In March 1828 the most public feud in Regency cricket — between Lord Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston — was formally ended at an MCC committee meeting. Beauclerk had pushed Osbaldeston out of the committee in 1818; Osbaldeston had retaliated with his 1819 all-comers challenge and a decade of public hostility. The March 1828 reconciliation, brokered by William Ward, brought Osbaldeston back into MCC affairs.
The Beauclerk-Osbaldeston feud had simmered for ten years. By 1828 both men were past their playing peaks and the dispute had become a tedious obstruction to MCC business. Ward, by then in his eighth year as treasurer, brokered a meeting between the two at Lord's on 19 March 1828. The terms were not recorded but Osbaldeston was readmitted to the committee at the April meeting. The two men never became friends but the public hostility ended.
1818
Osbaldeston barred from committee after Beauclerk dispute
Jun 1819
All-comers single-wicket challenge
19 Mar 1828
Ward brokers reconciliation
Osbaldeston served briefly on the MCC committee through 1828-1830 before withdrawing into hunting. Beauclerk continued as the dominant figure until his 1850 death.
The end of one of the great Regency cricket feuds — and a piece of the calmer roundarm-era MCC.
n/a
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.