The Early Cricket History Project by Andrew Hignell

DateLine: 3rd April 2006

The Committee of the ACS agreed at their meeting on April 1st 2006 to instigate a research project which will, in time, attempt to catalogue every cricket match played before 1850.

The `Early Cricket History Project` will attempt to list every match that has been recorded in many of the accepted reference books, as well as cataloguing other games recorded in provincial newspapers.

The annual listings will give researchers invaluable assistance, as well as outlining where match reports exist in newspapers. These can be viewed here, whilst an example of the season-by-season page can be seen here.

Details of games listed the established reference books have been included, and details will be added about newspapers and other primary data sources where match reports and other details can be found.

In time, it is hoped to build a database of scorecards giving members of the Association and others engaged in historical research, a treasure trove of material relating to games prior to 1850.

Help files will also be generated, giving those people with a non-cricket background advice on which reference books and material to follow-up, the files will also help to point members of the association, and others, in the direction of useful genealogical information and other biographical sources as they try to build up a picture of who was playing in these early matches.

If you would like to contribute information to this Project, please send an e-mail to earlycricketproject@acscricket.com

A list of some source material for early cricket is being written by Don Ambrose.

Separate name indexes, compiled by Don Ambrose, of the Waghorn, Buckley and Britcher books are now available.