On 12-13 August 1834 a Cardiff side played Cowbridge on the field below Cardiff Castle — the earliest documented cricket match in south Wales and the foundation entry of Welsh cricket history. The fixture was reported in the Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian and is the first preserved Welsh major-style scoresheet.
Cricket had been played informally in south Wales since the early nineteenth century, principally by the English-influenced merchant class of the coastal towns. The August 1834 Cardiff v Cowbridge fixture is the earliest with a full scoresheet. Cardiff won by 27 runs in a two-day match. The Castle Field, on land owned by the Marquess of Bute, served as Cardiff's principal cricket ground until the 1860s.
12-13 Aug 1834
First documented cricket in south Wales
1888
Glamorgan CCC founded
1921
Glamorgan first-class status
The foundation entry of Welsh cricket history.
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1831-03-09
On 9 March 1831 Thomas 'Old Everlasting' Walker — the most famous defensive batter of the Hambledon school and one of the last surviving regulars of the great 1780s side — died at Churt, Surrey, in his early seventies. With Beldham still alive but long retired, Walker's death effectively closed the personal lineage of Hambledon cricket as a presence in the contemporary game.
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1831-11-05
On 5 November 1831 George Osbaldeston rode 200 miles on Newmarket Heath in 8 hours 42 minutes, using a string of relay horses, for a wager of 1,000 guineas. The ride was the most celebrated single sporting feat of the Regency era — repeating in equestrian form the 1818 pedestrian feat and confirming Osbaldeston as the most flamboyant amateur sportsman of his generation. He had been an MCC committee member since his 1828 reconciliation with Beauclerk.
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1831-06-25
The earliest documented cricket match at Christ's Hospital School — the historic 'Bluecoat' charity school in central London — was a house fixture played in the summer of 1831. Cricket had been informal at Christ's Hospital from the late eighteenth century; the 1831 match is the earliest preserved with a full account in the school's surviving records.