1791 English cricket season

In the 1791 English cricket season, the emergence of the Brighton club heralded a brief revival of Sussex cricket which had been prominent during the early 18th century. As with Hornchurch Cricket Club and Essex, the Brighton team was a fair representation of Sussex as a county and the county name is used where the opposition is another county team or All-England. The club's venue was the Prince of Wales Ground in Brighton, which had its name changed over the years and was known as Box's Ground in the 19th century.

Matches

Date	Match Title	Venue	Source	Result
16–18 May (M-W)	MCC v Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB110	Middlesex won by 30 runs

23–25 May (M-W)	MCC v Middlesex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB111	Middlesex won by 6 wkts

30 May-2 Jun (M-Th)	Old Etonians v Gentlemen	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB111	Gents won by 6 wkts
The Old Etonian and Gentlemen teams in the list were major sides. They were composed mainly of leading amateurs and had noted professionals as given men.
2–3 June (Th-F)	MCC v Kent	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB112	MCC won by innings & 113 runs

13–14 June (M-Tu)	MCC v Essex	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB115	Essex won by 45 runs

20–22 June (M-W)	All-England v Hampshire	Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland	SB115	All-England won by 54 runs
Burley-on-the-Hill in Rutland was the Earl of Winchilsea's country retreat, which he used as his base for foxhunting parties. It is not far from the Great North Road so communication with London was relatively easy at the time. Burley-on-the-Hill has been confused with Burghley Park near Stamford but it is quite different.
23–24 June (Th-F)	Old Etonians v MCC	Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland	SB116	MCC won by 6 wkts

25 June (S)	Leicestershire v MCC ^	Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland	SB117	MCC won by innings & 4 runs

6–8 July (W-F)	All-England v Hampshire	Sevenoaks Vine	SB117	All-England won by 1 wkt

13–15 July (W-F)	Hampshire v All-England	Windmill Down	SB118	All-England won by 60 runs

22–23 July (F-S)	West Sussex v Hambledon Town	Goodwood Park	brit	drawn
A return match took place on 20 Sept (see below) and was recorded in S&B.
25–28 July (M-Th)	All-England v Hampshire	Perriam Down	SB119	All-England won by innings & 68 runs

28–29 July (Th-F)	Andover v MCC	Perriam Down	SB120	MCC won by innings & 43 runs

? July	Earl of Winchilsea v E Bligh	Burley-on-the-Hill	SB119	Bligh's XI won by innings & 64 runs
Definitely a minor match with numerous irregulars. The date is also in doubt as Mr Haygarth points out.
11-13 Aug (Th-S)	Essex v MCC	Langton Park, Hornchurch	SB121	MCC won by 166 runs

15-18 Aug (M-Th)	MCC v Kent	Lord's (Dorset Square)	SB121	Kent won by 5 wkts

19-20 Aug (F-S)	MCC &c. v Essex #	unknown	brit	Essex won by 4 runs
The venue was probably Lord’s but it is unrecorded.
23-25 Aug (Tu-Th)	Surrey v Hampshire	Holt Pound, Wrecclesham	SB122	Surrey won by 17 runs
Wrecclesham is in Surrey. Holt Pound was a small ground partly designed by William Beldham on behalf of the owner Mr Holt.
26-27 Aug (F-S)	Waltham v Hornchurch	Waltham	brit	Hornchurch won by 10 wkts

29-30 Aug (M-Tu)	Nottingham v MCC ^	King's Meadow, Nottingham	SB123	MCC won by 10 wkts
^ The MCC teams were good quality and it is clear from reference to 1789 that the Leicester and Nottingham teams were representative of the counties. These two matches are historically important and are major fixtures. The Nottingham v MCC game is also in William North's 1832 book of Nottingham Old Club Match Scores.
? Sept	Windsor & Eton v Warfield	Eton Brocas	WDC	Warfield won by 2 wkts

12-14 Sept (M-W)	Hornchurch v Waltham	Langton Park, Hornchurch	brit	Waltham won by 57 runs

15-16 Sept (Th-F)	Essex v MCC &c. #	Langton Park, Hornchurch	brit	Essex won by innings & 23 runs
^# These two games were unknown until recently as Britcher is the sole source. The MCC &c. team in both games is properly titled 5 of Herts and 5 of MCC and Mr S Amherst.
19-22 Sept (M-Th)	Sussex v Middlesex	PoW Ground, Brighton	SB125	Middlesex won by 21 runs
The emergence of the Brighton club at this time heralded a brief revival of Sussex cricket which had been prominent during the early C18. As with Hornchurch/Essex, the Brighton team was a fair representation of Sussex as a county and the county name is used where the opposition is another county team or All-England.
20-22 Sept (Tu-Th)	Hambledon Town v West Sussex	Windmill Down	SB125	West Sussex won by 11 runs
The Hambledon Town v West Sussex game recorded in SB125 is considered minor due to lack of recognised players. Many of the Sussex team were in the Duke of Dorset’s side that played in the minor match at Lord’s on 3 June 1790 (SB101).

