Chipping Warden Scorebook 1854-1860

Chipping Warden Cricket Club - Scorebook, 1854-1860 An ‘ancient club…established in 1801’ (Northampton Mercury, 16 Aug. 1856). Chipping Warden CC is still playing in the South Northamptonshire Cricket League in 2021. The matches are recorded in a copy of the Cricketers’ Scoring Book printed by J Vincent of Oxford, which has the inscription ‘Chipping Warden Match Book 1854 – ‘ inside the front cover. The scorebook records nine matches played between August 1854 and August 1860 (with one match only in each of the 1854, 1855 and 1860 seasons, and none at all in 1858 and 1859). Other matches played by Chipping Warden during this period are recorded in the press, so the book is not a complete record of their playing activities over these seven years. The matches are entered chronologically, with the exception of the 1854 match (which occurs between 1856 and 1857). The uniformity and neatness of most of the manuscript suggests it is a fair copy, with only the record of the final match having more the feel of a contemporary record. In these matches, Rev. Edmund HL Willes makes several appearances for Chipping Warden - at this time he was ‘the fastest bowler in England’, according to the Bicester Herald of 5 September 1857. 1 Jul. 1855, v 98 th Regiment, at Chipping Warden 4-7 5 Aug. 1856, v Daventry County Club, at Chipping Warden 8-11 (Northampton Mercury, 16 Aug. 1856, [3]) 13 Aug. 1856, v Astrop, at Chipping Warden 12-15 (Oxford Chronicle, 23 Aug. 1856, 5. The Chronicle’s scores for both Chipping Warden innings differ from the scorebook, which also records a twelfth Warden player) 18 Aug. 1854, v Banbury Club, at Banbury 16-19 (Bell’s Life in London, 27 Aug. 1854, 11; Banbury Guardian, 24 Aug. 1854, [2])