Norfolk county cricket teams
Norfolk county cricket teams were the teams that represented the historic county of Norfolk before the first official formation of Norfolk County Cricket Club in 1876.
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| Established | c. 1764 |
| Last match | 1871 |
| Home venue | Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham and New Ground, Norwich |
18th century
Cricket had probably reached Norfolk by the end of the 17th century. The earliest known reference to cricket in Norfolk was in 1745.[1][2] The first mention of a Norfolk representative team is in 1764, playing against Suffolk at Bury St Edmunds racecourse (today the location of Rougham Airfield) on 23 August. Norfolk won this match, which was reported in the Gazetteer & London Daily Advertiser on Tuesday, 28 August.[3] Norfolk played two further matches against Suffolk on 10 and 12 September at Scole.[2]
19th century
The first important Norfolk club of the 19th century was that based at Holt and an 1820 Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) match, in which William Ward made a then-record score of 278, was in fact the Holt Club with E. H. Budd, Thomas Vigne and Felix Ladbroke as given men.[4] This was perhaps a "borderline" match in terms of its status but, because of its historical importance in the light of Ward's record and the addition of the three given men, the standard was above the general run of Holt/Norfolk matches. The Holt club declined from the mid-1820s.
After that, the centre of county cricket was Norwich and a prominent club was founded there on 11 January 1827. For a few seasons, prior to Fuller Pilch's departure for Kent about 1835, Norfolk could put a fairly strong eleven into the field. Their only major county opponent, however, was Sheffield Cricket Club (playing as Yorkshire) and the five games they played in 1833, 1834 (twice), 1835 and 1836 are important.[4]
Apart from the games against Yorkshire, the main opponents of the Norwich/Norfolk team were Bury/Suffolk and MCC. These games however were not quite in the class of the Yorkshire matches. Norfolk played Cambridge Town Club (a.k.a. Cambridgeshire) in the 1840s but Norfolk generally fared very poorly and by 1852 the team had lost important status.[4] After the present Norfolk County Cricket Club was founded in 1876, the county did not regain important status and it joined the Minor Counties Championship when it was formed in 1895.
The following is a list of matches played by Holt, Norwich or Norfolk from 1818 to 1871; those marked with 
| date | match title | venue | result | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 July 1818 (M) | Cambridgeshire v Holt (Norfolk) | Newmarket Heath | Holt won by 51 runs | |
| 22 July 1818 (W) | |
Newmarket Heath | Holt won by 10 wickets | |
| 24 July 1820 (M) | MCC v Norfolk | Lord's | MCC won by 417 runs | |
| 30 July (M) | Holt (Norfolk) v Nottingham | Holt, Norfolk | Nottingham won by 10 wkts | |
| 29 July 1821 (M) | Nottingham v Holt (Norfolk) | Forest New Ground, Nottingham | Nottingham won by 105 | |
| 9 July 1828 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 2 July 1829 () | MCC v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 13 July 1829 () | Norfolk v Suffolk | New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 23 July 1829 () | Suffolk v Norfolk | Field Lane, Bury St Edmunds | ||
| 6 August 1829 () | Norfolk v MCC | Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| date unknown | |
Louth | ||
| 11 June 1829 () | |
Agar's Plough, Eton College | ||
| 15 Sept 1829 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 5 July 1830 () | MCC v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 29 July 1830 () | Norfolk and Norwich Club v Cambridgeshire | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 19 August 1830 () | Norfolk v MCC | Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 6 June 1831 () | MCC v Norfolk and Norwich Club | Lord's | ||
| 4 July 1831 () | MCC v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 8 August 1831 () | Norfolk and Norwich Club v MCC | New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 11 August 1831 () | Norfolk v MCC | Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 2 Sept 1833 () | Yorkshire v Norfolk | Hyde Park Ground, Sheffield | ||
| 29 July 1833 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 18 June 1834 () | Norfolk v Yorkshire | New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 14 July 1834 () | Yorkshire v Norfolk | Hyde Park Ground, Sheffield | ||
| 4 August 1836 () | Norfolk v Yorkshire | New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 29 August 1836 () | Yorkshire v Norfolk | Hyde Park Ground, Sheffield | ||
| 30 August 1842 () | Cambridgeshire v Norfolk | Parker's Piece, Cambridge | ||
| 22 August 1843 | |
Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 11 June 1844 () | Cambridgeshire v Norfolk | Parker's Piece, Cambridge | ||
| 25 July 1844 () | Marylebone Cricket Club v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 6 August 1844 () | Norfolk v Cambridgeshire | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 5 Sept 1844 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 22 May 1845 () | Cambridgeshire v Norfolk | Parker's Piece, Cambridge | ||
| 28 July 1845 () | Marylebone Cricket Club v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 27 August 1845 () | Norfolk v Cambridge Town Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 11 Sept 1845 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 18 June 1846 () | Norfolk v Cambridgeshire | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 27 July 1846 () | Marylebone Cricket Club v Norfolk | Lord's | ||
| 17 August 1846 () | Cambridgeshire v Norfolk | Parker's Piece, Cambridge | ||
| 10 Sept 1846 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 9 Sept 1847 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 5 August 1847 | |
Old London Road, Copdock | ||
| 5 August 1847 | |
Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 7 Sept 1848 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 5 Sept 1850 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Racecourse Ground, Swaffham | ||
| 16 Sept 1851 () | Norfolk v Marylebone Cricket Club | Earl of Leicester's Ground, Holkham | ||
| 9 June 1853 | |
New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 28 August 1862 () | |
New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 29 April 1864 () | |
FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge | ||
| 14 July 1864 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 8 Sept 1864 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 5 May 1865 () | |
FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge | ||
| 24 July 1865 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 21 Sept 1865 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 3 May 1866 () | |
FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge | ||
| 19 July 1866 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 29 August 1866 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 4 July 1867 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 27 August 1867 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 6 July 1868 () | |
Lord's | ||
| 28 August 1868 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 12 August 1869 () | |
New Ground, Norwich | ||
| 24 August 1869 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 2 Sept 1870 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
| 24 August 1871 () | |
Norfolk County Ground, East Dereham | ||
References
- Bowen, p. 264.
- "Other Matches played by Norfolk". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- Buckley, p. 43.
- ACS, pp. 32–34.
Bibliography
- ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 0413-27860-3.
- Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.
Further reading
- Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85410-710-0.
- Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
- Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 2 (1827–1840). Lillywhite.
- Haygarth, Arthur (1862–1867). Scores & Biographies, Volumes 3–9 (1841–1866). Lillywhite.