View source for First-class cricket

{{Short description|Cricket played at the highest domestic standard}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2022}}
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'''First-class cricket''', along with [[List A cricket]] and [[Twenty20 cricket]], is one of the highest-standard forms of [[cricket]]. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two [[innings]] each, although in practice a team might play only one innings or none at all.

The etymology of "first-class cricket" is unknown, but the term was used loosely before it acquired official status in 1895, following a meeting of leading English clubs. At a meeting of the [[International Cricket Council|Imperial Cricket Conference]] (ICC) in 1947, it was formally defined on a global basis. A significant omission of the ICC ruling was any attempt to define first-class cricket retrospectively. That has left historians and statisticians with the problem of how to categorise earlier matches, especially those played in Great Britain before 1895. The [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]] (ACS) has published a list of early matches which are believed to have been of a high standard.

[[Test cricket]], the highest standard of cricket, is statistically a form of first-class cricket, though the term "first-class" is mainly used to refer to domestic competition. A player's first-class statistics include any performances in Test matches.

==Initial usage under MCC ruling, May 1894==
Before 1894 "first-class" was a common adjective applied to cricket matches in England, used loosely to suggest that a match had a high standard; adjectives like "great", "important" and "major" were also loosely applied to such matches, but there tended to be differences of opinion. In the inaugural issue of ''[[Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game]]'' on 10 May 1882, the term is used twice on page 2 in reference to the recently completed [[English cricket team in Australia and New Zealand in 1881–82|tour of Australia and New Zealand]] by [[Alfred Shaw|Alfred Shaw's XI]]. The report says it is "taking" the first-class matches to be one against [[New South Wales cricket team|Sydney]] (''sic''), two each against [[Victoria cricket team|Victoria]], the Combined team and the Australian Eleven, and another against [[South Australia cricket team|South Australia]].<ref name="C11">[https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1882/10 "English & Australian Cricket"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921211016/https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1882/10/ |date=21 September 2022 }} ''Cricket'', issue 1, 10 May 1882, p. 2.</ref> In the fourth issue on 1 June 1882, [[James Lillywhite]] refers to first-class matches on the tour but gives a different list.<ref name="C446">[https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1882/10 "The Cricket Scandal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921211016/https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1882/10/ |date=21 September 2022 }} ''Cricket'', issue 4, 1 June 1882, p. 46.</ref>

The earliest known [[cricket scorecard|match scorecard]]s date from 1744 but few have been found before 1772.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152818.html |last=Bowen |first=Rowland |author-link=Rowland Bowen |title=Cricket in the 17th and 18th centuries |work=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack |year=1965 |publisher=John Wisden & Co. Ltd |location=London |access-date=12 March 2021 |archive-date=22 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122064232/https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152818.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Bowen|1970|pp=263–264}} The cards for three 1772 matches have survived and scorecards became increasingly common thereafter.{{sfn|ACS|1981|pp=21–24, 31}} At the beginning of the 1860s, there were only four formally constituted county clubs. [[Sussex County Cricket Club|Sussex]] was the oldest, formed in 1839, and it had been followed by [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent]], [[Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club|Nottinghamshire]] and [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]]. In the early 1860s, several more county clubs were founded, and questions began to be raised in the sporting press about which should be categorised as first-class, but there was considerable disagreement in the answers. In 1880, the [[Cricket Reporting Agency]] was founded. It acquired influence through the decade especially by association with ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'' (''Wisden'') and the press came to generally rely on its information and opinions.{{sfn|ACS|1982|pp=4}}

The term acquired official status, though limited to matches in Great Britain, following a meeting at [[Lord's]] in May 1894 between the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) committee and the secretaries of the clubs involved in the official [[County Championship]], which had begun in 1890. As a result, those clubs became first-class from 1895 along with MCC, [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]], [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]], senior cricket touring teams (i.e., [[Australia national cricket team|Australia]] and [[South Africa national cricket team|South Africa]] at that time) and other teams designated as such by MCC (e.g., [[North v South]], [[Gentlemen v Players]] and occasional "elevens" which consisted of recognised first-class players).{{sfn|ACS|1982|pp=4–5}} Officially, therefore, the inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1895 season between MCC and [[Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club|Nottinghamshire]] at Lord's on 1 and 2 May, MCC winning by 37 runs.<ref name="CA4287">{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4287.html |title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Nottinghamshire, 1–2 May 1895 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=16 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=17 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220917175418/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4287.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

