HISTORY OF ENGLAND CRICKET 1739 TO 1877

FIRST PHASE

England started play cricket on the first time Kent v All England match in 1739.The match played on Monday 9 July 1739 at Bromley Common in Kent.  

          At the Artillery Ground  in Bunhill fields the second match conducted on Monday the 23 July 1739. The match was drawn.

          There were many more match in subsequent decades between a side of the country, or MCC and a side picked out from the rest of England. The term  “All England Eleven ’’ would achieve a new more precise ,definition in 1846.

All England Eleven formed by William  Clarke in 1846  for play match at big city venues as a touring team of leading players, mainly for North of England.  The title of Clarke’s team was a top class side of worth. The AEE was active till 1880. From the 1852 many players were include in the United All England Eleven as a rival to the AEE up to 1866 . The annual match conducted between the two teams , the most important of the match were justified the quality of the players.

          In 1861 The  team toured in Australia . The early tour  organized as completely commercial venues, and the first test playing were indeed the tour. North America was the first tour of English professional in September 1859 departing from England. The selected six from the All England Eleven and another  six from the United all England Eleven and George Parr was the captain. There played five match , all the match won by England  because there were no first class fixture.

          The attention  turned to Australia during the outbreak of  American Civil War.  Messrs spiers &Pond organized the inaugural tour of the country which was took place in 1861-2. There played 12 match by English team but no one was first class.

          For an English team tour organized by the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1893-4, George Parr was the captain of that tour and New Zealand  also visited by the tour. Without first class  there played 16 match.

          In 1868 the English team again tour in USA including Canada, led by Edgar Willsher and nest in 1872 under R A Fitzgerald.

The English team nest tour in 1873-4 under organization of Melbourne Cricket Club, the captain was WG Grace, where 15 match played but none of  first class.

         

The match of early touring team most of them were played “against odds” that means opposing team was permitted to have more than eleven player in order to arrange another team to contest.

          In 21 September 1876 a professional with Sussex CCC namely James Lillywhite led a team  who had sailed on the P&O steamship Poonath. They  played Australia and then New Zealand ,  a combined Australian XI for once on even term of XI a side before returning to Australia to play.  15 March 1877 started the match at Melbourne Cricket Ground that was the first test match . Charles Bannerman was the Australian player who faced the first ball and he scored the first century , his score was 165 before broken his finger. Australia won the match by 45 runs. 100 Years later England won the second match in the Centenary test to square series.