Editing Regency era (section)

=== Cricket ===

[[Marylebone Cricket Club]], widely known as MCC, was founded in 1787 and became [[cricket]]'s governing body. In 1788, the club drafted and published a revised version of the sport's rules. MCC had considerable influence throughout the Regency era and its ground, [[Lord's]], became cricket's premier venue.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warner |first=Pelham |author-link=Pelham Warner |title=Lord's 1787–1945 |year=1946 |publisher=Harrap |pages=17–18}}</ref> There were in fact three Lord's grounds. The first, opened in 1787 when the club was formed, was on the site of [[Dorset Square]] in [[Marylebone]], hence the name of the club.<ref name=pwl>Warner, p. 18.</ref> The lease was terminated in 1811 because of a rental dispute and the club took temporary lease of a second ground in [[St John's Wood]].<ref name=pwl/> This was in use for only three seasons until the land was requisitioned because it was on the proposed route of the [[Regent's Canal]]. MCC moved to a nearby site on which they established their present ground.<ref>Warner, p. 19.</ref>

[[Lord Byron]] played for [[Harrow School]] in the first [[Eton v Harrow]] match at Lord's in 1805.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/67/211281.html |title=The oldest fixture of them all: the annual Eton vs Harrow match |journal=[[Cricinfo Magazine]] |publisher=[[Wisden Group]] |location=London |date=18 June 2005 |first=Martin |last=Williamson |access-date=23 July 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The match became an annual event in the social calendar.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Lord's staged the first [[Gentlemen v Players]] match in 1806.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} This fixture provides another illustration of the class divide in Regency society as it matched a team of well-to-do amateurs (Gentlemen) against a team of [[working-class]] professionals (Players). The first match featured [[Billy Beldham]] and [[William Lambert (cricketer, born 1779)|William Lambert]], who have been recognised as the outstanding professionals of the period, and [[Lord Frederick Beauclerk]] as the outstanding amateur player.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} The 1821 match ended prematurely after the Gentlemen team, well behind in the contest, conceded defeat. This had been billed as the "Coronation Match" because it celebrated the accession of the Prince Regent as King George IV and the outcome was described by the sports historian [[Derek Birley|Sir Derek Birley]] as "a suitably murky affair".{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}