The 1774 English cricket season was the third in which matches have been awarded retrospective

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

status. The scorecards of five first-class matches have survived. The

Laws of Cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cr ...

were revised during the season, the first major revision since the 1744 season. The revision of the Laws introduced

leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

as a means of dismissal and formalised the standard width of a

cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making batte ...

Laws revision

The Laws of Cricket were revised during a meeting held at the Star and Garter on

Pall Mall, London Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road (England), A4 road. The street's name is derived f ...

during February. This was attended by a range of influential cricket figures who produced "New Articles of the Game of Cricket", essentially a revised version of the 1744 Laws.Ross G (1975
200 years of laws
''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1975. Retrieved 2019-02-16.Mortimer G (2013) Object 5: Laws of the game], in ''A History of Cricket in 100 Objects''. London: Profile Books. Retrieved 2019-02-16. The revision of the Laws formalised the standard width of a cricket bat at , a measure that had been introduced by the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...

following the Monster Bat Incident of 1771.Vamplew W (2007
Playing with the Rules: Influences on the Development of Regulation in Sport
p.33–34.

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

. Retrieved 2019-02-16. The weight of a

cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork (material), cork core wound with String (structure), string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-clas ...

was narrowed to between and , having previously been limited to between and ,Cricket

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

online (revised 2019-01-03). Retrieved 2019-02-16. and the

toss of a coin Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is using the thumb to make a coin go up while spinning in the air and checking which side is showing when it is down onto a surface, in order to randomly choose between two alternatives. It is a for ...

was removed from the game, with the visiting team instead having the choice of whether to bat or bowl first.Dates in cricket history
''

'', 1953. Retrieved 2019-02-16. The revision introduced Leg Before Wicket (LBW) as a means of dismissal, stating that "the striker is out if he puts his leg before the wicket with a design to stop the ball and actually prevent the ball from hitting it".Quoted a
The evolution of the lbw

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

, 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2019-02-16. The introduction of LBW stemmed from batsmen deliberately blocking the ball using their legs rather than attempting to play it with their bat, most notably a player named Ring.Nasim R (2000
LBW -The cause of crisis in cricket

, 2000-09-27. Retrieved 2019-02-16. While the Law was revised nine times between its introduction and 1831, it was not until 1839 that the Law was amended to state that the ball had to pitch in line with the stumps in order for the batsman to be out.The evolution of the lbw, op. cit.

Matches

Five first-class match scorecards survive from 1774.

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

(ACS) (1981) ''A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863''. Nottingham: ACS.Results
English Domestic Season 1774, CricInfo. Retrieved 2019-02-14. *22–24 June - Hampshire XI v England -

Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, bu ...

England v Hampshire
Scorecard,

. Retrieved 2019-02-14. *7–8 July - England v Hampshire XI -

Sevenoaks Vine The Vine Cricket Ground, also known as Sevenoaks Vine, is one of the oldest cricket venues in England. It was given to the town of Sevenoaks in Kent in 1773 by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (1745–1799) and owner of nearby Kno ...

*20–21 July - Surrey XI v Hampshire XI -

Guildford Bason Guildford Bason (or Basin) is a former cricket ground on Merrow Down, on the outskirts of Guildford, Surrey. Cricket was played on the ground between 1730 and 1786.Kent XI v Hampshire XI - Sevenoaks Vine *15–18 August - Hampshire XI v Kent XI - Broadhalfpenny DownHampshire v Kent
Scorecard,

. Retrieved 2019-02-14. In the match between Hampshire and England on 7–8 July, bowler

William Bullen __NOTOC__ William Bullen was a leading English cricketer throughout the last quarter of the 18th century, his known career spanning the years 1773 to 1800. He was an all-rounder who probably batted right-handed. He played mainly for Kent sides ...

took the first known

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Taking ...

in first-class matches: note that bowlers in this era were only credited with a wicket when they bowled the batsman. Six other matches are known to have been played during the season, including matches between county teams. Full scorecards do not survive from these matches.Other matches in England 1774
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2019-02-10.

Debutants

The following players made their first known appearance during the 1774 season. *

William Brazier William Brazier (1755 – 7 October 1829) was an English cricketer of the late 18th century who played mostly for Kent county cricket teams. Brazier was born at Cudham in Kent in 1755, a village north-west of Sevenoaks.

(Kent) * Richard Miller (Surrey) * Muggeridge (Surrey) * Waller (Kent)

Laws revision

Matches

Debutants

References

Further reading