This is a list of the earliest known references to cricket being played in each of the historic counties of England.
Counties (by date of reference) edit
- Surrey – c.1550 re John Derrick and the 1597 Guildford court case; the world's earliest definite mention of cricket[1][2]
- Kent – c.1611 re the match at Chevening, the world's oldest known organised match[3]
- Sussex – 1611 re an ecclesiastical court case[4]
- Hampshire – 1647 at Winchester College[5]
- London – 1617 re Oliver Cromwell[6]
- Horsted Keynes - 1624 re Jasper Vinall First recorded death on a cricket pitch.
- Oxfordshire – 1673 at the University of Oxford[7]
- Middlesex – 1680; also the first mention re umpires[8]
- Cambridgeshire – 1710 at the University of Cambridge[9]
- Essex – 1724 re the Chingford-Stead match[10]
- Berkshire – 1727 at Eton College[11]
- Gloucestershire – 1729[11]
- Buckinghamshire – 1730[12]
- Hertfordshire – 1732[13]
- Dorset – 1738[14]
- Bedfordshire – 1741[15]
- Huntingdonshire – 1741[15]
- Northamptonshire – 1741[15]
- Suffolk – 1743[11]
- Norfolk – 1745[11]
- Durham – 1751[16]
- Somerset – 1751[17]
- Warwickshire – 1751[18]
- Yorkshire – 1751[16]
- Derbyshire – 1757[19]
- Northumberland – 1766[20]
- Wiltshire – 1769[20]
- Nottinghamshire – 1771[21]
- Leicestershire – 1776[22]
- Cheshire – 1781[22]
- Lancashire – 1781[22]
- Rutland – 1790[23]
- Lincolnshire – 1792[23]
- Shropshire – 1794[23]
- Devon – 1799[24]
- Cornwall – 1813[25]
- Staffordshire – 1817[25]
- Herefordshire – 1823[26]
- Westmorland – 1827[26]
- Cumberland – 1828[26]
- Worcestershire – 1829[26]
Ireland, Scotland and Wales edit
Formation of county clubs in England and Wales edit
Numerous sources list the foundation dates of the county clubs. Note that some clubs have been re-founded after earlier versions became defunct. The dates below are mostly taken from the 1982 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack:[27]
- Bedfordshire – 1899
- Berkshire – 1895
- Buckinghamshire – 1891
- Cambridgeshire – 1844 to 1869; 1891
- Carmarthenshire – 1908 to 1911
- Cheshire – 1908
- Cornwall – 1894
- Cumberland (called Cumberland and Westmorland CCC until 1955) – 1948
- Denbighshire – 1930 to 1935
- Derbyshire – 1870
- Devon – 1867 to 1897; 1899
- Dorset – 1896
- Durham – 1882
- Essex – 1876
- Glamorgan – 1888
- Gloucestershire – 1871
- Hampshire – 1863
- Herefordshire – 1836 to unknown; 1992
- Hertfordshire – 1876
- Huntingdonshire – 1831 to 1895; 1948
- Kent – 1842
- Lancashire – 1864
- Leicestershire – 1879
- Lincolnshire – 1906
- Middlesex – 1864
- Monmouthshire – 1901 to 1934
- Norfolk – 1827 to c.1850; 1876
- Northamptonshire – 1878
- Northumberland – 1895
- Nottinghamshire – 1841
- Oxfordshire – 1921
- Shropshire – 1956
- Somerset – 1875
- Staffordshire – 1871
- Suffolk – 1932
- Surrey – 1845
- Sussex – 1839
- Wales Minor Counties – 1988
- Warwickshire – 1882
- Wiltshire – 1893
- Worcestershire – 1865
- Yorkshire – 1863
References edit
- ^ Altham, ch. 1.
- ^ Underdown, p. 3.
- ^ Underdown, p. 4.
- ^ Underdown, p. 5.
- ^ Birley, p. 10.
- ^ Altham, p. 22.
- ^ Maun, p. 15.
- ^ Buckley (FL18), p. 1.
- ^ Altham, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Waghorn (DC), pp. 5–6.
- ^ a b c d Bowen, p. 263.
- ^ Waghorn (CS), p. 3.
- ^ Buckley (FL18), p. 7.
- ^ Major, p. 116.
- ^ a b c Waghorn (CS), p. 27.
- ^ a b Ashley-Cooper, p. 83.
- ^ Buckley (FL18), p. 18.
- ^ Maun, p. 13.
- ^ a b Bowen, p. 264.
- ^ a b c Bowen, p. 265.
- ^ Buckley (FLPV), p. 6.
- ^ a b c Bowen, p. 266.
- ^ a b c d Bowen, p. 267.
- ^ Bowen, p. 268.
- ^ a b Bowen, p. 269.
- ^ a b c d Bowen, p. 270.
- ^ Wisden 1982, pp. 277–278.
Bibliography edit
- Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. Eyre & Spottiswoode.
- Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
- Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
- Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-1-900592-52-9.
- Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane. ISBN 0-7139-9330-8.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.