There were three matches in May and June betweenMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) andMiddlesex, all onLord's Old Ground (Lord's). Middlesex won the first by 3 wickets,[5] and MCC the second by 141 runs.[6] The third match, which may have been arranged as a decider, was won by Middlesex, by eight runs.[7]
Kent played three matches at Lord's in May and June. They defeated Middlesex by 51 runs,[8] and MCC by 4 runs[7] in the first two, but lost the third to Middlesex by 3 wickets.[9]
Surrey played Middlesex at Lord's in August, and won by 8 wickets.[10] They also played three matches againstEngland. The first was onItchin Stoke Down at the end of June, and England won by 3 wickets.[11] The other two matches were played over four consecutive days in August atDandelion Paddock, which wasSir Horatio Mann's new venue nearMargate. Surrey won the first by an innings and 6 runs,[10] and England the second by 5 wickets.[12]
It was in 1796 thatMontpelier Cricket Club became prominent in "town club" cricket, and began playing against MCC. Montpelier's home ground was calledAram's New Ground. Located in Montpelier Gardens, it was also known as the "Bee Hive Ground" because of its proximity to a pub called theBee Hive. The first match on record was against MCC in June. MCC won by 63 runs.[11]
^Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, whenoverarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting atLord's, in May 1894, ofMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and thecounty clubs which were then competing in theCounty Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have noofficial definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have anunofficial first-class status.[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included inthe ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.[4] For further information, seeFirst-class cricket.
Britcher, Samuel (1796).A Complete List of all the Grand Matches of Cricket that have been Played (1790–1805; annual series). London: W. S. Blake.OCLC83523010.
