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North v South

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The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class matches between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often playing against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and others. Until international cricket became firmly established towards the end of the 19th century, the North v South match was one of the major fixtures in the cricketing calendar along with Gentlemen v Players. Indeed, North v South was really the major fixture because it could potentially showcase the best 22 players in the country, whereas Gentlemen teams in the other match were often very weak.

In all, there were 155 North v South matches in first-class cricket. The South won 62; the North won 55; 37 were drawn, and one match in 1889 was abandoned.

Early matches – 1836 to 1838

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Cricket in the 18th century had been predominantly a southern game, played especially in London and the southeastern counties. It had spread to the northern counties by the 1770s and noted clubs were formed at Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield which eventually became the basis of county cricket in the north. In the 1820s, a number of northern players such as Sam Redgate, Tom Marsden, Thomas Barker and James Dearman established reputations which made cricket promoters aware of commercial possibilities in a North v South fixture.[1]

The inaugural North v South match was held at Lord's Cricket Ground on 11 and 12 July 1836 and the North won by 6 wickets to confirm their capability and potential. Barker took ten wickets in the match and scored the most runs with 25 and 12 not out.[2] The North's victory caused a sensation and a return match was quickly organised. This took place at Barker's Ground in Leicester and the South won by 218 runs.[3] Redgate for the North and William Lillywhite for the South took twelve and eleven wickets in the match respectively, but the outstanding performance was an innings of 125 not out by Alfred Mynn despite a serious leg injury sustained in practice. His condition worsened as the match went on and he had to withdraw. With insufficient medical resources locally, Mynn was lifted onto the roof of a stagecoach and secured there to be taken to London, where he was admitted to St Bartholomew's Hospital. The surgeon considered amputation but decided against it and Mynn was able to resume his cricket career in July 1838.[4] Mynn's injury raised the issue of leg guards which were generally frowned upon at the time, but the legalisation of roundarm bowling in 1835 meant that bowling was much faster than formerly and, gradually, pads were introduced.[5]

The next two North v South games took place in 1837 and 1838 and were won convincingly by the South. Interest faded and the fixture disappeared for eleven years until it was resurrected in the 1849 season. In the meantime (1840–48), the North played annual matches against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). A feature of North v South from the beginning was that players could represent either team depending on current residency or being "borderline", thus a player living in the Midlands might well change sides often. In the first four games alone, no less than six players represented both sides. The total appearances by players in the 1836 to 1838 matches were:

An annual event

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From 1849, the match became virtually an annual fixture and was often contested two or three times in the same season. It was played four times in 1878. The revival was at Lord's on 16 and 17 July 1849 when the North won by 243 runs after William Clarke and John Wisden dismissed the South for 48 and 67.[6]

There was a change to the fixture's naming convention between 1866 and 1868 when the River Thames became the dividing line and the teams were called North of the Thames and South of the Thames. This effectively restricted the South's catchment to the counties of Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

The match at Lord's on 27–29 May 1889 had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled, due to bad weather. Cricket magazine pointed out that three Lord's fixtures were abandoned during that month.[7] Despite the loss of that match, the fixture was played another five times in 1889 at The Oval, Chichester, Old Trafford, Scarborough and Hastings. North v South continued annually through to 1897 but was not held in either 1898 or 1899. It was revived in September 1900 when two matches were played, both at southern venues.

United Elevens

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During the 1870s the fixture received competition in the shape of matches between the equivalent professional touring teams, the United North of England Eleven and the United South of England Eleven. There were 11 games involving the United sides and then one (the last) in 1880 when the United South played against the official North. Other variations featured teams called Gentlemen of the North, Gentlemen of the South, Players of the North and Players of the South who played against each other on several occasions.

20th century

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The fixture's popularity waned as international cricket expanded and it was played less frequently in the 20th century. Following the two games in September 1900, there were only eight instances between then and September 1920, all of them in the 1904 to 1908 period. Between the two world wars, there were eleven matches. The fixture was resurrected in 1946 after the end of the Second World War and, except for 1953, was played annually, sometimes more than once a season, through to 1958.[8] Then there was a three-year hiatus until the final first-class match took place 6 to 8 September 1961 at Stanley Park, Blackpool, the South winning by two wickets.[9] The fixture was finally ended by the advent of limited overs cricket, which left no space for it in an already crowded calendar.

