Wanderings of the Unknown
The History Of Incogniti Cricket Club

This is the story of the Incogniti Cricket Club, starting with eleven men, some if not all, recently having finished their schooling at Godolphin, Hammersmith, in a match on 25^th May 1861 at Lords cricket ground. With no boundaries, no declaration, a 4 ball over, under-arm or round-arm bowling and long-stops, cricket was then a significantly different game. Bowling was so much the lesser part that no analysis was kept – scoring 50 runs was considered as great a feat as a hat trick! The conditions acceptable for play were also considerably different - even Lords had a rough wicket and ridge and furrow in the outfield.  Play would continue through drenching downpours and on into darkness. Cricket had a long way to go to become the game that we know today.

Early in its history the Incogniti played counties and mostly won, fielding up to 9 first class cricketers in its side. Some 650 first class cricketers have been members, including 9 Test captains. A meritorious wandering club – one of those Test captains was of South Africa (having previously played for England) and another was of New Zealand.

Some 300 pages tell a personal story of a journey through the 76 kilos of leather bound records and 42 kilos of other memorabilia. It is eclectic, anecdotal, visual and colourful, including photographs taken from 1863 onwards. There is also a complete record of the opposition in the nearly 8,000 matches played; who, where, when and with what result.