Cricket's Historians

The Pioneers of Cricket’s History and Statistics sum of money has been laid out by the publisher, who now takes the opportunity to thank Mr Haygarth for his many years’ laborious and gratuitous task of compiling so much valuable information…’ Lillywhite published the first two volumes, but, presumably because of financial problems, volumes three and four were paid for by F.P. Miller, the Surrey cricket captain. He found himself unable to break even and eventually MCC stepped in and over some years issued ten more volumes taking in the scores up to 1878. Cricket was Arthur Haygarth’s entire life. Due to his family’s wealth he never, in his own words, ‘entered or followed any profession or occupation’. The reason, he states, is simple: ‘I was when young not allowed to pursue the vocation I wished, and the result was none at all, as I would not think of drudging at a profession which was not suitable to me in any way, and which, moreover I detested.’ His independent means allowed Haygarth to play cricket, spending most of his early manhood at Lord’s, except when he returned to Harrow to coach the boys. The remainder of his time was spent researching cricket match scores and biographies of players. From the historian’s view the most valuable part of his work is biographical. In the fifteen volumes of Scores & Biographies there are over 4,000 biographies. Volume XIV had been published by MCC in 1895; Volume XV, entirely composed of biographies, together with an Index to biographies already contained in the previous volumes was published in 1925. In 2003, Roger Heavens published Volume XVI containing scores for 1879 and a few more biographies. One important piece of data which Haygarth included in Volume I is a list of his sources for the scores he published. He includes in the list Epps, Bentley and Denison, but of Britcher he only had access to the annuals covering 1793 to 1802 (so missing the earliest and the last editions). Haygarth also lists the Marylebone Match Books 1791 to 1860, though those up to 1825 were destroyed in the Lord’s Pavilion fire. The list gives newspaper sources, for example Hampshire Chronicle 1772 to 1807 and the Brighton Gazette 1819 to 1854. 26