Revival

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The last North v South contest of the 20th century was a one-day 50 over match at Trent Bridge in the 1971 season, which the South won by 9 runs.[10] There was a temporary revival in March 2017 when a three-match series, under one-day 50 overs rules, was staged in the United Arab Emirates. In March 2018, a similar series was played in Barbados as part of the English county cricket pre-season schedule.[11][12]

List of first-class North v South matches

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Scorecards of all these matches from 1836 to 1961 are held on the CricketArchive database.

List of first-class North v South matches
# Date Venue Winners Winning margin Ref
1 11 July 1836 Lord's, St John's Wood, London North 6 wickets scorecard
2 22 August 1836 Barker's Ground, Leicester South 218 runs scorecard
3 10 July 1837 Lord's South 5 wickets scorecard
4 25 June 1838 Lord's South 8 wickets scorecard
5 16 July 1849 Lord's North 243 runs scorecard
6 30 August 1849 Parr and Wisden's Ground, Leamington Spa North 9 wickets scorecard
7 15 July 1850 Lord's North innings and 19 runs scorecard
8 8 August 1850 Leamington Spa North innings and 118 runs scorecard
9 3 July 1851 The Oval, Kennington, London North 60 runs scorecard
10 14 July 1851 Lord's North 12 runs scorecard
11 1 July 1852 The Oval North innings and 8 runs scorecard
12 7 July 1853 The Oval South 70 runs scorecard
13 27 July 1854 Higher Common Ground, Tunbridge Wells South 2 wickets scorecard
14 28 May 1855 Lord's North 18 runs scorecard
15 9 August 1855 Tunbridge Wells South innings and 39 runs scorecard
16 30 June 1856 Lord's South 6 wickets scorecard
17 7 August 1856 Broughton Cricket Club Ground, Salford Drawn scorecard
18 20 July 1857 Lord's South 14 runs scorecard
19 13 August 1857 Tunbridge Wells North 8 wickets scorecard
20 7 September 1857 Trent Bridge, Nottingham Drawn scorecard
21 12 July 1858 Lord's North 4 wickets scorecard
22 27 June 1859 Lord's South 10 wickets scorecard
23 15 August 1859 St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury North 90 runs scorecard
24 30 August 1860 Merefield Ground, Rochdale Drawn scorecard
25 17 September 1860 London Road, Sleaford North 53 runs scorecard
26 15 July 1861 Lord's South 4 wickets scorecard
27 5 September 1861 Aston Park, Aston, Birmingham South 43 runs scorecard
28 29 May 1862 Old Trafford, Manchester Drawn scorecard
29 21 July 1862 Lord's North innings and 10 runs scorecard
30 21 May 1863 Old Trafford North 10 wickets scorecard
31 20 July 1863 Lord's North 29 runs scorecard
32 27 August 1863 Wavertree Road Ground, Liverpool North 84 runs scorecard
33 27 June 1864 Sleaford Drawn scorecard
34 11 August 1864 Old Trafford North 9 wickets scorecard
35 5 September 1864 Cattle Market Ground, Islington South innings and 29 runs scorecard
36 12 June 1865 Lord's South 52 runs scorecard
37 7 August 1865 Canterbury South 27 runs scorecard
38 2 July 1866 Lord's South innings and 43 runs scorecard
39 3 June 1869 The Oval North 9 wickets scorecard
40 26 July 1869 Bramall Lane, Sheffield South 66 runs scorecard
41 9 August 1869 Canterbury South 8 wickets scorecard
42 6 June 1870 Lord's North 6 wickets scorecard
43 8 August 1870 Canterbury Drawn scorecard
44 5 September 1870 Dewsbury and Savile Ground, Dewsbury North innings and 154 runs scorecard
45 29 May 1871 Lord's South innings and 49 runs scorecard
46 31 July 1871 The Oval Drawn scorecard
47 7 August 1871 Canterbury South 100 runs scorecard
48 29 April 1872 Liverpool Wavertree South innings and 20 runs scorecard
49 16 May 1872 Prince's Cricket Ground, Chelsea, London Drawn scorecard
50 20 May 1872 Lord's South 52 runs scorecard
51 25 July 1872 The Oval South 8 wickets scorecard
