1814 English cricket season

In the 1814 English cricket season, Jem Broadbridge made his debut in first-class cricket.

Honours

Most runs^[1] – Lord Frederick Beauclerk 126 (HS 59*)
Most wickets^[1] – Thomas Howard and William Lambert 11 apiece

Events

The site of Lord's Middle Ground was requisitioned by Parliament for the building of the Regent's Canal. Thomas Lord contacted the Eyre family, erstwhile owners of the ground, and persuaded them to lease to him another parcel of land in St John's Wood, about half a mile further north at a place called North Bank. This site had previously been a duckpond. In the winter of 1813-14, Lord again had his turf literally dug up and removed. He built a high perimeter fence, a tavern and a pavilion at what is now Lord's Cricket Ground (Lord's).
On 22 June 1814, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) played the first match at Lord's against Hertfordshire, then as now a minor county.
The first match of importance at Lord's was played 13–15 July 1814 when MCC hosted a team called St John's Wood that included a number of Surrey players including William Beldham, William Lambert and William Ward.
Jem Broadbridge made his debut in first-class cricket.
With the Napoleonic War at its height, cricket continued to be badly impacted by the consequent loss of both manpower and investment. First-class matches had become few and far between since 1810 and only 4 are recorded in 1814:
- 13–15 July — MCC v St John's Wood @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[2]
- 28–29 July — Brighton v Epsom @ Royal New Ground, Brighton
- 2–4 August — Lord F Beauclerk's XI v DJW Kinnaird's XI @ Lord's Cricket Ground^[3]
Another match that has sometimes been regarded as first-class is Lord F Beauclerk's XI v G Osbaldeston's XI @ Goodwood Park on 22–23 July.

Debutants

1814 debutants included:

References

^ ^a ^b Note that scorecards created in the first quarter of the 19th century are not necessarily accurate or complete; therefore any summary of runs, wickets or catches can only represent the known totals and computation of averages is ineffectual.
^ Haygarth, p.375.
^ Haygarth, p.376.

Bibliography

Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.

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.
Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.

External links

[cards-1] Note that scorecards created in the first quarter of the 19th century are not necessarily accurate or complete; therefore any summary of runs, wickets or catches can only represent the known totals and computation of averages is ineffectual.

[2] Haygarth, p.375.

[3] Haygarth, p.376.

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