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Variations in first-class cricket statistics have come about because there is no official view of the status of cricket matches played before 1947, except in Great Britain from 1895. As a result, historians and statisticians have compiled differing lists of matches that they recognise as first-class. The problem is significant where it touches on some of the sport's major records and especially the playing career of W. G. Grace. ==Concept and definition of first-class cricket== The concept of a first-class cricket standard was formalised in May 1894 at a meeting of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) committee and the secretaries of the clubs involved in the official County Championship, which had begun in 1890.〔ACS match guide, pp. 3–6.〕 As a result, those clubs became first-class from 1895 along with MCC, Cambridge University, Oxford University, major cricket touring teams and other teams designated as such by MCC.〔 First-class cricket was formally defined by the then Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) in May 1947 as a match of three or more days' duration between two sides of eleven players officially adjudged first-class; the governing body in each country to decide the status of teams. Significantly, it was stated that ''the definition does not have retrospective effect''.〔Rae, p. 497.〕〔Wisden 1948, p. 813.〕 The absence of any ruling about matches played before 1947 (or before 1895 in Great Britain) has caused problems for cricket historians and especially statisticians. Major cricket〔The term "major cricket" deserves some qualification. It is not limited to "first-class cricket" which is a misleading concept that is essentially statistical and may typically ignore the more important historical aspect of a match if statistical information is missing, as is invariably the case re matches played prior to 1772. From that season, scorecards began to be created habitually and there is a continuous and adequate, though incomplete, statistical record commencing in 1772. Major cricket in the Stuart and Hanoverian periods includes both single wicket and eleven-a-side games. Features of these matches include high stakes, large crowds and evidence that the teams are representative of several parishes, perhaps of whole counties. Except in rare instances, village cricket in the shape of a match played between two parish teams, would be classified as minor.〕〔Note that surviving match records to 1825 are incomplete and any statistical compilation of a player's career in that period is based on ''known'' data. Match scorecards were not always created, or have been lost, and the matches themselves were not always recorded in the press or other media. Scorecard data was not comprehensive: e.g., bowling analyses lacked balls bowled and runs conceded; bowlers were not credited with wickets when the batsman was caught or stumped; in many matches, the means of dismissal were omitted.〕 matches that meet the official definitions, assuming they featured teams of the necessary high standard, have been recorded since 1697.〔Altham, p. 23.〕 It was inevitable that historians and statisticians would seek to apply first-class status retrospectively, in contravention of the ICC and MCC directives.〔 The position is that each writer must compile his own list based on his personal opinions. As a result, significant differences may be observed in published statistical records with particular impact on the career records of W. G. Grace, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe. There are differences in the perceived status of certain matches played by Gloucestershire teams before the county club was formed in 1870 and by Somerset in 1879 and 1881.〔ACS match guide, p. 11.〕 One of the problems is that statisticians have tended not to publish their match lists with their findings. However, it should be noted that the ''number'' of differences is extremely small in terms of the sport's ''overall'' statistics. The status of pre-definition matches is primarily a ''statistical'' concern rather than a ''historical'' one. Historians record the importance of a match in contemporary terms regardless of statistical hindsight. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Variations in first-class cricket statistics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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