Eton v Harrow
Encyclopedia
The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual cricket match between Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

. It one of the longest-running annual cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 fixtures in the world. It is the last annual school cricket match played at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...

. Harrow remained unbeaten for the past eight years of the fixture, being defeated by Eton with 182 runs in 2011.

Early years

Cricket was being played by teams at English public schools by the time of the English Commonwealth. Horace Walpole entered Eton in 1726, and later wrote that playing cricket was a common occurrence at the school. Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 played matches against Eton at Tothill Fields in the 1790s. By the early 19th century, cricket was well established in English public and grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

s.

There is some evidence for earlier matches between Eton and Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

, but teams from the schools definitely played a cricket match at Lord's Old Ground
Lord's Old Ground
Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major cricket matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate.-Matches:...

 in 1805, probably organised by the boys. They moved to Lord's Cricket Ground for a rematch in 1818, and played again in 1822. From 1822, the match has been an annual event, with gaps in 1829-1831, 1856 and during the World Wars.

A triangular tournament at Lord's involving Winchester - Public Schools Week - ran until 1854, and were emulated by other matches involving the leading public schools - Charterhouse
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

, Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

, Westminster
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 and Winchester. The schools were early adopters of cricket caps: Eton (light blue) and Winchester (blue) in 1851, and Harrow (striped) in 1852, followed by Cambridge (1861) and Oxford (1863).

The first Eton-Harrow match in 1805 preceded by one year the first Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...

 in 1806. Charles Wordsworth
Charles Wordsworth
The Reverend Charles Wordsworth, M.A. was bishop of Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at a public schools in England and Scotland...

, nephew of William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....

, played for Harrow in the four matches in 1822 to 1825, and arranged the first University Match
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...

 at Lord's in 1827, two years before the first Boat Race. Many Eton and Harrow players went on to win blues at Oxford and Cambridge. Eton v Harrow was joined by the University Match
The University Match (cricket)
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club...

 and Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...

 as the three key features in the England cricket season.

Heyday

In its heyday, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, "the School's day" was one of the highlights of the London "season
Season (society)
The social season or Season has historically referred to the annual period when it is customary for members of the a social elite of society to hold debutante balls, dinner parties and large charity events...

", alongside Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta
Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 and Royal Ascot. The number of spectators necessitated the first introduction of viewing stands and a boundary rope at Lord's in 1866. The game made national newspaper headlines, and was attended by schoolboys large and small, their elder brothers and fathers, accompanied by their ladies and other members of London society. The match in 1914 was attended by over 38,000 people during its two days. Even in 2008, the match attracts a larger crowd than Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...

's first-class matches.

The influence of the Eton v Harrow match waned as the dominance of amateurs in cricket was replaced by increasing professionalism, noticeably after the First World War and to an even greater extent after the Second.

It was not just Eton and Harrow that played at Lord's. There was a group of eight schools called 'The Lord's Schools' which had fixtures each season. These were Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

, Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

, Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...

, Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

, Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

, Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...

, The Oratory School
The Oratory School
The Oratory School is a Roman Catholic, independent school for boys in Woodcote, Berkshire. It is the last Catholic all-boys boarding school remaining in Great Britain. It has approximately 420 pupils...

, Haileybury College, Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...

 and Beaumont College
Beaumont College
Beaumont College was a Jesuit public school in Old Windsor, Berkshire, England. In 1967 the school closed. The property became a conference centre, and from 2008 an hotel.-History of the estate:...

 (now closed).

Players

Many famous individuals and famous cricketers have played in the match. Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...

 played for Harrow in the 1805 match, Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis
Earl Alexander of Tunis
Earl Alexander of Tunis is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 14 March 1952 for the prominent military commander Field Marshal Harold Alexander, 1st Viscount Alexander of Tunis...

 for Harrow in Fowler's match
Fowler's match
Fowler's match is the name given to the two-day Eton v Harrow cricket match held at Lord's on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. The match is named after the captain of Eton College, Robert St Leger Fowler, whose outstanding all round batting and bowling performance allowed Eton to win the match...

 in 1910, Bolo Whistler
Lashmer Whistler
General Sir Lashmer Gordon Whistler GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars, DL , known as Bolo, was a British army officer who served in the First and Second World Wars. In the Second World War he achieved senior ranks serving with Field Marshal Montgomery in North Africa and Europe...

 for Harrow in 1916, Alec Douglas-Home
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...

 for Eton in 1921 and 1922, Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...

 for Harrow in 1929 and Henry Blofeld
Henry Blofeld
Henry Calthorpe Blofeld is a sports journalist. He is best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.Blofeld had an exceptional career as a schoolboy cricketer, cut short by injury...

 for Eton in 1955. Early prominent cricketers who played in the Eton v Harrow match include E H Budd, John Kirwan
John Kirwan (cricketer)
John Henry Kirwan was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1836 to 1842...

 and Herbert Jenner
Herbert Jenner
Herbert Jenner was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1825 to 1838. He changed his name to Herbert Jenner-Fust in 1864.-Life:...

