Gentlemen v Players

The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between teams consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and of professionals (the Players). The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture did not recur until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter till 1962 and there were usually two or more games each season. After 1962, the concept of amateurism was abolished and so all first-class players became, in theory at least, professional [It would be more correct to say that the former Gentlemen were in theory amateurs!] .

History

The fixture was a prestigious one, though far short of Test match quality and even of the rival North v. South fixture. The Gentlemen teams were often very weak compared with the professionals and on occasion the fixture had to be arranged on an odds basis where the Players eleven took on a greater number of Gentlemen. The Gentlemen famously became competitive during the career of the legendary WG Grace, whose performances were so outstanding that the Gentlemen could enjoy some long-awaited success. The fixture often confirmed the commonly held view of an imbalance between amateur and professional in that amateurs tended to be batsmen first and foremost, hence there were few good amateur bowlers. The Players could call on bowlers like the arch-professional Wilfred Rhodes and were nearly always strong as a bowling side.

The game was played over three days on all but a handful of occasions throughout its history. The most common venue for the match was Lord's, but a number of other grounds were used, notably The Oval and Scarborough, and it was at Scarborough where the very last Gentlemen v Players game was played in September 1962. For a list of all matches in the series, see List of Gentlemen v Players matches.

The same format of amateurs playing professionals was used in a number of other fixtures, some of which were given first-class status - for example, "Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire v Players of Nottinghamshire" - but these matches became less common after the beginning of the 20th century and the last such game was "Gentlemen of the South v Players of the South" in 1920, after which all first-class Gentlemen v Players matches were between teams known simply by those names.

Records

Results

In all 274 matches have been played. The Gentlemen have won 68, Players 125, 80 matches have been drawn and one match (the first one of 1883) ended in a tie. The results of all the matches may be found in List of Gentlemen v Players matches.

Largest margins of victory

Gentlemen

:innings and 126 runs: The Oval, 1879:innings and 98 runs: Lord's, 1876:innings and 87 runs: The Oval, 1868

:206 runs, Lord's, 1878:193 runs: Lord's, 1829 (Gentlemen had 12 men):134 runs: Lord's, 1914

:nine wickets: The Oval, 1872:nine wickets: Prince's Cricket Ground, 1877

Players

:innings and 305 runs: The Oval, 1934:innings and 231 runs: Lord's, 1924:innings and 181 runs: Lord's, 1860 :345 runs: Lord's, 1823:285 runs: Lord's, 1858:241 runs: The Oval, 1914

:ten wickets: seven instances

mallest margins of victory

Tied match

:The Oval, 1883

Gentlemen

:four runs: Lord's, 1870:five runs: Lord's, 1888:six runs: Scarborough, 1913

:one wicket: five instances

Players

:one run: Hove, 1881:two runs: Lord's, 1952:eight runs: The Oval, 1893

:two wickets: Lord's, 1856:two wickets: Lord's, 1874:two wickets: Lord's, 1900:two wickets: Scarborough, 1955

Highest team totals

Gentlemen

:578: The Oval, 1904:542: Lord's, 1926:513: The Oval, 1870

Players

:651/7 dec: The Oval, 1934:608: The Oval, 1921:579: Lord's, 1926

Lowest team totals

Gentlemen

:35: Lord's, 3 July 1837:36: Lord's, 1831:37: Lord's, 1853

Players

:24: Lord's, 1829 (first innings):39: Lord's, 1829 (second innings):42: Lord's, 1853

Highest individual innings

Gentlemen

:232*: CB Fry, Lord's, 1903:217: WG Grace, Hove, 1871:215: WG Grace, The Oval, 1870

Players

:266*: JB Hobbs, Scarborough, 1925:247: R Abel, The Oval, 1901:241: L Hutton, Scarborough, 1953

Hundred in each innings of a match

Gentlemen

:102* & 136: RE Foster, Lord's, 1900:125 & 103*: KS Duleepsinhji, Lord's, 1930

Players

:104 & 109*: J King, Lord's, 1904

Nine or more wickets in an innings

Gentlemen

:9-46: JWA Stephenson, Lord's, 1936:9-82: D Buchanan, The Oval, 1868:9-105: JWHT Douglas, Lord's, 1914

Players

:10-37: AS Kennedy, The Oval, 1927:10-90: A Fielder, Lord's, 1906:10-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 17 July 1837 (second innings; Gentlemen had 16 men):9-85: CH Parkin, The Oval, 1920:9-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 3 July 1837

Thirteen or more wickets in a match

Gentlemen

:14-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 1829

Players

:18-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 17 July 1837 (Gentlemen had 16 men):14-221: Arthur Fielder, Lord's, 1906:13-141: T Richardson, Hastings, 1897:13-144: AP Freeman, Lord's, 1929:13-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 1835:13-?: FW Lillywhite, Lord's, 3 July 1837:13-?: James Cobbett, Lord's, 1836 (Gentlemen had 18 men)

Five catches in an innings

Gentlemen

:A Lyttelton, The Oval, 1877:A Webbe, Lord's, 1877

Players

:L Hutton, Lord's, 1952

Four stumpings in an innings

Gentlemen

:EH Budd, Lord's, 1819

Players

:W Slater, Lord's, 1824 (Gentlemen had 14 men)

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Events/ENG.html CricketArchive]

Further reading

* H S Altham, "A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)", George Allen & Unwin, 1962
* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* Arthur Haygarth, "Scores & Biographies, Volumes 1-11 (1744-1870)", Lillywhite, 1862-79
* Roy Webber, "The Playfair Book of Cricket Records", Playfair Books, 1951

* Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
* Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions

ee also

* Amateur and professional cricketers
* List of Gentlemen v Players matches
* Variations in first-class cricket statistics