Although a form of cricket had been played on the windswept plateau of Broadhalfpenny Down in Hambledon since at least 1753, the village secured its place in sporting immortality between 23rd and 25th June 1772. This three-day, two-innings match is recognized as the first-ever recorded first-class game of cricket, contested between a Hambledon XI (as local tradition stoutly maintains) or a Hampshire XI (the designation preferred by Wisden) and an England XI.

The stakes were high, with £550 on the line—a staggering sum for the era—reflecting the heavy gambling culture that then surrounded the sport. The Hambledon side featured local legends such as the landlord of the Bat and Ball Inn, Richard Nyren, and the master batsman “Old” John Small. Despite the presence of the formidable “Lumpy” Stevens playing for England—whose accurate bowling famously led to the introduction of the third stump after he repeatedly bowled through the two-stump wicket of the time—Hambledon triumphed by 53 runs.

While cricketing historians have sought the game’s origins in Kent, France, Flanders, or even further afield in Iceland and the Punjab, there is no denying that for the latter half of the 18th century, this small Hampshire village was the undisputed “Cradle of Cricket.” Until the formation of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1787 and the subsequent migration of the game’s power base to Lord’s, Hambledon was the supreme authority on the laws and techniques of the sport. To this day, for those who visit the monument overlooking the Down or share a pint at the Bat and Ball, Hambledon remains the spiritual Mecca of the game.