 (Eton); and Edward Grimston
Edward Grimston
The Honourable Edward Harbottle Grimston was an English amateur cricketer and a Conservative Party politician who held a seat in the House of Commons from 1835 to 1841.- Cricket :...

, Charles Harenc
Charles Harenc
Charles Harenc was an English cricketer in the mid-19th century. He was a member of the great Kent team of the 1840s and also played for MCC. Harenc was an amateur player who began his first-class career at Oxford University...

 and Charles Wordsworth
Charles Wordsworth
The Reverend Charles Wordsworth, M.A. was bishop of Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in Scotland. He was a classical scholar, and taught at a public schools in England and Scotland...

 (Harrow). Between the 1870s and the 1890s, there were the Studd brothers
Studd brothers
The famous Studd brothers, Sir John Edward Kynaston, George and Charles , were Victorian gentleman cricketers; they were educated at Eton and Cambridge. They all represented Eton in the Eton v Harrow annual needle match and represented Cambridge at cricket...

, Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...

, Ivo Bligh, Martin Bladen (who later became Lord Hawke) and George Harris (who later became Lord Harris)
George Harris, 4th Baron Harris
George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, GCSI, GCIE was a British politician, cricketer and cricket administrator...

 (Eton); and AN Hornby
A. N. Hornby
Albert Neilson Hornby, commonly designated A. N. Hornby, nicknamed Monkey Hornby was one of the best known sportsmen in England during the nineteenth century excelling in both rugby and cricket...

, Archie MacLaren and Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...

 (Harrow). Lionel Tennyson (later 3rd Baron Tennyson)
Lionel Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson
Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson was known principally as a cricketer who captained Hampshire and England...

 played for Eton before the First World War, and Gubby Allen
Gubby Allen
Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen, CBE was a cricketer who played for Middlesex, Cambridge University, MCC and England. Australian-born, Allen was a fast bowler and hard-hitting lower-order batsman, who captained England in eleven Test matches...

 just afterwards. Around this time the prominent future amateurs for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

 included Anthony Jackson, Geoffrey Jackson
Geoffrey Jackson (cricketer)
Geoffrey Laird Jackson was an English cricketet who played for Derbyshire from 1912 to 1914, and for Oxford University in 1914. He died of wounds in World War I....

, Guy Jackson
Guy Jackson
Guy Rolf Jackson was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1919 and 1936, being captain for nine years....

, Wilfred Hill-Wood
Wilfred Hill-Wood
Wilfred William Hill Hill-Wood was an English financier and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1919 and 1936 as well as for Cambridge University and MCC....

 and Basil Hill-Wood
Sir Basil Hill-Wood, 2nd Baronet
Sir Basil Samuel Hill Hill-Wood, 2nd Baronet was an English solicitor, baronet and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1919 and 1925....

.

Amongst the cricketers who became the coach at Eton or Harrow after their playing days, the most famous was perhaps George Hirst
George Herbert Hirst
George Herbert Hirst was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. He played in 24 Test matches for England between 1897 and 1909, touring Australia twice...

, who coached at Eton for 18 years from 1921. Other players who were later first-class cricketers were not selected for their school, including Charles Lyttelton (later 10th Viscount Cobham)
Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham
Charles John Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, KG, GCMG, GCVO, TD, PC was the ninth Governor-General of New Zealand and an English cricketer.-Early life and family:...

, Wykeham Cornwallis (later 2nd Baron Cornwallis)
Wykeham Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis
Colonel Wykeham Stanley Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis KCVO, KBE, MC , was a British peer.-Background and education:...

, Nigel Haig
Nigel Haig
Nigel Esme Haig was a cricketer who played for Middlesex and England.Tall, stringy and deceptively frail in appearance, Haig played regularly from 1912 to 1934 as an amateur batsman who could open the innings or bat further down the order and as a tireless swing bowler somewhat above medium pace...

 and Denis Hill-Wood
Denis Hill-Wood
Denis John Charles Hill Hill-Wood was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Oxford University and MCC in 1928 and for Derbyshire in 1928 and 1929...

