Beschreibung:

'Cricket. A Grand Match will be played in Lord's New Cricket Ground. Near Lisson Grove, St. Mary-Le-Bone, on Wednesday 16th June 1813, and the following day, between the Mary-le-bone and St. John's Wood Clubs with Hammond, against the Mitcham Club, for One Thousand Guineas a Side. The Wickets to be pitched a Eleven O'Clock. Players, Mary-Bone (sic) & St Johns' Wood Clubs:- Lord F. Beauclerk, Hon. Gen. Bligh, G. Osbaldeston, F. Ladbroke, B. Aislabie, J. Tanner H. Repton, J. Rice, T. Brown, T. Burgoyne, Hammond. Mitcham Club:- G. Hare, J. Sherman, Jas. Sherman, Caesterman, Bnwyer (sic), W. Gunnell, J. Gunnell, J. Tilley, J. Rutten, W. Wellin, Jackson. Admittance six pence. Good stabling on the ground. The Cricket Laws, Bats, Balls, to be had at the Ground or at Mr Lord's House in Upper Glotter Street, - the Carriageway up Lisson Grove, opposite the Yorkshire Stingo. No dogs admitted. A Marquee to be Let, or Sold will hold 100 persons'. Original and very early handbill for the match played at the Lord's 'New' Ground at Dorset Fields on the 16th and 17th June 1813 by Craft, Printer of Wells Street, Oxford Street, London. The handbill measures 6.5"x7.25". Irregular borders, minor loss to lower right corner, some age toning otherwise in good condition for its age - cricket
Mitcham won the match by 115 runs. John Sherman top scored with 41 in Mitcham's first innings, and his brother James Sherman top scored with 48 in the second innings. Bowling details are unclear but Hammond took five wickets in the match for the M.C.C. Four balls were bowled per over in the match. The Lord's we know today as the home of cricket is actually the third incarnation of Lord's Cricket Ground. The original ground opened in 1787 at Dorset Fields, with the last match played in 1810. However, by 1809, London was expanding rapidly and rent was on the rise in Dorset Fields. Thomas Lord looked elsewhere and that year opened a new ground in the Eyre Estate in St John's Wood. For two years both grounds operated along side each other although the second ground was unpopular, lacking in atmosphere and a difficult landlord who objected to the opening of a tavern. Records appear to show that only two more matches were played at the second, or 'New' ground, after the match to which this handbill relates. However a stroke of luck occurred for Lord and M.C.C. in 1812 when he discovered that the Regent's Canal was due to be built straight through his unloved cricket ground. With £4,000 in compensation, he gratefully accepted another plot of land on the Eyre Estate, slightly further up the road in St. John's Wood, the current Lord's Cricket Ground, the first match being played there in 1814, over two hundred years ago