Great Cricket Matches 1772-1800

Kent teams Kent teams present special problems and require a separate discussion. The issue is not with the county side itself, which is of course ‘great’ throughout the period, but with teams that appear, at least on the face of it, to represent less than the full county. Gentlemen of Kent – The Guide on p8 sets out an approach based on the involvement of Gentlemen of Kent in the Canterbury Festival, which began in 1842, long after our period. The Guide also includes a handful of earlier matches going back to 1827. In that match the Gentlemen had professional reinforcement, which makes it a close parallel to the 1791 game v MCC, which is included. The Gentlemen of Kent also played home and away v WCC in 1785 but both teams were very weak, with no professionals at all on either side (‘T.Taylor Esq’, playing for Gentlemen of Kent, has sometimes been identified with Thomas Taylor, the Hampshire professional, but this is incorrect). The first ‘important’ match in which Gentlemen of Kent play without a professional is not until 1833, nearly half a century later. Indeed, even as an amateur side, the Gentlemen of 1785 are weak: only one member of the side (Hosmer) had been even a fringe member of the full Kent team. The 1785 games are excluded. East Kent v West Kent – There are eight matches in this category, some of which are also billed as matches between the various sponsors, the Duke of Dorset, Sir Horace Mann and Stephen Amherst. The games fall in 1780 (2), 1781 (2), 1783, 1789 (2), 1790. On the face of it, these matches have the character of internal Kent games of the type that the Guide states (p10) should not be included. Indeed, East Kent v West Kent is specifically mentioned. However, although the majority of players involved are from Kent, the teams are generally reinforced by a number of leading cricketers from outside the county. Even the lesser players are usually recognised Kent cricketers on the fringe of the county side. They were evidently serious contests, one lasting five days and two others four days, and the Coxheath game in 1789 was important enough for the game England XIII v Hampshire to be suspended to allow players to take part. The inclusion of significant numbers of leading non-Kent men differentiates these games from the 19th-century East v West Kent games. It should be noted too that the Guide includes two matches Gents of Notts v Players of Notts in 1842 and 1844 on the basis that the Gents are strengthened by players from outside the county. On balance, therefore, these games are included. Other excluded matches For completeness’ sake, it should be added that there are a few games that have occasionally been mentioned as candidates but that appear to fall well below any reasonable standard for inclusion. These include a so-called MCC v WCC match in 1788. On the face of it, this is MCC's first recorded match and one of pivotal importance, symbolising its taking over the reins from WCC. Closer scrutiny suggests otherwise: the MCC side is a strong all-amateur team but WCC is full of unknowns. Moreover, other evidence suggests that so far from one club taking over from the other, MCC and WCC are effectively one and the same, and certainly WCC was playing home matches at Lord’s the previous season. Matches involving northern and midland teams have also occasionally been put forward. It is true that Leicester and Nottingham played XI-a-side against MCC in 1791. However, these MCC sides were nothing like so good as the teams MCC would 21