"[[Test cricket|Test match]]" was another loosely applied term at the time but the first list of matches considered to be "Tests" was conceived and published by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody in his 1894 book, ''Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94''. His proposal was widely accepted after a list of 39 matches was reproduced in the 28 December 1894 issue of ''Cricket'' magazine. The list began with the [[Melbourne Cricket Ground]] match played 15–17 March 1877 and ended with a recent match at the [[Sydney Cricket Ground|Association Ground, Sydney]] played 14–20 December 1894.<ref name="C379463">[https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1894/487/ "The First Test Match"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908225143/https://archive.acscricket.com/cricket/1894/487/ |date=8 September 2022 }} ''Cricket'', issue 379, 28 December 1894, pp. 463–464.</ref> All of Moody's matches, plus four additional ones, were retrospectively recognised as Test matches and also, thereby, as first-class matches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/England/Test/Team/List_of_Matches.html |title=List of Test Matches |work=CricketArchive |access-date=9 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909044131/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/England/Test/Team/List_of_Matches.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Formal definition under ICC ruling, May 1947==
The term "first-class cricket" was formally defined by the then [[International Cricket Council|Imperial Cricket Conference]] (ICC) on 19 May 1947. It was made clear that the definition "will not have retrospective effect".{{sfn|Wisden|1948|p=813}} The definition is as follows:{{sfn|Wisden|1948|p=813}}

<blockquote>A match of three or more days' duration between two sides of eleven players officially adjudged first-class, shall be regarded as a first-class fixture. Matches in which either team have more than eleven players or which are scheduled for less than three days shall not be regarded as first-class. The Governing body in each country shall decide the status of teams.</blockquote>

For example, MCC was authorised to determine the status of matches played in Great Britain. To all intents and purposes, the 1947 ICC definition confirmed the 1894 MCC definition, and gave it international recognition and usage.

Hence, official judgment of status is the responsibility of the governing body in each country that is a ''full member'' of the [[International Cricket Council]] (ICC). The governing body grants first-class status to international teams and to domestic teams that are representative of the country's highest playing standard. Later ICC rulings make it possible for international teams from ''associate members'' of the ICC to achieve first-class status but it is dependent on the status of their opponents in a given match.<ref name="ICCCOC">{{cite journal |url=https://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws.com/ICC/document/2017/09/24/4510678a-e031-4a9b-a402-397d4868adb6/ICC-Classification-of-Official-Cricket-Effective-1st-October-2017.pdf |title=ICC Classification of Official Cricket |journal=ICC Classifications |page=[https://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws.com/ICC/document/2017/09/24/4510678a-e031-4a9b-a402-397d4868adb6/ICC-Classification-of-Official-Cricket-Effective-1st-October-2017.pdf#page=3 3] |publisher=International Cricket Council |date=1 October 2017 |access-date=15 October 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410224534/https://pulse-static-files.s3.amazonaws.com/ICC/document/2017/09/24/4510678a-e031-4a9b-a402-397d4868adb6/ICC-Classification-of-Official-Cricket-Effective-1st-October-2017.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Definition===
According to the ICC definition, a match may be adjudged first-class if:<ref name="ICCCOC"/>
* it is of three or more days scheduled duration
* each side playing the match has eleven players
* each side may have two innings
* the match is played on natural, and not artificial, turf
* the match is played at a venue which meets certain standard criteria regarding venues
* the match conforms to the [[Laws of Cricket]], except for only minor amendments 
* the sport's governing body in the appropriate nation, or the ICC itself, recognises the match as first-class.

