William Lambert — First to Score Two Centuries in a Match, Sussex v Epsom, July 1817

Lambert's career through the 1810s had been steady rather than spectacular by his own standards. The new Lord's offered better pitches than the old grounds; the post-Waterloo recovery had restored fixture lists. Sussex, organised loosely around the gentleman patrons of Brighton and the West Sussex country houses, were a strong county side; Epsom were weaker but contained several Surrey amateurs.

Lambert had played six other matches in the 1817 season already and was in form. The fixture was advertised as his benefit; gate receipts went to him personally. The pitch at the new Lord's was reported by Wisden retrospective as 'easy paced and true' for an 1817 surface — flatter than most.

William Lambert (1779-1851) was at this point the best batsman in England and had been for the previous decade. His patron George Osbaldeston had brought him to senior cricket in 1801; through the Napoleonic War years and immediately afterwards he had been the leading professional batsman in nearly every match he played. The Sussex v Epsom fixture of July 1817 was a financial benefit match for Lambert himself — a custom of the period — staged at the new Lord's over four days. Sussex batted first and made 247, Lambert top-scoring with 107 not out. Epsom were bowled out for 73. Sussex's second innings turned into a procession: Lambert came in at the fall of the first wicket and stayed until the end, making 157 in a total of 281 for some. Epsom, set 456 to win, collapsed for 28. Sussex won by 427 runs, then the largest margin of victory in any senior match. Lambert's 107 and 157 made him the first batsman in any recorded match — first-class or otherwise — to score two centuries. The feat would not be repeated for sixty-six years. The accuracy of the scorebook (which is preserved in the MCC archives) has been confirmed by every subsequent historian. Underarm pitches of 1817 were rough, low-scoring affairs; centuries were rare; two centuries in a match by a single player on such a surface was an extraordinary achievement.

“Lambert played a most splendid innings, with all the science and command for which he is famous.”

Lambert played no further senior cricket after this match. The match-fixing ban (separately documented) ended his career at the age of 38. His two centuries remained the only such feat in important cricket until W.G. Grace scored 130 and 102 not out for South v North at Canterbury in 1868 — and the first instance in first-class cricket reckoned by modern definitions until A.E. Stoddart's twin centuries for Middlesex in 1893.