Through the 1804 season John and Joseph 'Joey' Wells of Farnham — brothers and Surrey professionals — formed the most successful underarm fast-bowling pair in the country. Together they took 79 wickets in major matches that summer, drove Surrey to a string of victories, and effectively replaced the late David Harris as the dominant pace attack of the post-Hambledon era.
Surrey had been searching for a leading pace attack since David Harris's death in 1803. The Wells brothers, available together for the first full season in 1804, were the answer.
Both brothers had been playing for Surrey through the early 1800s but had not previously been used in tandem. The Surrey committee paired them deliberately at the start of the 1804 season.
The Wells brothers had grown up at Farnham, the same village that produced William Beldham. John, the elder, was thirty-five in 1804 and a fast underarm bowler in the Harris mould. Joey, twenty-eight, was slightly slower but more accurate. They had played together for Surrey since the late 1790s but only in 1804 did they fully establish themselves as the country's leading pair, taking 79 wickets in major matches between them and bowling Surrey to wins over Hampshire, Kent and a Lord's-raised England XI. John took 7 for 21 in the Surrey v Hampshire match in July; Joey took 6 for 28 in the same fixture's second innings.
Surrey v Hampshire, July 1804: John 7-21, Joey 6-28 in the second innings
Surrey v England, August 1804: brothers take 11 wickets between them
Season total: 79 wickets in major matches
Surrey win their first county championship-equivalent of the new century
c. 1769
John Wells born at Farnham
c. 1776
Joseph 'Joey' Wells born at Farnham
1804
Brothers establish themselves as leading Surrey pair
1810
John retires; Joey plays on
1815
Joey's final major match
The brothers continued to bowl together until 1810, when John retired. Joey played on for another five seasons.
The defining bowling combination of the early Lord's years and the inheritors of David Harris's mantle.
The Wells brothers are the conventional answer to 'who replaced David Harris?' — the leading underarm pace pair of the early Lord's era.
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.