On 22 August 1803 the two greatest survivors of the Hambledon batting school — William 'Silver Billy' Beldham and Tom 'Old Everlasting' Walker — played a single-wicket match at Lord's for stakes of 25 guineas. Beldham, faster-scoring and more elegant, won by 14 runs. The fixture is one of the few well-documented direct contests between the two senior professionals of the period.
By 1803 the Hambledon Club itself had effectively dissolved, but its leading professionals continued to play in MCC and county fixtures. Single-wicket matches were the favoured format for personal duels.
The match was set up over the summer at the suggestion of London backers who wanted a Hambledon-versus-Hambledon exhibition.
Beldham was 37, Walker 42, and both had been playing major cricket since the late 1780s. The match was raised by London backers as an exhibition between the styles — Beldham's free off-side hitting against Walker's defensive blocking. Beldham batted first and made 21; Walker replied with 9. Beldham's second innings of 16 left Walker 29 to win, and Walker — true to form — was at 9 not out after an hour and a half before being bowled trying to push a straight ball. Beldham took the 25 guineas.
22 Aug 1803: Match begins on the Lord's pitch
Beldham first innings: 21
Walker first innings: 9
Beldham second innings: 16
Walker bowled for 9 in the chase, Beldham wins by 14
Summer 1803
Match arranged by London backers
22 Aug 1803
Single-wicket match played at Lord's
1812
Walker's final major match
1821
Beldham's final major match
Both men continued to play in major cricket — Beldham until 1821, Walker until 1812. They never met again in a single-wicket fixture.
A direct contest between the two surviving Hambledon styles — and a clear win for the attacking school.
The 1803 match is the canonical Hambledon single-wicket contest of the new century and a clear data point on the relative scoring rates of the two batting schools.
n/a
1811-07-04
The 1811 Lord's season was the leanest of the Middle Ground years. With the Napoleonic blockade at its tightest, willow scarce, professionals diverted to militia service and the betting public's purses thin, only fourteen major matches were played at Lord's all summer. The 1811 season is the clearest measure of cricket's wartime contraction.
Officers vs Civilians
1812-12-15
By the close of 1812 cricket was being played regularly in both Madras and Bombay — the earliest documented fixtures in either Presidency. Garrison officers and civilian East India Company servants ran the matches; the Madras Gazette and Bombay Courier preserved the earliest scoresheets. The Calcutta game (documented 1804) had been joined by all three Presidency capitals.
Kent vs MCC
1813-09-09
On 9-10 September 1813 Kent played the MCC at the Vine, Sevenoaks — the first post-war major match at the historic Kent ground and the start of the Vine's revival as a regular major venue. The Vine had hosted little major cricket since 1808; the September 1813 fixture marked its return to the front rank.