All-England Eleven's First National Tour — 1847

Cricket's geographical reach in 1847 was uneven. London, Kent, Sussex and parts of Hampshire had a thriving cricket culture; the north, the midlands and the west had clubs and grounds but rarely saw the leading players. The new railway network was beginning to make cross-country travel possible for the first time.

After the success of the 1846 inaugural matches, Clarke spent the winter writing to ground proprietors and clubs across the country. By the spring of 1847 a fixture list of around 25 matches had been compiled.

The 1847 tour established the pattern that the AEE would follow for the next decade. Clarke arranged each fixture in advance with a local club, which guaranteed a fee of £55 to £70 and provided the ground; in return the local club fielded an 18 or 22 (the eleven faced numerical odds in every match) and took the gate. The eleven travelled by stage-coach and the new railway network — the Midland Railway had just been formed and was opening up cross-country routes — and played two or three matches a week. Clarke himself, bowling lobs at the age of 49, took the bulk of the wickets; Pilch, Felix and Guy carried the batting; Tom Sewell senior and George Parr (joining the side in 1847) provided the support. The eleven won the great majority of its fixtures, often by an innings, but the local sides occasionally pulled off upsets that fed the gate at the next encounter. The crucial outcome was the spread of high-class cricket: Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, Stockton and a dozen other towns saw the leading professionals play for the first time. The tour seeded the formation of local cricket clubs in every town it visited.

The tour was a financial success. Clarke expanded the schedule for 1848 and 1849, and by 1850 the AEE was playing 30 matches a season. The seeded clubs grew rapidly: Manchester Cricket Club, Stockton, Newcastle and others trace their first golden age to AEE visits.