On 30-31 August 1809 John Wells of Farnham — the elder of the great Wells fast-bowling brothers — played his last major match: Surrey against MCC at the new Middle Ground at North Bank. He took 3 for 28 in the first innings and was carried from the field by the Surrey team at the close. He was forty-one and had bowled in major cricket for twenty years.
Wells had been part of Surrey's bowling attack since 1789 and had taken more than 600 wickets in major cricket.
Wells had announced his retirement in May 1809. The Surrey committee scheduled the August match against MCC as his benefit. He bowled fourteen overs in the first innings and took 3 for 28 — modest but characteristic. Surrey lost the match, but Wells was given a purse of fifty guineas at the close and the Surrey players carried him from the field on their shoulders, a rare and ceremonial gesture in Regency cricket.
c. 1768
Wells born at Farnham
1789
First major match for Surrey
30-31 Aug 1809
Retirement match at Lord's
1835
Wells dies at Farnham
Wells lived on at Farnham until 1835. He coached his nephew, the young James Aylward Jr, through the 1810s.
A fitting end to one of the great Regency fast-bowling careers.
Wells is one of the leading figures in the history of Surrey cricket and one of the named bowlers of the late underarm era.
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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.