Controversies in 1827

3 incidents documented

The Roundarm Trial Matches — Sussex v England, Summer 1827

Sussex vs England

1827-07-25

To resolve the running argument over roundarm bowling, the MCC sanctioned three matches in the summer of 1827 between Sussex — whose bowlers Lillywhite and Broadbridge would deliver roundarm — and an England XI bowling only underarm. Played at Sheffield (4-6 June), Lord's (18-19 June) and Brighton (23-25 July), the series was meant to test whether roundarm should be legalised. Sussex won the first two and lost the third, the trial was declared inconclusive, and the law was nudged a step further the following year.

#roundarm-bowling#1827#sussex

⭐Mild

The First Oxford v Cambridge Cricket Match — Lord's, 4 June 1827

Oxford University vs Cambridge University

1827-06-04

On 4 June 1827, on a wet single day at Lord's, Oxford and Cambridge played the first cricket match between the two universities — the oldest varsity sporting fixture in the world. The match arose from a personal challenge by Oxford's Charles Wordsworth, nephew of the poet, to his Cambridge counterpart Herbert Jenner. Oxford ran up 258 and bowled Cambridge out for 92, but rain prevented a finish and the match was drawn.

#oxford#cambridge#varsity-match

⭐Mild

Sussex 'Champion County' — The First Informal Claim, 1825-1827

Sussex

1827-09-01

Through the mid-1820s Sussex established themselves as the strongest county side in England, on the strength of the roundarm bowling of Lillywhite and Broadbridge. The Sussex team was acclaimed by the press as 'champion county' from 1826 onwards — the first time the title was applied informally to a single county side and the seed of the formal County Championship that would emerge sixty years later.

#sussex#champion-county#1820s