Start date 1787 | ||
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The 1787 English cricket season is widely seen as a watershed in the history of cricket for it marked the sport's transition from an essentially rural game into an urban and metropolitan one.
Contents
- Other events
- First mentions
- Leading batsmen
- Leading bowlers
- Leading fielders
- Additional reading
- References
The event that effected the transition was the opening of Thomas Lord's first cricket ground at Marylebone in north London. Lord was financed by the aristocratic members of the long-standing and multi-functional Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Club which was based at the Star and Garter on Pall Mall and had already founded the Jockey Club to pursue its racing interests. Its most recent cricket venture had been the White Conduit Club in Islington.
Due to dissatisfaction with conditions in Islington, the members sought a more private venue and Lord, a professional bowler with the club who had a business acumen, was asked to do the necessaries. Upon moving from White Conduit Fields to Marylebone, the gentlemen's club reconstituted itself as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and immediately took responsibility for the organisation, administration and development of the sport, including ownership of the game's Laws.
It is no overstatement to say that the opening of Lord’s and the foundation of (or reorganisation of the gentlemen's club as) MCC in 1787 ended what H T Waghorn called The Dawn of Cricket. The small but great rural clubs like Chertsey, Dartford, Addington, Slindon and above all Hambledon were forced to stand aside as progress swept the game beyond their horizons. As the historical sources quoted below all agree, it is doubtful if cricket without Lord's and MCC could ever have expanded into a national sport, let alone a world sport.
Other events
FL18 begins its 1787 notices with the following extract from the Morning Herald dated Wed 25 April:
There can be little doubt that plans for matches to be played at a new ground in Marylebone were on the agenda.
The first mention of the follow on occurs in 1787. At that time it was the custom for a side behind on 1st innings to follow-on no matter what the deficit.
H S Altham's Dates in Cricket History records the first mention of a County Club in Oxfordshire. This is supported by an engraving held in the Bodleian Library.
First mentions
The general shift of the sport's focus from the rural counties to north London led to an unusually high number of new players, though many of them might have been active previously without being recorded. Among them were some famous names such as John Wells of Surrey and Thomas Lord of Middlesex.
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.
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.
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.