First-class cricket

First-class cricket matches are those of at least three days length in which both teams have two innings each, and which involve either international teams or the highest division of domestic competition. Generally, matches are eleven players a side but there have been exceptions to this.

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Opinion is divided about the start of first-class cricket. Some writers have held that it began in 1864, coinciding with the introduction of overarm bowling. This view was opposed because of the high standards of play achieved during the so-called roundarm era (c.1835–1864) and one prominent statistician dated his records from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. More recently, the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians has published material which dates first-class cricket from 1801, but this is a century-convenient date that has been challenged by champions of the underarm era of the game which developed during the 18th Century. Continuous recorded scores have survived for all seasons since 1772 and there is now a view that this date, which coincides with the zenith of the legendary Hambledon Club, should mark the beginning of the first-class game. But even that has been challenged because, although detailed records before 1772 are few and far between, there is documented evidence of top-class cricket going back to 1697. In that year, an eleven-a-side game was played in Sussex for very high stakes and was described by a contemporary newspaper as "a great cricket match".

Related Topics:
1864 - 1835 - Napoleonic Wars - 1815 - Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians - 1801 - 18th Century - 1772 - Hambledon Club - 1697 - Sussex

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