E.H. Budd's First Match at Lord's — Twenty-Two of Middlesex v Twenty-Two of Surrey, September 1802

Odds matches — twenty-two against eleven, or twenty-two against twenty-two as in this case — were the standard form for picking up matches involving large numbers of less skilled players. They were a routine way for Lord's to host a multi-day fixture without depending on the dwindling pool of professional cricketers; with the Hambledon era ending and the Napoleonic War constricting recreation, the talent pool was small.

Budd had played some cricket in Wiltshire before moving to London, but he was an unknown quantity in the metropolitan game. The match involved two of London's largest cricket-playing parishes and gave several young players a chance.

Budd was born on 23 February 1786, one of sixteen children of William Budd of Pewsey, Wiltshire. At 16 he was appointed to a clerkship in the War Office and lived in London — convenient for the cricket at Dorset Square that he had begun to play. The match of 13-16 September 1802, an odds fixture between two large parish sides, was his entry into Lord's cricket. He scored 9 in the first innings and 5 in the second, modest figures but enough to mark him as a young prospect. He joined the MCC shortly afterwards and would remain a member until 1825, after which he was kept on the list as an honorary member. Budd's playing career was unusual in its longevity: 73 known first-class matches, 2,728 first-class runs, last appearance in 1831 at the age of 45. He was a powerful straight-driving right-handed batsman, a useful underarm fast bowler, and famously strong (he could throw the ball over 100 yards). His career was disrupted by the Napoleonic War, especially the 1811-15 seasons when major cricket almost stopped, but for years contemporaries placed him alongside Beauclerk as the leading amateur cricketer of the era.

“Mr Budd was a fine, off-handed, manly hitter, and what is unusual in such a player, very steady at the wicket.”

Budd became a regular MCC player from 1804 onward and a major figure in big matches from 1807. He played in eleven Gentlemen v Players matches (after the fixture revived), often as the Gentlemen's leading batsman alongside Beauclerk. He earned a fortune at single-wicket challenges and lost much of it to bad horse-racing investments.