One of the Act's key requirements was that local authorities must list able-bodied men aged fifteen to sixty, and classify them in terms of fitness for military service.
[4] As increasing numbers of young men entered service, cricket went into decline and, on 17 September 1813, the Nottingham Review said: "The manly and athletic game at cricket for which the boys of Sherwood have been so long and so justly famed, it was thought, had fallen into disuse, if not disgrace...."[1] Also, there is a view expressed by Rowland Bowen that the game had gone out of fashion in addition to the wartime problems it faced.
The first cricketer known to have died on active service was Richard Beckett of Leeds, whose senior career spanned the 1804 to 1807 seasons.
Six senior matches have been recorded from that summer and the first centuries were scored at the new Lord's ground in St John's Wood.
[8] Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), based at Lord's Old Ground until 1810, continued to play the leading role in the sport.
Several matches of the 1800s involved the more prominent town clubs such as Homerton, Montpelier, Richmond and Woolwich.
The landowning Portman Estate felt able to increase the rent and so Thomas Lord decided to seek another venue.
In the winter of 1810–11, Lord staged a fait accompli by seizing "his turf" which was dug up and moved to the Middle Ground.
[10] Records of only three senior matches have been found for the years 1811 to 1813 with the war taking an increasing toll of cricket's manpower and investment.
The first match of importance at Lord's was played 13–15 July 1814 when MCC hosted St John's Wood CC, whose team included a number of Surrey county players.
It was the subject of bitter controversy in the post-war period, largely because of the activities of Lord Frederick Beauclerk, one of the sport's more dubious personalities who effectively "ran" the MCC Committee for many years.
There was fierce infighting between Beauclerk and his enemy George Osbaldeston which finally erupted into a match-fixing scandal.
Then, during the night, the pavilion was destroyed by fire with the consequent loss of valuable scorecards, records and trophies.
William Ward, who was a rich banker as well as a good batsman, stepped in and purchased the ground lease of Lord's to save it for cricket.
[18] Thomas Howard, one of the most outstanding fast bowlers of the underarm era, made his known senior debut on 4–6 July 1803 when he played for Hampshire against a combined Nottinghamshire & Leicestershire team at Lord's.
Jem Broadbridge, who became an outstanding all-rounder in the 1820s, made his known senior debut on 22 July 1814 in a Beauclerk v Osbaldeston match at Goodwood Park.
Knight, who was a nephew of Jane Austen, became a prominent member of MCC and played a significant part in the introduction and legalisation of roundarm bowling between 1825 and 1835.
The 1822 debutants included the left-handed batsman James Saunders, noted for his expertise in playing the square cut shot.
[20] Two of the greatest players of the 19th century, bowler William Lillywhite and wicket-keeper Ned Wenman, made their first known appearances in 1825.
Active players, administrators and other contributors of the period included: In 1805, Lord Frederick Beauclerk became the first batsman known to have scored two centuries in the same season.
On 24 July 1820, William Ward scored 278 for MCC against Norfolk at Lord's, the earliest-known double century in all forms of cricket.
[23] Ward established a new world record for the highest individual innings, beating James Aylward's score of 167 in 1777.
Ward's record survived for 56 years until W. G. Grace scored the first-ever triple-century with an innings of 344 for the Gentlemen of MCC against Kent at Canterbury in 1876.
Matches during this period were arranged on an ad hoc basis and many teams were invitation XIs, some of them given unusual names.
According to Wisden, a forerunner of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club may have been founded in 1820 but, if so, it was subject to reformation and substantial reorganisation in 1878.
[33] It was a "Coronation Match" to celebrate the accession of the unpopular King George IV and Derek Birley commented that it was "a suitably murky affair".
[38] Among the changes were the umpires being required to select the pitch; choice of innings to be decided by toss; no-ball applied to the bowler's foot being over the crease.
[32] In 1807, John Willes of Kent first tried to revive the idea of "straight-armed" (i.e., roundarm) bowling, which had originated with Tom Walker in the 1790s.
The issue was already controversial enough in 1816 for MCC to amend the Laws of Cricket to prohibit it:[41] The ball must be bowled (not thrown or jerked), and be delivered underhand, with the hand below the elbow.
[3] In 1819, Mary Russell Mitford began writing a series of sketches of village life which were published in The Lady's Magazine.