First mentions

Lord Frederick Beauclerk
Charles Cumberland
Thomas Mellish (MCC; amateur) – played 52 matches to 1815
John Goldham aka Goldhawk (Middlesex) – played 35 matches to 1812
W. Wells (Middlesex) – played twelve matches to 1816
Littler (Essex cricketer) (Essex) – played nine matches to 1793
Alexander Pitcairn (MCC; amateur) – played nine matches to 1792
Welsh (MCC cricketer) (MCC; amateur) – played eight matches to 1793
P. Vallance (Sussex) – played seven matches to 1792
Collins (Hampshire cricketer) (Hampshire) – played six matches to 1792
Gregory (Sussex cricketer) (Sussex) – played five matches to 1792
Thomas Jutten (cricketer) (Sussex) – played five matches to 1792
Thomas Liffen (Sussex) – played five matches to 1792
J. Merchant aka Marchant (Sussex) – played five matches to 1792
Sale (Berkshire cricketer) (MCC/Berkshire; amateur) – played five matches to 1793
Sackville Tufton, 9th Earl of Thanet (Kent; amateur) – played five matches to 1794
W. Chapman (Notts) – played five matches to 1803
Hon. W. Harbord (MCC; amateur) – played four matches to 1791
John Vallance (Sussex) – played four matches to 1792
Miles (Essex cricketer) (Essex) – played three matches to 1793
R. Stewart (MCC; amateur) – played three matches to 1799
Humphrey Hopkin (Notts) – played two matches to 1800
E. Streeter (Sussex) – played two matches to 1792

Leading batsmen

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so it is impossible to provide a complete analysis of batting performances: e.g., the missing not outs prevent computation of batting averages. The "runs scored" are in fact the runs known.

William Beldham with 532 runs was the top scorer in 1791

Others were Henry Fitzroy with 386 runs; Earl of Winchilsea 345; George Louch 336; William Fennex 296; Edward Bligh 271; Charles Lennox 269; Tom Walker 196; Charles Cumberland and Jack Small 181 each

Leading bowlers

Note that the wickets credited to an 18th-century bowler were only those where he bowled the batsman out. The bowler was not credited with the wickets of batsmen who were caught out, even if it was "caught and bowled". In addition, the runs conceded by each bowler were not recorded so no analyses or averages can be computed.

Captain Charles Cumberland with 41 known wickets was the leading bowler in 1791

Others were William Fennex with 34; Richard Purchase 19; Thomas Boxall and Thomas Lord 17 each; John Boorman 15

Leading fielders

Note that many scorecards in the 18th century are unknown or have missing details and so the totals are of the known catches and stumpings only. Stumpings were not always recorded as such and sometimes the name of the wicket-keeper was not given. Generally, a catch was given the same status as "bowled" with credit being awarded to the fielder only and not the bowler. There is never a record of "caught and bowled": the bowler would be credited with the catch, not with the wicket.

Star fielder George Louch with 21 took the most catches in 1791

Other leading fielders were William Beldham 20 ct; Tom Taylor 15 ct; Charles Lennox 9 ct, 3 st; John Wells 11 ct; Thomas Ingram 10 ct, 1 st; Edward Bligh 10 ct; Stephen Amherst 7 ct, 2 st; William Fennex 9 ct.

References

Bibliography

Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1924). Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772–1796. Jenkins.
Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
Mote, Ashley (1997). The Glory Days of Cricket. Robson.
Nyren, John (1998). Ashley Mote, ed. The Cricketers of my Time. Robson.
Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.
Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. Bodyline.

Additional reading

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
Britcher, Samuel, A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played (1790 to 1805), annual series
Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.

External links

English cricket teams in the 18th century

"All" England

English cricket venues to 1825

English cricket seasons

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