Gentlemen v Players

The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match played frequently (usually at least annually and often several times in a year), between a team made up of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and one made up of professionals (the Players), from 1806 until the abolition of the distinction between the two after the 1962 season. There is considerable argument about when first-class cricket as such began, and so some of the early matches in the series are not considered to have such status by some authorities. (See the first-class cricket article for more discussion of this point.)

Related Topics:
First-class - Cricket - Amateur - Professional - 1806 - 1962

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The fixture was a prestigious one, though often far short of Test match quality. The game was played over three days on all but a handful of occasions throughout its history. The most common venue for the match was Lord's, but a number of other grounds were used, notably The Oval and Scarborough, and it was at Scarborough where the very last Gentlemen v Players game was played in September 1962. For a list of all these matches, please see List of Gentlemen v Players matches.

Related Topics:
Test match - Lord's - The Oval - Scarborough - List of Gentlemen v Players matches

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The same format of amateurs playing professionals was used in a number of other fixtures, some of which were given first-class status - for example, "Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire v Players of Nottinghamshire" - but these matches became less common after the beginning of the 20th century and the last such game was "Gentlemen of the South v Players of the South" in 1920, after which all first-class Gentlemen v Players matches were between teams known simply by those names.

Related Topics:
20th century - 1920

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