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.
Calcutta cricket had been documented since 1792 (founding of Calcutta CC) and 1804 (first scoresheet). Madras and Bombay fixtures had taken longer to reach the press. Madras-based officers established a regular ground at the Island, near Fort St George, by 1810; the first preserved scoresheet is from December 1812. Bombay officers played on the Esplanade in front of Fort George; preserved scoresheets begin in 1812 also. By 1815 all three Presidency capitals had organised garrison cricket.
1792
Calcutta Cricket Club founded
1804
First documented match in Calcutta
Dec 1812
First documented matches in Madras and Bombay
1864
First-class cricket in British India begins
The completion of cricket's reach across the three Presidency capitals — the foundation of British India's cricket map.
Bombay would become the dominant Indian cricket centre by the late nineteenth century. The 1812 fixtures are the earliest documented starting line.
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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.
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.
MCC vs Hampshire
1814-07-21
On 21 July 1814 Lord Frederick Beauclerk took 7 wickets in an innings against Hampshire at the new Lord's — bowling his slow underarm lobs. It was his career-best return at Lord's and one of the finest individual bowling performances in the early St John's Wood years. MCC won the match by an innings.