A Test match is a first-class match played between two ICC full member countries, subject to their current status at the ICC and the application of ICC conditions when the match is played.<ref name="ICCCOC"/>

===Recognised matches===
In 2010, the ICC published its ''Classification of Official Cricket'' which includes the criteria with which a match must comply to achieve a desired categorisation. In the section on first-class cricket, there is a list of the types of match that ''should'' qualify. It is important to note, given the differences in opinion about what constitutes a first-class match, that the ICC clearly stipulates that its match type list "is not exhaustive and is merely '''indicative of the matches which would''' fall into the first-class definition". For example, the list includes matches of recognised first-class teams ''versus'' international touring teams; and the leading domestic championships (using their then-current names) such as the [[County Championship]], [[Sheffield Shield]], [[Ranji Trophy]], etc.<ref name="ICCCOC"/>

==First-class domestic competitions==

===Current active men's competitions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left;"
|-
!style"text-align: left;"|Country
!Name
!Notes
|-
|{{flag|England}}||[[County Championship]]||
featuring 18 county teams, has a rich history, dating back to 1890, and is contested in two divisions. The top team in Division 1 wins the title of County Champion, with promotion and relegation between divisions. The tournament serves as a platform for developing young talent and preparing players for international cricket.
|-
|{{flag|South Africa}}||[[CSA 4-Day Domestic Series]]||
|-
|{{flag|Australia}}||[[Sheffield Shield]]||
|-
|{{flag|New Zealand}}||[[Plunket Shield]]||
|-
|rowspan=3|{{cr|India}}||[[Ranji Trophy]]||Competition between all the States and Union territories Association 
|-
|          [[Duleep Trophy]]||Competition between zonal teams selected by [[Board of Control for Cricket in India|BCCI]]
|-
|          [[Irani Cup]]||Played between the winner of Ranji Trophy and a [[Rest of India cricket team|Rest of India]] team selected by [[Board of Control for Cricket in India|BCCI]]
|-
|rowspan=2|{{flag|Pakistan}}||[[Quaid-e-Azam Trophy]]||Played by zonal associations since 2019.
|-
|                             [[President's Trophy (cricket)|President's Trophy]]||Competition between teams representing the government and semi-government departments
|-
|rowspan=2|{{flag|West Indies}}||[[West Indies Championship]]||
|-
|                             [[2023 Headley Weekes Tri-Series|Headley Weekes Tri-Series]]||Played between the West Indies Academy team and two teams drawn from the best performers in the West Indies Championship and outside the starting West Indies Test XI
|-
|rowspan=2|{{flag|Sri Lanka}}||[[Premier Trophy|Major League Tournament]]||League of 3-day matches with a 4-day final
|-
|          [[National Super League 4-Day Tournament|National Super League]] ||Competition between district teams
|-
|rowspan=2|{{flag|Bangladesh}}||[[National Cricket League]]||Played by 8 [[Divisions of Bangladesh|division]]-based teams selected by the [[Bangladesh Cricket Board|BCB]].
|-
|                             [[Bangladesh Cricket League]]||Played between 4 zone teams selected by the BCB
|-
|{{flag|Zimbabwe}}||[[Logan Cup]]||
|-
|{{flag|Afghanistan|2013}}||[[Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament|A.S.A. Tournament]]||
|-
|{{flag|Ireland}}||[[Inter-Provincial Championship|Inter Championship]]||
|-
|}

