1814 English cricket season

1814 was the 28th season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The current Lord's was opened and staged its first match. Jem Broadbridge made his debut in important matches. Details of four matches are known.^{[note 1]}

Events

The site of Lord's Middle Ground was requisitioned by Parliament for the building of the Regent's Canal. Thomas Lord contacted the Eyre family, erstwhile owners of the ground, and persuaded them to lease to him another parcel of land in St John's Wood, about half a mile further north at a place called North Bank. This site had previously been a duckpond. In the winter of 1813–14, Lord again had his turf literally dug up and removed. He built a high perimeter fence, a tavern and a pavilion at what became the current Lord's ground.
On 22 June 1814, MCC played the first match at Lord's against Hertfordshire, then as now a minor county.
The first match of importance at Lord's was played 13–15 July 1814 when MCC hosted St John's Wood, whose team included Billy Beldham, William Lambert, and William Ward.
With the Napoleonic War at its height, cricket continued to be badly impacted by the consequent loss of both manpower and investment. Important matches had become few and far between since 1810, and only four are recorded in 1814:
- 13–15 July — MCC v St John's Wood @ Lord's^[5]
- 22–23 July — Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI v George Osbaldeston's XI @ Goodwood Park
  - A total of twelve players made their known important match debuts in this game. One of them was Jem Broadbridge, who went on to become an outstanding player. Others included Charles Andrew, Francis Mellersh, and William Slater.^[6]
- 28–29 July — Brighton v Epsom @ Royal New Ground, Brighton
- 2–4 August — Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI v D. J. W. Kinnaird's XI @ Lord's^[7]
On 20 September, there was a match between Rutland and Nottingham at The Park, Burley-on-the-Hill, which Nottingham won by an innings and 163 runs. This is the first time that Rutland is known to have played as an independent county team.^[8]

Notes

^ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.^[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.^[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.^[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

^ "FC Matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
^ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC 851705816.
^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
^ Haygarth, p. 375.
^ "Lord F. Beauclerk's XI v G. Osbaldeston's XI". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
^ Haygarth, p. 376.
^ "Rutland v Nottingham, September 1814". CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 March 2026.

Bibliography

ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 85045528.
ACS (1982). A Guide to FC Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC 10586869.
Haygarth, Arthur (1996) [1862]. Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN 978-19-00592-23-9.
Warner, Pelham (1946). Lords: 1787–1945. London: Harrap. OCLC 877106024.

Events

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading