First-class cricket was the first ever form of professional cricket to be played. While One Day International matches and T20 matches feature a limited-overs format wherein the match reaches its conclusion on the same day, a first-class match usually spans a length of three to five days.
In 1894, the Marylebone Cricket Club and secretaries of four English counties decided to organize professional matches within Great Britain. These were called first-class matches. As a result, in 1895, the maiden first-class match was held between the Marylebone Cricket Club and Nottinghamshire.
Clarence Moody, an Australian journalist published a report on 39 matches in his book Australian Cricket and Cricketers. These were held between 1859 to 1894 and Moody termed them as Test matches.
In 1947, the Imperial Cricket Conference passed a law that defined the salient features of a first-class cricket match. These features were as follows:
- Each team must have eleven players with teams batting alternatively for two innings.
- The match must last between three to five matches.
- The match must be played on a natural turf and not an artificial turf.
- Each match must be held at venues which follows certain specifications that makes the location fit for hosting professional matches.
- Rules and regulations followed in the match must be in accordance with the Laws of cricket.
- Each nation’s governing body must recognize that particular match as a first-class match.
After this law was passed, each match reported by Moody was retrospectively added in the first-class category. A key difference between a test match and a first-class match is that the former is played between two full-time members of the International Cricket Council. A player’s first-class statistics includes their performance in test matches as well.
Jack Hobbs holds the record for the most runs scored in first-class cricket. The Englishman scored over 61,000 runs at an average of 50.70. This included a record 199 centuries. Wilfred Rhodes, another Englishman holds the record for most wickets with over 4200 wickets that he took across a record 1110 first-class matches.
WG Grace, fondly known as the grand old man of cricket is the only player to have scored 54000 runs and take 2800 wickets in first-class cricket. Grace’s career spanned between 1865 to 1908.
