Essex county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

goes back much further than that. It is almost certain that cricket reached Essex by the 16th century and that it developed during the 17th century with inter-parish matches being played.

18th century

The first definite mention of cricket in connection with the county is a highly controversial match in 1724 between Chingford and

Edwin Stead Edwin Stead (1701 – 28 August 1735) was a noted patron of English cricket, particularly of Kent teams in the 1720s. He usually captained his teams but nothing is known about his ability as a player. He was born at Harrietsham in Kent and di ...

's XI, which is recorded in ''The Dawn of Cricket'' by

H. T. Waghorn Henry Thomas Waghorn (11 April 1842 – 30 January 1930), was a cricket statistician and historian. He is best known for his two classic researches into cricket's early history: ''The Dawn of Cricket'' and Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730 - 1773 ...

. The venue is unknown but, if it were at Chingford, it is also the earliest reference to cricket being played in Essex as well as by an Essex team. The game echoed an earlier one in 1718 as the Chingford team refused to play to a finish when Stead's team had the advantage. A court case followed and, as in 1718, it was ordered to be played out presumably so that all wagers could be fulfilled. Lord Chief Justice Pratt presided over the case and he ordered them to play it out on

Dartford Brent Dartford Brent was an extensive area of common land on the outskirts of Dartford in Kent. Historically, it was the scene of a confrontation between King Henry VI and Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York in 1452 and in 1555 thousands of spectato ...

, though it is not known if this was the original venue. The game was completed in 1726.

G. B. Buckley George Bent Buckley (1885 – 26 April 1962) was an English surgeon and a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. Buckley was born in Saddleworth, Yorkshire, the son of Arthur and Jane Buckley, his fathe ...

, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935 The earliest reference to a team called Essex is in July 1732 when a combined Essex & Herts team played against the

London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding important match status. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of i ...

. In July 1737, there was London v Essex at the

Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is an open space originally set aside for archery and later known also as a cricket venue. Today it is used for military exercises, cricket, rugby and football matches. It belongs to the Honourable Artillery Co ...

, London winning by 45 runs. In a return game at Ilford on 1 August 1737, Essex won by 7 runs. References are then occasional until 1785 when the Hornchurch Cricket Club, based at Langton Park, became prominent. This club had a very strong team that was representative of Essex as a county. However, the sources differed among themselves re whether the team should be called Essex or Hornchurch. But there is no doubt that Essex held important match status from 1785 until 1794, after which the county strangely and abruptly disappeared from the records for a long time.

19th century

Little was heard of Essex cricket from 1794 until the formation of

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 wh ...

on 14 January 1876 at a meeting in the Shire Hall, Brentwood.''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1877 The new club did not achieve first-class status until 1894. The team played its inaugural first-class match on 14, 15 & 16 May 1894 against

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the coun ...

(who were also making their first-class debut) at

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Rive ...

. In 1895, both of these clubs and Warwickshire County Cricket Club joined the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

References

Bibliography

Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley atten ...

, ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, 1999 *

Rowland Bowen Major Rowland Francis Bowen (27 February 1916 – 4 September 1978) was a British Army officer and a cricket researcher, historian and writer. Educated at Westminster School, Bowen received an emergency commission in April 1942 into the In ...

, ''Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 *

, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935 *

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as nu ...

, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826)'', Lillywhite, 1862 *

, ''Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730-1773)'', Blackwood, 1899 *

, ''The Dawn of Cricket'', Electric Press, 1906

External links

The development of Cricket in Eastern Essex
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex County Cricket Teams History of Essex English cricket teams in the 18th century Former senior cricket clubs Essex County Cricket Club

County cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...