History of English cricket (1846–1863)
Taking advantage of the "railway boom", the professional travelling elevens began to tour the country, staging matches against local teams before large crowds.
The rival United All England Eleven (the UEE) was established by Jemmy Dean and John Wisden in 1852.
Social conditions, especially the railways, were a key factor in the creation of the travelling All-England Eleven (the AEE).
Taking advantage of the railway boom, they travelled throughout Great Britain and were a significant factor in the spread of cricket.
Jemmy Dean and John Wisden were the main organisers and other players to represent the UEE in its early years included John Lillywhite, Tom Lockyer, Jem Grundy, F. P. Miller, Will Mortlock and Tom Sherman.
Two games were played in 1857, both at Lord's and both won by the AEE whose players in 1857 included George Parr (captain), Alfred Diver, H. H. Stephenson, Julius Caesar, Cris Tinley, George Anderson, Ned Willsher and John Jackson.
Also in 1857, the Cricketers Fund Friendly Society was instituted and, for ten years, the great match between the AEE and the UEE was played in its support.
According to the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (the ACS), a total of 534 top-class matches were played in the eighteen English seasons from 1846 to 1863 inclusive.
There was no national championship and the matches were all arranged on an ad hoc basis, although some such as Gentlemen v Players and North v South had become traditional events in the cricketing calendar.
Kent had a strong team in the 1840s which included Nicholas Felix, William Hillyer, Alfred Mynn and Fuller Pilch.
On 8 January, Yorkshire County Cricket Club was founded out of the Sheffield Match Fund Committee that had been established on 7 March 1861.
A number of previous county organisations including the famous Hambledon Club had existed in Hampshire for over a century, but none had survived indefinitely.
On 15 December, Middlesex County Cricket Club was founded at a meeting in the London Tavern.
New grounds in the period included Bramall Lane, which superseded Hyde Park in Sheffield; Old Trafford in Manchester; and Fenner's in Cambridge.
Elsewhere, Lord's remained the sport's feature venue and there was increasing usage of the Magdalen Ground in Oxford; Trent Bridge in Nottingham; and The Oval in south London.
Surrey County Cricket Club played its initial top-class match v Kent at The Oval on 25 & 26 June 1846, winning by 10 wickets.
Active players, administrators and other contributors of the period included: In a match played 27–29 May 1847 between MCC and Oxford University, William Hillyer completed the first recorded "match double" of 100 runs and ten wickets in a top-class game,[2] scoring 26 and 83 and taking thirteen wickets.
[2] In 1850, John Wisden bowled all ten batsmen in one innings, playing for North v South at Lord's.
In 1859, the earliest reference has been found of a hat being presented to a bowler who had taken wickets with three successive deliveries, hence hat-trick.
[citation needed] The Eyre Estate sold the freehold of Lord's to Isaac Moses, a property trader, at public auction in 1860 for £7,000.
James Dark held the leasehold until 1864, when he ceded it to MCC, who afterwards purchased the freehold from Mr Moses at a substantial profit.
[citation needed] In 1846, the last match played for the Single Wicket Championship was between Alfred Mynn and Nicholas Felix.
Left to right : Joe Guy , George Parr , Will Martingell , Alfred Mynn , William Denison , Jemmy Dean , William Clarke , Nicholas Felix , Oliver Pell , William Hillyer , William Lillywhite , William Dorrinton , Fuller Pilch and Tom Sewell .
