Non-international England cricket teams

The key factor is that they were non-international and there is a significant difference between them and the official England cricket team which takes part in international fixtures.

In the 1730s, "any eleven men in England" would in practice have come from the southeastern counties only: e.g., Berkshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex.

A contemporary report states that "(Thomas Waymark) turned the scale of victory, which for some years past has been generally on the Kentish side".

[9] The name "All-England" took on a specific meaning in 1846 when William Clarke's All-England Eleven, commonly known as the AEE, was founded as a touring team of leading players, its purpose being to take advantage of the new railway network and play matches at city venues, mainly in the North of England.

Their matches in Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds were a huge success and very profitable, especially for Clarke himself who was careful to pay his players more than Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) did (from £4 to £6 per week) and so keep them interested.

In all matches George Parr with 10,404 runs (av 16.78) was the leading batsman for the side and William Clarke himself took the most wickets (2,385).

Clarke would have nothing to do with the UEE but he died in 1856 and, from 1857 to 1866, matches were played between these two teams which were perhaps the most important contests of the English season – certainly judged by the quality of the players.

The travelling elevens ran their course over a period of some thirty seasons but interest in them waned as county cricket grew and provided matches with a more competitive edge.

With the advent of international cricket in the 1870s, especially following the hugely successful inaugural Australian tour in 1878, the travelling elevens faded away.

The earliest match involving a team styled "The Rest of England" took place at Bradford Park Avenue in June 1883 when the opposition was a composite Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire XI.