.

The match has included fifteen players from Eton and six from Harrow who later played for the England national cricket team, most recently Tony Pigott
Tony Pigott
Tony Pigott is a former English cricketer, who played in one Test for England in 1984, when he was called up as an emergency replacement in New Zealand...

 (Harrow) in Tests and Matthew Fleming
Matthew Fleming
Matthew Valentine Fleming is a former cricketer who represented Kent and England.Born out of his time, his background was Eton and the Royal Greenjackets, his approach was cavalier. His first 2 scoring shots in first class cricket were sixes.He played 11 One Day Internationals but no Test matches...

 (Eton) in ODIs. In recent years, few players have gone on to become professionals in first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

, exceptions being Nick Compton
Nick Compton
Nick Compton is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-spin bowler. He is the grandson of Denis Compton and the great-nephew of Leslie Compton, and his father Richard Compton played seven first-class games for Natal...

 (Harrow), and Jamie Bruce
Jamie Bruce
James Bruce is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler.James was in the 1st XI at Eton for several years before representing Durham UCCE and playing minor county cricket for Cumberland. His exceptional control and cricket brain attracted Hampshire to...

 and Alex Loudon
Alex Loudon
Alexander Guy Rushworth Loudon is an English former cricketer. A right-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he was considered a promising future international player....

 (both Eton).

Results and records

  • Excluding fixtures during the First and Second World Wars, there have been 173 matches in the series from 1805 to 2011, of which Eton have won 56, Harrow have won 50, and 67 were drawn.
  • During the World Wars, matches were played at the two schools' own grounds rather than at Lord's. From 1915 to 1918, two matches were played each year, one at Harrow and one at Eton. From 1940 to 1945, one match was played each year, with the venue alternating. Of those ten matches, Eton won eight and Harrow one, and one was drawn. In 1970, Lord's was reserved for a Gillette Cup match, so the Eton-Harrow match was played at Harrow's ground.
  • The match was traditionally a two-day, two-innings affair, but in 1982 reduced to one day and one innings a side. It moved to a limited overs format in 1999, with a second longer match played away from Lord's. It celebrated its 200th anniverary in 2005.

  • The highest innings total is 502 scored by Eton in 1923. Harrow reached 388 in 1900.
  • The lowest innings total is Harrow's 24 in 1824. Eton were dismissed for 35 in 1855.

  • The highest individual score is 183, scored by DC Boles for Eton in 1904. G Wilson
    Geoffrey Wilson (cricketer)
    Geoffrey Wilson was an English amateur first-class cricketer, who played ten matches for Cambridge University in 1919 and 1920, ninety two for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1919 and 1924, and thirteen more for the MCC in 1922/23 on a tour of Australia...

     scored 173 for Harrow by in 1913.
  • MC Bird is the only player to have made a hundred in each innings, scoring 100* and 131 for Harrow in 1907.
  • HW Studd recorded bowling figures of 14 for 99 for Eton in 1888. EW Blore took 15 wickets in 1847, and 14 in 1845, but runs conceded were not recorded.
  • The teams in all of the matches have been limited to current pupils, except the match in 1857 which included some former pupils aged less than 20.
  • The matches in 1997, 1999 and 2001 were abandoned before the first ball was bowled.
  • Harrow's win in 2000 was its first victory since 1975. Harrow also went without a win from 1908 to 1939; in 27 games, Eton won 12 times and 15 matches were drawn.
  • The most recent match, played in 2011, was the first Eton victory for eight years.


Reference: The oldest fixture of them all, Cricinfo, 18 June 2005

See also

  • History of English amateur cricket
    History of English amateur cricket
    The history of English amateur cricket describes the concept and importance of amateur players in English cricket.-Co-development of amateur and professional cricket to 1800:...

  • Overview of English cricket from 1816 to 1863
  • English public school football games
    English public school football games
    During the early modern era students, former students and teachers at English public schools developed and wrote down the first codes of football, most notably the Eton College...


Further reading

  • WR Lyon, The Elevens of Three Great Schools, 1805-1929: Being All Recorded Scores of Cricket Matches Played Between Winchester, Eton and Harrow, With Memoirs and Biographies of the Players, Spottiswoode & Ballantyne, 1930.
  • Robert Titchener-Barrett, Eton and Harrow at Lord's: Since 1805, published by the author, 2005, ISBN 978-0955064302.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK