England (Cricket)

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In cricket, England has been used as a team name since 1739 and in an international sense since 1859. England took part in the world's first-ever Test match, recognised retrospectively, when they played Australia in 1877.

Although there are earlier possibilities, two matches in July 1739 between Kent and "all England" (i.e., the rest of England), are the first ones known to have involved a team called England. Kent were generally regarded as the best county team at the time and one report describes their team as "unconquerable". The first match, played on Bromley Common, resulted in a Kent victory "by a very few notches (runs)" and the second, played on the Artillery Ground, was drawn.^[1] Teams representing the rest of England were raised frequently thereafter, sometimes being called "The Rest".^[2][3] "All England" is another term that has been used for non-international England teams but that can lead to confusion with the All England Eleven, a specifically named team formed by William Clarke in 1846.

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Waghorn, H. T.: Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood (1899).