1820 English cricket season
Cricket season review
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1820 was the 34th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Fuller Pilch made his first known appearance at Lord's. Details of five matches are known.[note 1]
Events
- According to Wisden, the original Northamptonshire CCC was founded in 1820 but was subject to substantial reorganisation and reformation in 1878. 1820 also has the earliest mention of wicket-keeping gloves.
- William Ward scored 278 for MCC v. Norfolk at Lord's in 1820, the first known double century and a new world record for the highest individual innings in all forms of cricket, beating James Aylward's score of 167 in 1777. Opinion about the match's status is divided, and Aylward may have held the record until 1826.
- With cricket still recovering from the effects of the Napoleonic War, only a few matches were recorded in 1820:
- 23 May â Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University @ Parker's Piece, Cambridge
- 30 May â Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University @ Parker's Piece, Cambridge
- 19â20 June â Gentlemen v Players @ Lord's Cricket Ground[5]
- 3â5 July â England v Hampshire @ Lord's Cricket Ground[6]
- In addition, on 24 July, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) v Norfolk match at Lord's.[7] This match has dubious provenance.[8]
Notes
- Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.
