On this day in Yorkshire: 5th August 1751: The first ever cricket match on Yorkshire soil

Unfortunately we couldn’t find a picture from this momentous day in 1751, but here’s one from Sheffield in the early 1820s. Picture credit wikipedia public domain.

Forget the Roses match, the Ashes or any other sporting rivalry you care to think of, none compared to that of the Duke of Cleveland and the Earl of Northumberland. It was in the far north of the county at Stanwick near Richmond where these two noblemen locked horns on the cricket field. After an exciting game, apparently the Earl’s XI prevailed over the Duke XI and so marked the beginning of cricket in Yorkshire. It was several generations later that the sport really started to take hold in the county, but the 5th August 1751 marks its beginning on Yorkshire soil.