Great Cricket Matches 1772-1800: The Players and The Records

SECTION 4: GREAT CRICKET MATCHES 1772-1800 ERRATA AND ADDENDA This section is closely based on an article by Keith Warsop in the Cricket Statistician no. 160 (Winter 2012). In his preface to the 2010 ACS publication Great Cricket Matches 1772-1800 , editor John Bryant wrote: “We acknowledge that a book such as this can never represent the last word on its subject. Errors will always creep in despite all efforts to exclude them. More fundamentally, research is continuing and will undoubtedly uncover new information that questions, or contradicts, the version of events that is presented here.” Research has indeed continued and new information has consequently been uncovered, principally by Ian Maun and Martin Wilson, while Keith Warsop has acted as a ‘clearing house’ for their finds, as well as noting John Bryant’s view that “errors will always creep in” and therefore combing the ACS book to try to correct them. Page 21. Other excluded matches Regarding the MCC v WCC match in 1788, new research has more clearly identified MCC’s opponents. The World of June 27 announces a match between “eleven Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Marybone (sic) Club and eleven Gentlemen of Friday’s White Conduit Club” A similar, previously unknown, match on August 13 and 14 was reported in the General Advertiser for August 16: “The following is a short state of the game of Cricket, that was played on Wednesday and Thursday last, by the Mary-le-bone Club against the Wednesday’s White-conduit Club. Mary-le-bone: First innings 134; Second ditto 58/Total 192. White-conduit: First innings 126; Second ditto 47/Total 173. Majority for Mary-le-bone 19. The return match is to be on Tuesday next [August 19] at the same place.” A report of the return match, if played, has not yet been found. From these reports it seems that different clubs were based on certain days of the week at White Conduit Fields. Pages 27-31. Continuity and change: cricket then and now On page 28, the fifth paragraph down states: “Teams arriving to play a match would not find themselves presented with the close-mown, lovingly-prepared batting strip that we expect today. Instead, the visiting captain would choose to have stumps pitched anywhere within 30 yards of a point stipulated by the home team, so the pitch would be no different from any other part of the playing area”. It should be made clear that this comment applies specifically to the pitch, i.e. the 22 yards between the wickets. It was not intended to imply that ground preparation, in a wider sense, was non-existent. While it obviously did not come anywhere near the standard reached in more modern times, there is in fact evidence that such preparation did take place. During 1787, the first season for Thomas Lord’s new ground in Marylebone, the London Chronicle of June 21, reporting on the first day’s play in the match between the White Conduit Club and England, says: “Upwards of 2,000 persons were within the ground, who conducted themselves with the utmost decorum; the utility of the batten fence was evident, as it kept out all improper spectators. The ground, though somewhat rough at present, will be laid out next year like a bowling green.” The revised Laws of 1788 include the following new item: “It shall not be lawful for either party during a match, without the consent of the other, to alter the ground, by rolling, watering, covering, mowing, or beating. This rule is not meant to prevent a striker from beating the ground with his bat near where he stands, during the innings, or to prevent the bowler from filling up holes, watering his ground, or using sawdust, etc, when the ground is wet.” Presumably, rolling, watering and so on took 63