Cricket's Historians

The Formation of the Association of Cricket Statisticians School, Tunbridge Wells. An accountant by profession he was a very useful club cricketer and in 1973 he was living in Bulkington on the Leicestershire-Warwickshire borders. His principal cricket interest rests in Leicestershire – he was later became the official statistician for that County Club – and in overseas first-class cricket. Having voted for formation, the meeting then elected a five-man Committee, viz Brooke (Chairman), Lambert (Secretary), Peter Wynne- Thomas (Treasurer), Philip R.Thorn and David Gallagher. It is perhaps worth noting that no one on this committee had reached the age of 40; quite a contrast to the first Cricket Society Committee all of whom were over 40 – the first President was actually 97! It was not long before the newly formed ACS Committee realised that progress on ‘First-class Cricket Records’ could not be made until a definitive list of First-class Matches had been debated by the membership, agreed by the membership and published so that everyone interested in these matters could understand any figures which might emerge from the ACS. The lack of such a published list had bedevilled the compilation of understandable statistics since such figures had first been published. The Committee began by looking at matches in the British Isles. The following major obstacles required examination of resolution: • The status of Somerset and Hampshire before 1890 • From what dates should Ireland and Scotland rank as first-class • Whether any odds matches should rank as first-class (there were members who doubted even the first-class status of 12-a-side games) • The date from which first-class cricket should start. In addition there were a number of specific matches whose status needed clarification. Lists of matches were printed in The Cricket Statistician , a quarterly journal which the ACS set up almost immediately and of which Brooke was the Editor. Members’ comments on ‘borderline’ matches were received and there were heated debates at more than one General Meeting. In late 1976 The Guide to First-Class Matches in the British Isles 1864-1946 was finally published. Perhaps the most important feature of 217