About the Gentlemen of England XI

A brief History of the Club

In the spring of 2015 the Committee members of the Wandering Cricket Association made the decision to resurrect a handful of old English Wandering cricket clubs that had fallen by the way side. One of those clubs was the Gentlemen of England’s XI, the precursor to the current England side. Conceptually, there is evidence of this sort of team being formed, or at least mooted, since the 1730's -

"The majority of such teams were simply labelled "England" and sometimes the term "all-England" was used loosely in a generic sense but, strictly speaking, the teams represented "the Rest of England". The "all England" term per se was first used in reports of two Kent v England matches in 1739. The first was at Bromley Common on Monday, 9 July, and billed as "eleven gentlemen of that county (i.e., Kent) and eleven gentlemen from any part of England, exclusive of Kent". Kent " *

However, In 1751 the Gentlemen of England officially had its first official outing against the Old Etonians.

1751– Newmarket (half in Cambridgeshire at this time). Newmarket Heath, 11 gentlemen of Eton (Earl of Sandwich’s XI captia) v 11 gentlemen of England (Earl of March’s XI) for £1500

(raised from 1,000 gns).No professionals permitted. £20,000 (a staggering £4,552,973.44 in today's money) were said to be depending on this match in bets. The Eton side played a practice match on 14th June.

Tues. 25th June. England 93 and 101(98), Eton 53 and 104. Eton won by 37 runs. Also reported as unfinished and a win for England by 140 runs. The Eton victory seems the most complete version.

Thurs 27th June. All England 51 and 114, Eton 168 and 67. Eton won by 70 runs.

Sat. 29th June. All England 109 and 133, Eton 46 and 101. England won by 85 runs. Cambridge Journal various issues.

Team members’ names published in various versions. Pond’s Porting Kalender;Cambridge Journal 11th May, June 8th p2, 22nd June, 6th July.

During these matches there was cock-fighting, smock-racing, wrestling and cudgelling. Derby Mercury Fri 7th July

These days....

Today, the team selection process is much the same as it was in the 1700's the side is made up of wandering players/Jazzhat and Gentlemen of various counties. We currently have 150 playing members.
The club’s first game (after its rebirth) was in 2016 against the Royal household cricket club forming part of Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday celebrations. Both Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh watched for a while to the delight of the crowd. It was a wonderful game played in the true spirit of the sport and has now become a permanent fixture on the G of E calendar.
We now have eight games a season only and try to encourage new fixtures each year to make the most of the 250 plus wandering and Jazz hat sides in the UK.

The global landscape at the clubs conception in the 1700's

The history of the side is extraordinary and a list below gives a few examples of modern life at the time.

Johann Sebastian Bach was still working hard
Benjamin Franklin and his son tested the relationship between electricity and lightning by flying a kite in a thunderstorm
Sep 1, The Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia.
William Bligh was born. He was the British naval officer who was the victim of two mutinies, the most famous on the HMS Bounty which was taken over by Fletcher Christian.
Dr. Samuel Johnson, English writer, published his “Dictionary of the English Language,"
King George III of England was crowned.
Capt. James Cook charted the coasts of both the north and south islands of New Zealand and Australia.