The game in 1846 was abandoned after a Canadian batsman charged down the American bowler in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent him from catching him out. Officially this game was recorded as a draw, but bets were decided in favour of the Americans who were clearly in a winning position at the time. The next international match was not played until 1853.

Newspaper reports in the second half of the nineteenth century flit between 1844 and 1853 as being the date of the first international. The 1858 Canadian Cricketers’ Guide, edited by the Reverend Thomas Phillips, mentions the accepted date of 1844 but asserts that the 1853 match was the first true international without elaborating why.

Link back to the first international matches page.