PORTABLE Download Cricket Scorecard
Ralf Roth
Cricket scoring can sometimes be confusing. From mid-match scoreboards to end of game scorecards, it can be a complex game, even for the most knowledgeable of fans! But with a bit of help from this blog, you can see that they are actually quite easy to understand and built very logically.
For a batsman, a scorecard contains a lot of information and numbers. It includes data such as number of runs scored, time spent batting, number of balls faced and the number of boundaries batsmen have made.
A bowling scorecard is a little more difficult to understand as has it has specific cricketing terminology! The card includes overs bowled, maidens, runs conceded, wickets taken and the economy rate of each bowler.
**A Maiden is an over in which no runs are scored (whether that be off the bat or wides). Therefore, from this bowling scorecard we can see that Dominic Bess performed excellently with the most maidens, but we must take into account he bowled the most overs.
The 1744 cricket season in England is remembered for the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket. This was drafted by members of several cricket clubs, though the code was not published until 1755. Much of its terminology such as no ball, over, toss, umpire and wicket remain in current use. The season is also notable for the two earliest known surviving match scorecards. The second of those matches, played on Monday, 18 June, was a celebrated event in which a Kent county team challenged an England team at the Artillery Ground, Kent winning by one wicket.
In September, Slindon Cricket Club defeated London Cricket Club and then issued a challenge to play "any parish in England". The challenge was accepted by the Addington and Bromley clubs, but there is no record of either challenge match having been completed. The single wicket form of the sport was popular and reports have survived of four top-class matches played at the Artillery Ground. Several eleven-a-side matches are the subject of surviving pre-match announcements or post-match summaries. Some reports mention crowd disturbances and efforts were made to implement control by means of admission charges and limitations on the sale of alcohol. Wagering on cricket was common and some matches are known to have been played for high stakes.
The season is also notable for the two earliest known surviving match scorecards.[7][8] It is not until the 1772 season that more scorecards of top-class matches have survived, although a handful of cards from minor matches have been found.[9]
The first, containing individual scores but no details of dismissals, is from a match between the London Cricket Club and a combined Surrey and Sussex team at the Artillery Ground on 2 June.[10][11][12] No titles were given to the teams at the time and various titles, including London v Slindon, have been applied retrospectively by modern authors. London, whose team included given men, was the host club and their opponents were all from the counties of Surrey and Sussex. The scorecard was kept by the 2nd Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House.[13]
Just over a fortnight later, on 18 June, the scorecard has also survived from a match at the Artillery Ground between an England team and the Kent county team.[10][18][19][20] The match was arranged by Lord John Sackville who captained the Kent team. England, batting first, totalled 40 and 70 in their two innings; Kent responded with 53 and 58 for 9 to win by one wicket.[21] Richard Newland of England made the two highest individual scores in the match with 18 not out and 15.[20] Details of the dismissals are only partially complete; it is known that Kent bowler William Hodsoll took at least eight wickets.[20] It is the first match for which a scorecard has survived that includes some dismissals. It became the first entry in Arthur Haygarth's Scores & Biographies,[22] although he gave the year as 1746 instead of 1744.[23][21]
Reports have survived of four top-class matches played at the Artillery Ground under single wicket rules. This form of cricket was popular through the 1740s. On Wednesday, 13 June, there was a one-a-side match between two unnamed players "for a considerable sum of money, in order to determine finally who is the best player".[35] On Monday, 20 August, there was another one-a-side match "for a large sum" between a Sevenoaks player and a London player.[18][36]
Have a look at Sportspages' range of cricket scorecards. They start in the 1860s with some fantastic scorecards from representative team matches, followed on close behind by Ashes scorecards from the 1880s to the present day. Our scorecards cover most notable county, national and international cricket teams throughout cricketing history.
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