==Retrospective classification of matches played before the definitions==
The absence of any ICC ruling about matches played before 1947 (or before 1895 in Great Britain) is problematic for those cricket statisticians who wish to categorise earlier matches in the same way. They have responded by compiling their own match lists and allocating a strictly ''unofficial'' first-class status to the matches they consider to have been of a high standard. It is therefore a matter of opinion only with no official support. Inevitable differences have arisen and there are [[variations in published cricket statistics]]. In November 2021, the ICC retrospectively applied first-class status to [[women's cricket]], aligning it with the men's game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/2355517 |title=ICC Board appoints Afghanistan Working Group |work=International Cricket Council |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117061128/https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/2355517 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.womenscriczone.com/icc-appoints-working-group-to-review-afghanistan-cricket |title=ICC appoints Working Group to review status of Afghanistan cricket; women's First Class, List A classification to align with men's game |work=Women's CricZone |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117092611/https://www.womenscriczone.com/icc-appoints-working-group-to-review-afghanistan-cricket |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Issue for statisticians===
A key issue for the statisticians is when first-class cricket for their purpose is deemed to have begun. Writing in 1951, [[Roy Webber]] argued that the majority of matches prior to 1864 (i.e., the year in which [[overarm bowling]] was legalised) "cannot be regarded as first-class" and their records are used "for their historical associations".{{sfn|Webber|1951|pp=9–10}} This drew a line between what was important historically and what should form part of the statistical record. Hence, for pre-1895 (i.e., in Great Britain) cricket matches, "first-class" is essentially a statistical concept while the historical concept is broader and takes account of historical significance. Webber's rationale was that cricket was "generally weak before 1864" (there was a greater and increasingly more organised effort to promote county cricket from about that time) and match details were largely incomplete, especially [[bowling (cricket)|bowling]] analyses, which hindered compilation of records.{{sfn|Webber|1951|pp=9–10}} According to Webber's view, the inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1864 season between [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]] and MCC at [[Fenner's]] on 12 and 13 May, Cambridge winning by 6 wickets.<ref name="CA1313">{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1313.html |title=Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club, 12–13 May 1864 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=17 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920170944/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1313.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Important matches list===
When the [[Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians]] (ACS) published its ''Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles'' in 1982, it tentatively agreed with Webber's 1864 start date by saying that "the line between first-class and other matches becomes more easily discernible about that date".{{sfn|ACS|1982|p=3}} A year earlier, the ACS had published its ''Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles, 1709–1863'' in which it listed all the known matches during that period which it considered to have historical importance. The ACS did stipulate that they had taken a more lenient view of importance regarding matches played in the 18th century than they did of matches played in the 19th century. As they explained, surviving details of 18th century matches are typically incomplete while there is a fairly comprehensive store of data about 19th century matches, certainly since 1825.{{sfn|ACS|1981|p=4}}

===Earlier startpoints suggested===
Subsequently, Webber's view was challenged by [[Bill Frindall]] who believed that 1815 should be the startpoint to encompass the entire [[roundarm bowling]] phase of cricket's history,{{sfn|Frindall|1998|p=1}} although roundarm did not begin in earnest until 1827.{{sfn|Altham|1962|pp=61–62}} In Frindall's view, the inaugural first-class match should have been the opening game of the 1815 season between MCC and [[Middlesex county cricket teams|Middlesex]] at Lord's on 31 May and 1 June, Middlesex winning by 16 runs.<ref name="CA356">{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/356.html |title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Middlesex, 31 May – 1 June 1815 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=17 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705130500/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/356.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Notwithstanding Frindall's reputation, Webber's view has been revived and reinforced in recent times. For example, the Kent researcher Derek Carlaw began his study of Kent cricketers since 1806 by stating: "Part One is confined to players who appeared for Kent in important matches from 1806 to 1863 and first-class matches from 1864 to 1914".{{sfn|Carlaw|Winnifrith|2020|p=2}}

On the internet, the ''CricketArchive'' (CA) and ''[[ESPN Cricinfo]]'' (CI) databases both say the earliest first-class match was [[Hampshire county cricket teams|Hampshire]] v [[Non-international England cricket teams|England]] at [[Broadhalfpenny Down]] on 24 and 25 June 1772.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/4.html |title=Hampshire v England, 24–25 June 1772 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=17 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926192653/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/4.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1770S/1772/ENG_LOCAL/HANTS-XI_ENG_24-25JUN1772.html |work=ESPNcricinfo |title=Hampshire v England, 24–25 June 1772 |access-date=9 February 2015 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209125355/http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1770S/1772/ENG_LOCAL/HANTS-XI_ENG_24-25JUN1772.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At that time, cricket matches were played with a two-stump [[wicket]] and exclusively [[underarm bowling]], although other features of the modern game had been introduced.{{sfn|Haygarth|1996|p=99}} The opinion of these databases has been repudiated by both ''Wisden'' and ''[[Playfair Cricket Annual]]''. ''Wisden'' agrees with Frindall by commencing its first-class records in 1815.{{sfn|Wisden|2019|pp=1215–1242}} ''Playfair'' supports Webber and begins its records in 1864.{{sfn|Playfair|2018|pp=159, 173, 180}}

