On 24-25 September 1844, the United States and Canada played a two-day cricket match at the St George's Cricket Club's ground at Bloomingdale Park in New York City. Canada won by 23 runs in front of an estimated 5,000 spectators and gate-takings reckoned at $120,000 in side bets — making this not only the first international cricket match but the first international sporting fixture of any kind, predating the first Test by 33 years.
Cricket was well established in both Canada and the United States by the 1840s. The Toronto Cricket Club had been founded in 1827; St George's Cricket Club of New York dated from 1838. Earlier informal Canada-USA matches had been played from the 1830s, but the 1844 fixture was the first to be formally arranged between representative national sides.
The fixture grew out of an 1843 dispute over an earlier informal match in which the United States had alleged that Canada had fielded an English professional. The 1844 contest was set up to be unambiguously between native players, with each side selecting from clubs in their own country.
The fixture had been agreed earlier in the summer through correspondence between the Toronto Cricket Club and the St George's Cricket Club of New York. Each side fielded eleven players. Canada batted first and made 82, with the New York-born George Wheatcroft bowling well for the United States; the United States replied with 64. Canada's second innings yielded 63, and the United States, set 82 to win, were dismissed for 58. The Canadian bowler David Winckworth took a haul of wickets across the two innings and was the player most commonly identified as the match-winner. The crowd, estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 across the two days, included gamblers from both cities; contemporary newspapers reported that the wagering on the match exceeded $100,000 in side bets, an extraordinary sum for the period. The match was played on the St George's Cricket Club's ground at the corner of 30th Street and 1st Avenue (then on the outskirts of New York), an area developed for sport in the 1830s and 1840s.
24 Sep 1844: Match begins at Bloomingdale Park
Canada bat first, make 82
United States dismissed for 64 in reply
25 Sep 1844: Canada add 63 in their second innings
United States set 82 to win; dismissed for 58
Canada win by 23 runs
Gate and side-bet estimates exceed $100,000
1843
Earlier informal Canada-USA match disputed over professional eligibility
Summer 1844
Toronto CC and St George's CC formally arrange the fixture
24 Sep 1844
Match begins; Canada 82, USA 64
25 Sep 1844
Canada win by 23 runs
1845
First of an annual series begins
“The match between the United States and the British Provinces of North America was decided yesterday in favour of the latter by 23 runs.”
The first international match in any team sport, predating the first Test match by 33 years and the first football international by 28.
The 1844 match is recognised by the ICC as the first international cricket match and is widely cited as the first international sporting fixture of any code. The Bloomingdale Park ground was built over by the 1850s as Manhattan expanded; St George's CC moved several times before settling at Hoboken in the 1860s. The Canada-USA fixture, revived in modern times as the Auty Cup, remains the world's oldest international cricket trophy.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.