52 5 August 1872 Canterbury North innings and 46 runs scorecard
53 15 May 1873 Prince's Drawn scorecard
54 2 June 1873 Lord's North 84 runs scorecard
55 24 July 1873 The Oval South innings and 58 runs scorecard
56 4 August 1873 Canterbury South 7 wickets scorecard
57 25 May 1874 Lord's South 8 wickets scorecard
58 4 June 1874 Prince's North 3 runs scorecard
59 17 May 1875 Lord's South 10 wickets scorecard
60 27 May 1875 Prince's South 5 wickets scorecard
61 28 June 1875 Trent Bridge Drawn scorecard
62 15 July 1875 Fartown Ground, Huddersfield Drawn scorecard
63 19 August 1875 Tunbridge Wells North innings and 58 runs scorecard
64 2 September 1875 Argyle Street, Kingston upon Hull South 23 runs scorecard
65 6 September 1875 Tyler's Ground, Loughborough North 125 runs scorecard
66 1 June 1876 Prince's South 153 runs scorecard
67 5 June 1876 Lord's South 85 runs scorecard
68 17 July 1876 Trent Bridge South 8 wickets scorecard
69 20 July 1876 The Oval Drawn scorecard
70 7 September 1876 Milnrow Road, Rochdale Drawn scorecard
71 21 May 1877 Lord's South 3 wickets scorecard
72 31 May 1877 Prince's South innings and 162 runs scorecard
73 21 June 1877 The Oval South 1 wicket scorecard
74 23 July 1877 Argyle Street, Hull North innings and 14 runs scorecard
75 6 June 1878 Prince's Drawn scorecard
76 10 June 1878 Lord's North 3 wickets scorecard
77 27 June 1878 Trent Bridge South 10 wickets scorecard
78 19 September 1878 The Oval North innings and 123 runs scorecard
79 2 June 1879 Lord's North 49 runs scorecard
80 17 July 1879 The Oval North 9 wickets scorecard
81 14 July 1881 The Oval North innings and 91 runs scorecard
82 14 May 1883 Lord's North 170 runs scorecard
83 21 June 1883 The Oval North 22 runs scorecard
84 30 August 1883 Tunbridge Wells North innings and 38 runs scorecard
85 2 June 1884 Lord's South 66 runs scorecard
86 25 May 1885 Lord's South 9 wickets scorecard
87 25 June 1885 The Oval North 8 wickets scorecard
88 9 July 1885 Old Trafford Drawn scorecard
89 14 June 1886 Lord's North 9 wickets scorecard
90 30 May 1887 Lord's North 6 wickets scorecard
91 5 September 1887 North Marine Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire Drawn scorecard
92 8 September 1887 Central Recreation Ground, Hastings North 27 runs scorecard
93 13 September 1888 Hastings South 47 runs scorecard
94 16 May 1889 The Oval North innings and 25 runs scorecard
95 27 May 1889 Lord's Abandoned scorecard
96 3 June 1889 Priory Park, Chichester South 8 wickets scorecard
97 11 July 1889 Old Trafford Drawn scorecard
98 5 September 1889 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
99 12 September 1889 Hastings North 152 runs scorecard
100 19 May 1890 Lord's South 135 runs scorecard
101 11 September 1890 Hastings South 9 runs scorecard
102 11 May 1891 Lord's South 34 runs scorecard
103 29 June 1891 Edgbaston, Birmingham Drawn scorecard
104 31 August 1891 Scarborough South 6 runs scorecard
105 10 September 1891 Hastings Drawn scorecard
106 30 June 1892 Edgbaston North 6 wickets scorecard
107 8 September 1892 Hastings South innings and 10 runs scorecard
108 11 September 1893 Hastings North 25 runs scorecard
109 2 August 1894 The Oval Drawn scorecard
110 30 August 1894 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
111 6 September 1894 Hastings Drawn scorecard
112 2 September 1895 Scarborough North 8 wickets scorecard
113 5 September 1895 Hastings South 109 runs scorecard
114 7 September 1896 Hastings South 5 wickets scorecard
115 2 September 1897 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
116 9 September 1897 Hastings North 8 wickets scorecard
117 6 September 1900 Hastings Drawn scorecard
118 13 September 1900 Lord's Drawn scorecard