The status of earlier matches, including many in the ACS' ''Important Matches'' guide, which have left no scorecard and for which only a brief announcement or report exists, must be based on other factors. Contemporary importance was often measured by the amount of money at stake and the fact that a match was deemed notable enough to be reported in the press. The 18th century matches in the ACS list were primarily compiled to assist historians.{{sfn|ACS|1981|p=4}} The earliest match known to have been accorded superior status in a contemporary report (i.e., termed "a great match" in this case) and to have been played for a large sum of money was one in [[Sussex]] between two unnamed eleven-a-side teams contesting "fifty [[guinea (British coin)|guineas]] apiece" in June 1697, a match of enormous historical significance but with no statistical data recorded.{{sfn|McCann|2004|p=xli}}

==See also==
* [[List of first-class cricket records]]
* [[Lists of cricket records]]
* [[National Counties of English and Welsh cricket|Minor Counties Cricket]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=ACS |author-link=Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians |title=A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863|year=1981 |publisher=ACS |location=Nottingham }}
* {{cite book |last=ACS |author-link=Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians |title=A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles |year=1982 |publisher=ACS |location=Nottingham }}
* {{cite book |last=Altham |first=H. S. |author-link=Harry Altham |title=A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) |year=1962 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |location=London |asin=B0014QE7HQ}}
* {{cite book |last=Birley |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Birley |title=A Social History of English Cricket |year=1999 |publisher=Aurum }}
* {{cite book |last=Bowen |first=Rowland |author-link=Rowland Bowen |title=Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development |year=1970 |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode}}
* {{cite book |last1=Carlaw |first1=Derek |last2=Winnifrith |first2=John |title=Kent County Cricketers, A to Z: Part One (1806-1914) |publisher=ACS |location=Cardiff |year=2020 |url=https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_One_Revised_Expanded.pdf}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Frindall |editor1-first=Bill |editor1-link=Bill Frindall |title=The Wisden Book of Cricket Records |publisher=John Wisden & Co. Ltd |location=Alton, Hampshire |year=1998 |isbn=978-07-47222-03-3|edition=Fourth }}
* {{cite book |last=Haygarth |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Haygarth |title=Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826) |year=1996 |orig-year=1862 |publisher=Frederick Lillywhite |location=Kennington |isbn=978-19-00592-23-9}}
* {{cite book |last=McCann |first=Tim |author-link=Timothy J. McCann |title=Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century |year=2004 |publisher=Sussex Record Society }}
* {{cite book |last=Playfair |editor-last=Marshall |editor-first=Ian |title=Playfair Cricket Annual |publisher=Headline |location=London |year=2018 |isbn=978-14-72249-82-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Webber |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Webber |title=The Playfair Book of Cricket Records |year=1951 |publisher=Playfair Books Ltd }}
* {{cite book |last=Wisden |editor-last=Preston |editor-first=Hubert |editor-link=Hubert Preston |title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack |edition=85th |publisher=Sporting Handbooks Ltd |location=London |year=1948}}
* {{cite book |last=Wisden |editor-last=Booth |editor-first=Lawrence |editor-link=Lawrence Booth (cricket writer) |title=Wisden Cricketers' Almanack |edition=156th |publisher=John Wisden & Co. |location=London |year=2019 |isbn=978-14-72964-05-2}}

{{Forms of cricket}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:First-class cricket| ]]
[[Category:Cricket terminology]]