| Team information | |
|---|---|
| Established | by 1729 |
| Last match | 1863 |
| Home venue | Lamb's Conduit Field Lord's Old Ground Lord's |
| History | |
| Notable players | William Fennex Thomas Lord V. E. Walker |
Until 1863, theMiddlesex countycricket team, always known asMiddlesex, was organised by individual patrons and other groups. The team has been traced back to 1729, although for long periods in the 18th century, the county was secondary to theLondon Cricket Club which played at theArtillery Ground. Middlesex played at various grounds throughout what is now theGreater London area. Venues inIslington andUxbridge were often used, but some "home" matches were played onKennington Common or inBerkshire.
Middlesex played even less frequently in the 19th century until 1859, when theWalker family of Southgate became involved in county cricket. Depending on the strength of the opposition, the Middlesex team playedimportant matches[note 1] from 1729 until the formation ofMiddlesex County Cricket Club on 15 December 1863.
As elsewhere in south east England, cricket became established in Middlesex during the 17th century, and the earliestvillage matches took place before theEnglish Civil War. The first definite mention of cricket in London or Middlesex dates from 1680.[5]
The earliest known match in Middlesex took place atLamb's Conduit Field inHolborn on 3 July 1707, involving teams from London and Croydon.[6] In 1718, the first reference is found toWhite Conduit Fields inIslington, which later became a famous London venue.[7][8] The earliest reference to a team called Middlesex is on 5 August 1729, when there was a match between the "Gentlemen of Middlesex" and theGentlemen of London "in the fields behind the Woolpack, in Islington, near Sadlers Wells, for £50 a side".[9][10]
In 1730, there were three matches between Middlesex andSurrey, including the earliest known match on theArtillery Ground, which Middlesex won.[citation needed]
There was a much-publicised controversial incident on Monday, 23 August 1731, when Middlesex led byThomas Chambers played against theDuke of Richmond's XI, effectively theSussex county team, in a match onRichmond Green. It was the return to a match inChichester a week earlier. In both matches, the stake was 200guineas.[11] Middlesex won the first match.[12] Chambers was a great-grandfather ofLord Frederick Beauclerk.[13]
The second match is notable in one sense as the earliest of which the team scores are known: Richmond's XI 79, Middlesex 119; Richmond's XI 72, and Middlesex 23–5 (approximate).[14][15] It was agreed beforehand that the match would end promptly at seven o'clock in the evening, and Richmond enforced this agreement even though the match had not started on time because he himself arrived late.[16] The result was therefore adraw – the earliest known use of this term for a result.[17]
The state of play at seven o'clock was that Middlesex needed only "about 8 to 10notches" with either four or fivewickets standing.[14][15] Gambling was rife in eighteenth century cricket and, a large crowd in attendance, a lot of money was riding on a Middlesex win.[13][17] There was uproar about the prompt finish making no allowance for the delayed start.[13] When Richmond refused to play on, the crowd rioted and some of the Sussex players "had the shirts ripped off their backs".[17] It was said a lawsuit "will commence about the play".[18] On Wednesday, 8 September, theDaily Post Boy reported that "(on 6 September) 11 of Surrey beat the 11 who about a fortnight ago beat the Duke of Richmond's men".[18] This would suggest that the Duke of Richmond conceded his controversial game against Chambers' Middlesex.[18][15]
Middlesex usedLord's Old Ground when it opened in 1787, with the earliest known match on the ground being between Middlesex andEssex on 31 May 1787. Noted Middlesex players in the 18th century includedWilliam Fennex andThomas Lord.[citation needed]
In May and June 1795,Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) played five matches at Lord's Old Ground, the first three against a team called "the Thursday Club", and the last two against a team called "Middlesex".[19][20] AlthoughArthur Haygarth makes no comment about the members of these two teams, it is evident that several players are common to both asJames Rice (5 appearances),William Barton (4),James Beeston (4),John Goldham (4),Thomas Lord (4), Sylvester (4),Charles Warren (4),Harry Bridger (3) and Wheeler (2) all played for both the Thursday and Middlesex. N. Graham (2),Thomas Ray (2) andRobert Turner (2) played for Middlesex but not for Thursday; Ray also played once for MCC against Thursday.George Shepheard (3), W. Beeston (2) and Dale (2) played only for Thursday, and not for Middlesex. Six others, includingThomas Shackle, played for one of the teams in a single match only.[19][20]
Details are sketchy but it seems the Marylebone Thursday Club was originally a Thursday Club in the literal sense that was started byamateur cricketers of Middlesex who acquired the services of certain Middlesex professionals, such as Ray and Sylvester who were both employed at Lord's as MCC ground staff players. Team nomenclature changed frequently in Georgian times.Samuel Britcher, who was the MCCscorer calls the team "Thursday Club" in the first three matches of 1795 (as does Haygarth) but then refers to "the County of Middlesex" in both the fourth and fifth games on 25 May and 26 June. Haygarth simply uses "Middlesex" for these two.[19][20] Britcher refers to the "Middlesex Club" from 1796.[21]
The presentMiddlesex County Cricket Club was informally founded on 15 December 1863 at a meeting in theLondon Tavern with formal constitution taking place on 2 February 1864. The creation of the club was largely through the efforts ofthe Walker family of Southgate. The county club played its first match againstSussex County Cricket Club at Islington in June 1864.[note 2]