On 7 July 1816 Richard Brinsley Sheridan — playwright, parliamentarian and one of cricket's most enthusiastic Regency supporters — died in London. Sheridan had joined the MCC in the 1790s and was a regular at Dorset Square and the Middle Ground. His death is one of the small markers of the Regency cricket establishment's mortality.
Sheridan was a comprehensive Whig political and literary figure of the late Georgian era. His cricket interests were a sideline.
Sheridan, born in 1751, had written The Rivals (1775) and The School for Scandal (1777) before turning to politics. He joined the MCC in 1791 and was a regular at Lord's through the 1790s and 1800s. His finances had collapsed by the 1810s and he died in genuine poverty at his London lodgings on 7 July 1816. The MCC committee minute book records a small benevolent contribution to his widow.
1751
Sheridan born
1791
Joins MCC
7 Jul 1816
Dies in London
The passing of one of cricket's most distinguished Regency members.
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.