Controversies in 1822

3 incidents documented

John Willes No-Balled at Lord's — The Roundarm Pioneer's Walkout, July 1822

MCC vs Kent

1822-07-15

Opening the bowling for Kent against MCC at Lord's on 15 July 1822, the Kent farmer John Willes — pioneer of the new roundarm action — was no-balled by the umpire for raising his hand above the prescribed level. Willes threw the ball down, walked off the ground, mounted his horse and rode out of cricket forever. He was the first man to be no-balled in a first-class match for an illegal bowling action and never played another important fixture.

#john-willes#roundarm-bowling#no-ball

🔥Serious

Darnall Stand Collapse — Two Dozen Hurt at Sheffield's New Ground, 1822

Sheffield vs Nottingham

1822-08-12

The first major match at Sheffield's Darnall ground in 1822, a 15 of Sheffield v 11 of Nottingham fixture, was marred when a temporary spectators' stand collapsed under the weight of the crowd, injuring nearly two dozen people. The incident was the first known crowd-safety disaster in English cricket and a foretaste of Lord's-era complaints about hastily built spectator scaffolding.

#darnall#sheffield#1822

⭐Mild

Eton v Harrow Becomes Annual — The Fixture Settles at Lord's, 1822

Eton vs Harrow

1822-08-02

The Eton v Harrow cricket match, first played at Lord's in 1805 with Lord Byron in the Harrow side and resumed in 1818, became an annual fixture from 1822 — the foundation date of what would become the longest-running schools cricket fixture in the world. The annual rhythm, briefly interrupted by the 1829-31 ban, has otherwise survived almost unbroken to the modern era.

#eton#harrow#1822