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 ...

teams representing

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

have been traced back to the 18th century, although for long periods the county was secondary to 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 it ...

which played 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 ...

. Middlesex teams played at various grounds throughout what is now the Greater London area. Islington and Uxbridge were often used but home matches were also played on

Kennington Common Kennington Common was a swathe of common land mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was one of the earliest venues for cricket around London, with matches played between 1724 and 1785.G B Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' ...

and in Berkshire. Middlesex teams were less frequent in the 19th century until 1859 when the

Walker family of Southgate Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) * Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...

became involved in county cricket. Until 1863, teams were formed ''ad hoc'' by various patrons and clubs, often on an informal basis. Depending on the strength of the opposition, teams called Middlesex have generally been recognised as top-class.

Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex 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 Middlesex which has effectively been subsumed within the ceremonial ...

was founded in December 1863 and its team has been recognised as the county's representative in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

from the 1864 season.

17th century

As elsewhere in south east England, cricket became established in Middlesex during the 17th century and the earliest village matches took place before the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. The first definite mention of cricket in London or Middlesex dates from 1680.

18th century

Venues

The earliest known match in Middlesex took place at Lamb's Conduit Field in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

on 3 July 1707 involving teams from London and Croydon. In 1718, the first reference is found to

White Conduit Fields White Conduit Fields in Islington was an early venue for cricket and several major matches are known to have been played there in the 18th century. It was the original home of the White Conduit Club, forerunner of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). ...

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, which later became a famous London venue. The earliest reference to a team called Middlesex is on 5 August 1729 in a match against

"in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side".

1731 controversy

There was a much-publicised controversial incident on Monday, 23 August 1731, when a Middlesex team led by Thomas Chambers played against the Duke of Richmond's XI, effectively a

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

county team, in a match on

Richmond Green Richmond Green is a recreation area near the centre of Richmond, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants situated in south-west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Green, which has been ...

. It was the return to a match in

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

a week earlier. In both matches, the stake was 200

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

. Middlesex won the first match. According to

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

, their patron Chambers was a probable forebear of

Lord Frederick Beauclerk The Reverend Lord Frederick de Vere Beauclerk (8 May 1773 – 22 April 1850), a 19th-century Anglican priest, was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer, the leading "amateur" player of the Napoleonic period. Lord Frede ...

. The second match is notable in one sense as the earliest of which the team scores are known: Richmond's XI 79, Middlesex 119; Richmond's XI 72, and Middlesex 23–5 (approximate). It was agreed beforehand that the match would end promptly at seven o'clock in the evening, and Richmond enforced this agreement even though the match had not started on time because he himself arrived late. The result was therefore a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

– the earliest known use of this term for a result. The state of play at seven o'clock was that Middlesex needed only "about 8 to 10 notches" with either four or five

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

s standing. Gambling was rife in eighteenth century cricket and, a large crowd in attendance, a lot of money was riding on a Middlesex win. There was uproar about the prompt finish making no allowance for the delayed start. When Richmond refused to play on, the crowd rioted and some of the Sussex players "had the shirts ripped off their backs". It was said a lawsuit "will commence about the play". On Wednesday, 8 September, the ''Daily Post Boy'' reported that "(on 6 September) 11 of Surrey beat the 11 who about a fortnight ago beat the Duke of Richmond's men". This would suggest that the Duke of Richmond conceded his controversial game against Chambers' Middlesex.

Middlesex at Lord's

Middlesex used

Lord's Old Ground Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate. Matches The first ...

when it opened in 1787, with the earliest known match on the ground being between Middlesex and an Essex XI on 31 May 1787. Noted Middlesex players in the 18th century included

William Fennex William Fennex (born c.1764 at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire; died 4 March 1838 at Stepney, London) was a famous English cricketer. He was a noted all-rounder and right-arm underarm fast bowler who played major cricket from 1786 to 1816. As ...

and

Thomas Lord Thomas Lord (23 November 1755 – 13 January 1832) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances ...

The Thursday Club

In May–June 1795,

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) played five matches at Lord's Old Ground, the first three against a team called "the Thursday Club" and the last two against a team called "Middlesex".Britcher 1795, pp. 3–13. Although

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 num ...

makes no comment about the members of these two teams, it is evident that several players are common to both as James Rice (5 appearances), William Barton (4), James Beeston (4), John Goldham (4),

(4), Sylvester (4),

Charles Warren General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...

(4), Harry Bridger (3) and Wheeler (2) all played for both the Thursday and Middlesex teams. N. Graham (2), Thomas Ray (2) and Robert Turner (2) played for Middlesex but not for Thursday; Ray also played once for MCC against Thursday. George Shepheard (3), W. Beeston (2) and Dale (2) played only for Thursday and not for Middlesex. Six others, including Thomas Shackle, played for one of the teams in a single match only. Details are sketchy but it seems the Marylebone Thursday Club was originally a Thursday Club in the literal sense that was started by amateur cricketers of Middlesex who acquired the services of certain Middlesex professionals, such as Ray and Sylvester who were both employed at Lord's as MCC ground staff players. Team nomenclature changed frequently in Georgian times. Samuel Britcher, who was the MCC

scorer In cricket, a scorer is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with Law 3 of the ''Laws of Cricket'', two scorers are appointed, ...

calls the team "Thursday Club" in the first three matches of 1795 (as does Haygarth) but then refers to "the County of Middlesex" in both the fourth and fifth games on 25 May and 26 June. Haygarth simply uses "Middlesex" for these two. Britcher refers to the "Middlesex Club" from 1796.Britcher 1796, p. 10.

19th century

The present

was informally founded on 15 December 1863 at a meeting in the ''London Tavern'' with formal constitution taking place on 2 February 1864. The creation of the club was largely through the efforts of the Walker family of Southgate. The county club played its first first-class match against

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

at Islington in June 1864. There is an article about early Middlesex cricket in the 14 September 1882 issue of '' Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game''."Middlesex Cricket"
''Cricket'', issue 19, 14 September 1882, pp. 282–283.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{English cricket teams in the 18th century Cricket teams in London English cricket teams in the 18th century English cricket in the 19th century Former senior cricket clubs History of Middlesex