History Of English Amateur Cricket

Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey.Altham, ch. 1. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.

Originally, all cricketers were amateurs in the literal sense of the word. Village cricket developed through the 17th century and teams typically comprised players who were all resident in the same village or parish. There is no evidence of professionalism before the English Civil War or during the Commonwealth but legal cases of the period have shown that cricket was played jointly by gentry and workers.

Amateur and professional cricketers

In the great upsurge of sport after the Restoration in 1660, cricket flourished because so many people had encountered it as children, especially at school.Birley, p. 10. Although the sport was popular, its evolution into a major sport was accelerated by gambling because, along with horse racing and prizefighting, cricket soon attracted the attention of those who were seeking to make wagers.Birley, ch. 2.

To boost their chances of winning, some gamblers formed their own county-class teams such as Kent and Surrey who played each other in 1709. Patrons like Edwin Stead, the Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage captained their teams and it was gentlemen like these, and the friends whom they invited to play, who began cricket's amateur tradition, while some players were paid a fee for taking part and this was the beginning of professionalism. Thus, a Sussex team of the 1720s might be captained by Richmond and include not only additional gentlemen like Gage but also professionals like Thomas Waymark; and this was the pattern of first-class English teams for a period of 300 years from the 1660s to the 1960s. Waymark, for example, was employed by the Duke of Richmond as a groom and this became a common arrangement between patron and professional. Later in the 18th century, professionals like Edward "Lumpy" Stevens and John Minshull were employed by their patrons as gardeners or gamekeepers. But in the longer term, the professional became an employee of his club and the beginnings of this trend could be observed in the 1770s when Hambledon paid match fees to its players.

The original Lord's was opened in 1787 and was intended to be the private preserve of a gentlemen's club which soon reconstituted itself as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Only a gentleman could become a member but the club from its very beginning employed or contracted professionals. Lord's immediately began to stage major matches and these attracted the crowds that some members had originally sought to avoid. MCC teams soon adopted the now age-old formula of "gentlemen" and "players" in the same team.

Growth of cricket in the schools and universities

There are few 17th century references to cricket being played at or in the vicinity of schools, but the sport was played by pupils at Eton College and Winchester College by the time of the Commonwealth.Birley, ch. 1. There is a reference to the game at St Paul's School, London about 1665 concerning John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who studied there.

In his ''Social History of English Cricket'', Derek Birley comments that school cricket was "alive and well during the interregnum" (1649–1660) and speculates that the game "must have been known to every schoolboy in the south-east" of England. However, he doubts that the sport at this time was part of any school's curriculum. Apart from Eton and Westminster School, all schools in the 17th century had local intakes and no class segregation. Therefore, the sons of rich and poor families played together.

In 1706, William Goldwin (1682–1747) published his ''Musae Juveniles'', which included a Latin poem called ''In Certamen Pilae'' (On a Ball Game). This has 95 lines and is about a rural cricket match. Goldwin himself attended Eton and then graduated to King's College, Cambridge in 1700. It is almost certain that he encountered cricket at both establishments. There is a reference to cricket at Cambridge University in 1710 while Samuel Johnson recorded that he played cricket at Oxford University in 1729. In 1760, the Reverend James Woodforde played for "the Winchester against the Eaton (''sic'')" at Oxford.Birley, p. 33.

Horace Walpole entered Eton in 1726 and later wrote that "playing cricket as well as thrashing bargemen was common". The Sackville family which produced the Dukes of Dorset, most notably the 3rd Duke, sent its sons to Westminster, the 1st Duke studying there at the end of the 17th century; and it was through playing cricket at school that the game became a Sackville family tradition.Altham, p. 66.Birley, p. 35.

The spread of cricket to the northern counties by 1750 was partly due to "its transmission by interested clergy, schoolmasters and others educated at southern boarding schools". In the middle part of the 18th century, games involving teams of ''alumni'' became popular. These fixtures ranged from a team of Old Etonians playing the Gentlemen of England in 1751 to a game at the newly opened Lord's Old Ground in 1788 which was entitled "Gentlemen Educated at Eton ''versus'' The Rest of the Schools". The first school cricket match which has been recorded was in 1794 between Westminster School and Charterhouse School with pupils playing as City of London and City of Westminster at Lords Old Ground. Westminster School played its games at Tothill Fields, which was where Vincent Square now stands. It is known to have played matches against Eton in 1792 and 1796.

Birley recorded that the "sharpest rivalry" in the middle to late 18th century was between old boys of Eton and Westminster, as these were the two oldest public schools. Notable cricketing patrons who attended those schools include the 3rd Duke of Dorset (Winchester), the 4th Earl of Tankerville and the 9th Earl of Winchilsea (both Eton). Their fellow patron Sir Horatio Mann attended Charterhouse School, an indication that cricket was gaining acceptance at many other schools. By 1800, it was firmly established in all public and most grammar schools.Altham, p. 67.

The most important of these "many other schools" was Harrow, which would develop a great cricketing tradition during the 19th century and produce numerous quality players. Harrow had formerly been a grammar school but by the end of the 18th century it had become a public school. Cricket was welcomed at Harrow as elsewhere because it was seen as a useful method for keeping the boys occupied and out of mischief, this despite its strong gambling associations.

Amateurism from 1805 to 1863

Schools cricket from 1805 to 1863

Eton and Harrow definitely played each other in 1805 and there is evidence suggesting a game in 1804, perhaps sooner. The 1805 Eton v Harrow game at Lord's seems to have been organised by the boys themselves, not by the schools, and Lord Byron, who played for Harrow, is believed to have hired the venue. These two schools eventually developed a fierce rivalry that has become the schools cricket equivalent of Cambridge v Oxford or Yorkshire v Lancashire, but they did not meet again until 1818 (twice) and 1822; after that, the fixture has occurred annually except for 1829–1831, 1856 and in wartime. James Pycroft in ''The Cricket Field'' commented on the betting at the 1825 game but, by 1833, the match had become a social highlight and ''The Times'' noted "upwards of thirty carriages containing ladies".Birley, p. 68. Also by this time, the main public schools had grouped themselves into an elite circle and all other schools were decidedly viewed as second class by comparison. The elite were Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster and Winchester.

Among prominent amateurs of the Napoleonic period, E. H. Budd was an Etonian and William Ward was a Wykehamist (i.e., a Winchester pupil). Other noted "old boys" were Edward Grimston, Charles Harenc, Charles Wordsworth (all Harrow), John Kirwan, Herbert Jenner

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases