On 15-16 August 1814 William Lambert scored 107 not out for Surrey against England at the new Lord's ground in St John's Wood — the first century by a professional batter at the new ground and one of the great innings of Lambert's career. The match was Surrey's first major fixture at the new Lord's and the innings was widely reported as confirmation of Lambert's status as the leading all-round cricketer in England.
Lambert had been the leading professional batter since the late 1800s. The August 1814 match was his first major fixture at the new ground.
Lambert was thirty-five and had been at the top of the game for a decade. The August 1814 match was Surrey's first at the new Lord's, which had opened in June. Lambert came in at no. 4 with Surrey 38 for 2 and stayed at the wicket through the rest of the day and into the second morning, scoring 107 not out from a Surrey total of 234. The bowling — including Lord Frederick Beauclerk's lobs and Tom Howard's pace — was the strongest available. Lambert was unbeaten at the close, and Surrey won the match by an innings.
22 Jun 1814
New Lord's ground opens
15-16 Aug 1814
Lambert's 107* — first professional century at new Lord's
1817
Lambert's two-centuries match against Epsom
1818
Lambert banned after match-fixing accusations
Lambert continued to dominate Regency cricket for three more seasons. His 1817 Sussex v Epsom fixture — the two-centuries match — was his peak; his 1818 banning ended his career.
Lambert's first century at the new Lord's and one of the defining innings of the early St John's Wood era.
The 1814 century is one of the foundation innings at the new Lord's. It is recorded in Bentley and reproduced in every nineteenth-century history of the ground.
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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.