On 26-27 August 1824 Fuller Pilch — twenty-one years old, the rising star of Norfolk cricket — scored his first major century, 117 against Yorkshire at Holt. The innings announced the player who would, through the 1830s and 1840s, be the leading professional batter in England.
Pilch was already known as a coming player. The 1824 century moved him from prospect to top-rank.
Pilch had been born at Horningtoft, Norfolk, in 1804 and had played for Norfolk since 1820. By 1824 he was twenty-one and at the threshold of major recognition. The August 1824 match against Yorkshire was raised at the Holt ground in north Norfolk. Pilch came in at no. 3 with Norfolk 22 for 2 and stayed at the wicket for the remainder of the day, scoring 117. Norfolk won the match by 73 runs.
1804
Pilch born at Horningtoft, Norfolk
1820
Begins playing for Norfolk
26-27 Aug 1824
First major century
1840s
Leading professional batter in England
Pilch became the leading professional batter in England through the 1830s and was a central figure in Kent's golden age of the 1840s.
The first major century of one of the great early-Victorian batting careers.
Fuller Pilch is one of the most important figures of the roundarm era. His 1824 century is the start of his elite career.
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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.
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.