119 5 September 1904 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
120 8 September 1904 Hastings North 10 wickets scorecard
121 28 August 1905 Whitegate Park, Blackpool North 8 wickets scorecard
122 4 September 1905 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
123 3 September 1906 Scarborough North innings and 71 runs scorecard
124 5 September 1907 Scarborough North 7 wickets scorecard
125 7 September 1908 Hastings South 5 wickets scorecard
126 10 September 1908 The Oval South innings and 54 runs scorecard
127 2 September 1920 Hastings South 52 runs scorecard
128 20 September 1922 The Saffrons, Eastbourne North 7 wickets scorecard
129 23 June 1923 Old Trafford South 38 runs scorecard
130 9 September 1925 Stanley Park, Blackpool South 96 runs scorecard
131 25 June 1927 (Test Trial) Bramall Lane Drawn scorecard
132 3 September 1927 Cheriton Road, Folkestone Drawn scorecard
133 8 September 1928 Dean Park Cricket Ground, Bournemouth South 4 wickets scorecard
134 18 June 1932 Old Trafford Drawn scorecard
135 13 June 1936 Lord's Drawn scorecard
136 22 May 1937 Lord's South 6 wickets scorecard
137 11 September 1946 Scarborough North 130 runs scorecard
138 27 August 1947 St George's Road, Harrogate North 86 runs scorecard
139 3 September 1947 Leyland Motors Ground, Kingston upon Thames South 4 wickets scorecard
140 6 September 1947 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
141 4 September 1948 Hastings South 5 wickets scorecard
142 4 September 1948 Leyland Motors Ground, Kingston upon Thames Drawn scorecard
143 1 June 1949 (Test trial) Edgbaston Drawn scorecard
144 3 September 1949 Scarborough Drawn scorecard
145 7 September 1949 Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon Thames North 4 wickets scorecard
146 2 September 1950 Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon Thames North 8 wickets scorecard
147 6 September 1950 Scarborough South 3 wickets scorecard
148 1 September 1951 Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon Thames North 4 wickets scorecard
149 6 September 1952 Hawker's Sports Ground, Kingston upon Thames South innings and 79 runs scorecard
150 4 September 1954 Recreation Ground, Torquay South 61 runs scorecard
151 3 September 1955 Torquay South 109 runs scorecard
152 1 September 1956 Torquay Drawn scorecard
153 7 September 1957 Torquay South 1 wicket scorecard
154 6 September 1958 Torquay South 38 runs scorecard
155 6 September 1961 Stanley Park, Blackpool South 2 wickets scorecard

References

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  1. ^ Birley, p.73.
  2. ^ "South v North, July 1836". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  3. ^ "North v South, August 1836". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  4. ^ Birley, pp.73–74.
  5. ^ Birley, p.77.
  6. ^ "South v North, July 1849". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Pavilion Gossip", Cricket, issue 209, 30 May 1889, p. 154.
  8. ^ "North v South first-class fixtures (Scorecard Oracle)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. ^ "North v South, September 1961". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. ^ "North v South, July 1971". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 December 2008.
  11. ^ "North v South: Mark Wood strikes on return while Ben Duckett makes century". BBC Sport. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Barbados to host North-South series & MCC champion county match". BBC Sport. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

Bibliography

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  • Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
  • Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
  • Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1827–1840). Lillywhite.