James Rice (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
James Rice was an English amateur
cricket
er during the Napoleonic Wars
.
matches from 1811 to 1813. He is not known to have been attached to any particular club although, as an amateur who played all his first-class games at Lord's Middle Ground
, it is possible he was a member of Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC), which was based at that venue.
The matches in which Rice appeared were the only first-class fixtures of the three seasons in question. Cricket at this time had been badly impacted by a loss of both investment and manpower caused by the Napoleonic Wars. The matches were also the only first-class matches recorded on Lord's Middle Ground so Rice played his entire first-class career at that ground.
Amateur status in first-class cricket
Amateur status in first-class cricket had a special meaning, especially in England, in that the amateur in this context was not merely someone who played cricket in his spare time but a particular type of first-class cricketer who existed officially until 1962, when the distinction between amateurs...
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...
er during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
Career
Rice made 3 known appearances in first-classFirst-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...
matches from 1811 to 1813. He is not known to have been attached to any particular club although, as an amateur who played all his first-class games at Lord's Middle Ground
Lord's Middle Ground
Lord's Middle Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1811. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major cricket matches until 1813, after which Lord was obliged to relocate because the land was requisitioned for the cutting of the Regent's...
, it is possible he was a member of Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
(MCC), which was based at that venue.
The matches in which Rice appeared were the only first-class fixtures of the three seasons in question. Cricket at this time had been badly impacted by a loss of both investment and manpower caused by the Napoleonic Wars. The matches were also the only first-class matches recorded on Lord's Middle Ground so Rice played his entire first-class career at that ground.