1777 English cricket season

In the 1777 English cricket season, James Aylward made his world record score of 167 that stood until 1820.

The following matches are classified as important:

Chertsey was led by the Earl of Tankerville and Mr Stone; Coulsdon by the Duke of Dorset and Mr (later Sir) Peter Burrell. It seems to have been a grand social occasion that was reported by both the Lloyd’s Evening Post and the St James Chronicle in the next couple of days.

All-England 166 (J Minshull 60*, T Pattenden 38, J Miller 27; T Brett 5w) & 69 (J Miller 23; T Brett 2w, R Nyren 2w, T Taylor 2w); Hampshire 403 (J Aylward 167, T Sueter 46, R Nyren 37, John Small 33, T Taylor 32, R Francis 26; J Wood 5w, E Stevens 3w, W Bullen 2w)

The highlight of this season was unquestionably the major innings of 167 by James Aylward which set a new record for the highest individual score. In a contemporary report, it is stated that: Aylward went in at 5 o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, and was not out till after three on Friday. We do not know the length of the innings in terms of actual minutes or deliveries, but we can conclude that he batted during or through six sessions of play. The team total of 403 was a huge figure at the time; the second highest score in it was 46 by Tom Sueter, while five other batsmen scored 20-plus.

Aylward’s innings completely overshadowed a notable effort by John Minshull in the All-England first innings. All-England had made 166 (Minshull 60*; Brett 5w) so Aylward beat their total by one. All-England collapsed in the second innings, probably in shock!

Aylward’s record stood until 1820, when it was beaten by William Ward.

Aside from Aylward’s exceptional score, the fascinating thing about this game is the fact that we know who was bowling when the four catches were taken during the Hampshire innings! We even have the first known c & b by John Wood, although we do not know which John Wood was playing.

Also of interest is the report in John Nyren’s book that this game was definitely played with three stumps in use. The third stump was originally allowed in 1775, as we have seen, but it is evident that teams did not always take advantage of it and many matches were played until 1780 in which the standard two stumps were used. It seems that the middle stump was universally adopted from 1780.

All-England 60 (J Minshull 21; T Brett 4w, R Nyren 2w, R Francis 2w) & 207 (J Miller 65, W Yalden 44, F Booker 29, W Bullen 27; John Small 3w, T Brett 2w); Hampshire 194 (R A Veck 54, R Francis 35, E Aburrow 25; T White 2w, Duke of Dorset 2w) & 45 (R Nyren 17; E Stevens 2w)

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