January to April 1930.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, England in the West Indies 1929-30 · recall

Learie Constantine played for Nelson from 1929 to 1937 and helped them to seven league titles.

Source: Nelson Cricket Club history; ESPNcricinfo, Learie Constantine profile · recall

Dempster made 136 and put on 276 for the first wicket with Jackie Mills.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, New Zealand v England, Wellington 1930 · recall

Sinclair played rugby for South Africa against the British Isles in 1903.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Jimmy Sinclair profile · recall

Dave Nourse and Percy Sherwell put on 48 for the last wicket to win it.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, South Africa v England, Johannesburg 1906 · recall

It came in their 45th Test, 26 years after their first.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, New Zealand v West Indies, Auckland 1956 · recall

Otago won the match played in January 1864.

Source: New Zealand Cricket Museum; ESPNcricinfo · recall

C. Aubrey Smith, nicknamed 'Round the Corner' for his curving run-up, starred in Hollywood films into the 1940s.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, C. Aubrey Smith profile · recall

Rhodesia first played in the Currie Cup in 1904-05 and were regular members from the 1940s.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Currie Cup history · recall

1889-90, 1892-93, 1906-07 and 1934-35.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, domestic competition histories · recall

1864, 1889, 1906, 1930 and 1956.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Test records by date · recall

Kimberley won it first; it became the Currie Cup, South Africa's first-class championship.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Currie Cup history; Cricket South Africa · recall

Kent beat All-England by one wicket in June 1744.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

He made it against Wrotham at the Vine, Sevenoaks.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, John Minshull profile; Kent Cricket heritage · recall

A printer named Pratt sold them; the ground was given to the town by the Duke of Dorset.

Source: Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club history; ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline · recall

His volumes, published by MCC, are still the main record of matches before 1878.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history, MCC Library; ESPNcricinfo · recall

He printed scorecards on the spot and later wrote the first book about an English tour abroad.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Fred Lillywhite profile; USA Cricket history · recall

Brian Johnston gave him the name; Frindall scored every home Test for over 40 years.

Source: BBC Sport, Bill Frindall obituary (2009) · recall

Simon King, a British researcher at the University of Minnesota, started it.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, 'How Cricinfo began' · recall

1849, 1864, 1921 and 1993.

Source: ESPNcricinfo; Wisden; The Cricketer · recall

Notched sticks in the early game; printed cards from 1776; radio from the 1920s; the internet from the 1990s.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, cricket timeline · recall

Runs were long called 'notches' because of it.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, glossary; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

He played for I Zingari and the army, and died on service in the Boer War in 1900.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Prince Christian Victor profile; Royal Collection Trust · recall

A club president normally serves one year; the Duke of Edinburgh did it twice, 25 years apart.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history, MCC Presidents · recall

He became its Jam Sahib and went on playing for Sussex.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, K. S. Ranjitsinhji profile · recall

In Bombay from 1890 to 1895 he encouraged cricket among Indians as well as Europeans.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Lord Harris profile; Kent Cricket heritage · recall

As Lord Dunglass he played for Middlesex, Oxford University and MCC in the 1920s.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Lord Dunglass profile; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

He was the grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Lionel Tennyson profile · recall

Lord Brabourne was Governor when the Cricket Club of India built the ground in the 1930s.

Source: Cricket Club of India history; ESPNcricinfo, Brabourne Stadium · recall

1900, 1907, 1921 and 1949.

Source: ESPNcricinfo; Lord's (lords.org), MCC history · recall

1920s, 1963 and 1966.

Source: Lord's (lords.org), MCC history, MCC Presidents; ESPNcricinfo · recall

Lionel Tennyson made 63 and 36 that way against Australia's fast bowlers.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, England v Australia, Leeds 1921 · recall