Between 2 and 5 July 1817 at the new Lord's, the Surrey-born professional William Lambert scored 107 not out and 157 for Sussex against Epsom — the first batsman known to have made two centuries in the same match. Sussex won by 427 runs. Three weeks later Lambert was banned from Lord's for match-fixing and never played a senior match again. The Sussex v Epsom innings, made on a low-scoring underarm pitch by a man at the height of his powers, stood as the only instance of two centuries in a match for almost seventy years.
Lambert's career through the 1810s had been steady rather than spectacular by his own standards. The new Lord's offered better pitches than the old grounds; the post-Waterloo recovery had restored fixture lists. Sussex, organised loosely around the gentleman patrons of Brighton and the West Sussex country houses, were a strong county side; Epsom were weaker but contained several Surrey amateurs.
Lambert had played six other matches in the 1817 season already and was in form. The fixture was advertised as his benefit; gate receipts went to him personally. The pitch at the new Lord's was reported by Wisden retrospective as 'easy paced and true' for an 1817 surface — flatter than most.
William Lambert (1779-1851) was at this point the best batsman in England and had been for the previous decade. His patron George Osbaldeston had brought him to senior cricket in 1801; through the Napoleonic War years and immediately afterwards he had been the leading professional batsman in nearly every match he played. The Sussex v Epsom fixture of July 1817 was a financial benefit match for Lambert himself — a custom of the period — staged at the new Lord's over four days. Sussex batted first and made 247, Lambert top-scoring with 107 not out. Epsom were bowled out for 73. Sussex's second innings turned into a procession: Lambert came in at the fall of the first wicket and stayed until the end, making 157 in a total of 281 for some. Epsom, set 456 to win, collapsed for 28. Sussex won by 427 runs, then the largest margin of victory in any senior match. Lambert's 107 and 157 made him the first batsman in any recorded match — first-class or otherwise — to score two centuries. The feat would not be repeated for sixty-six years. The accuracy of the scorebook (which is preserved in the MCC archives) has been confirmed by every subsequent historian. Underarm pitches of 1817 were rough, low-scoring affairs; centuries were rare; two centuries in a match by a single player on such a surface was an extraordinary achievement.
2 July 1817: Match begins; Sussex bat first
Lambert 107 not out in Sussex's first innings of 247
Epsom bowled out for 73
Sussex 281 for some in second innings; Lambert 157
Epsom set 456 to win; bowled out for 28
5 July 1817: Sussex win by 427 runs
Lambert: 107* and 157, the first two-century match in cricket history
Three weeks later: Lambert banned for match-fixing
1801
Lambert's senior debut for Surrey
1810
Beats Beauclerk in single-wicket by bowling wides
2-5 Jul 1817
107* and 157 for Sussex v Epsom at Lord's
Late Jul 1817
Banned from Lord's for match-fixing
1868
Grace scores two centuries in a match (South v North)
“Lambert played a most splendid innings, with all the science and command for which he is famous.”
Lambert played no further senior cricket after this match. The match-fixing ban (separately documented) ended his career at the age of 38. His two centuries remained the only such feat in important cricket until W.G. Grace scored 130 and 102 not out for South v North at Canterbury in 1868 — and the first instance in first-class cricket reckoned by modern definitions until A.E. Stoddart's twin centuries for Middlesex in 1893.
The greatest individual batting performance of the underarm era and a record that stood until the late nineteenth century. The match's significance was, however, almost immediately overshadowed by Lambert's match-fixing ban a few weeks later.
Lambert's 107* and 157 are now canonical figures in cricket statistics: the first two-century match performance in the sport's history, made by the leading professional batsman of his era at the new Lord's at the height of post-Waterloo cricket revival. The match's afterlife — Lambert's ban — gives it a tragic dimension, but the cricket itself was simply the best individual batting any contemporary had seen.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.