Editing First-class cricket (section)

===Issue for statisticians===
A key issue for the statisticians is when first-class cricket for their purpose is deemed to have begun. Writing in 1951, [[Roy Webber]] argued that the majority of matches prior to 1864 (i.e., the year in which [[overarm bowling]] was legalised) "cannot be regarded as first-class" and their records are used "for their historical associations".{{sfn|Webber|1951|pp=9–10}} This drew a line between what was important historically and what should form part of the statistical record. Hence, for pre-1895 (i.e., in Great Britain) cricket matches, "first-class" is essentially a statistical concept while the historical concept is broader and takes account of historical significance. Webber's rationale was that cricket was "generally weak before 1864" (there was a greater and increasingly more organised effort to promote county cricket from about that time) and match details were largely incomplete, especially [[bowling (cricket)|bowling]] analyses, which hindered compilation of records.{{sfn|Webber|1951|pp=9–10}} According to Webber's view, the inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1864 season between [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]] and MCC at [[Fenner's]] on 12 and 13 May, Cambridge winning by 6 wickets.<ref name="CA1313">{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1313.html |title=Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club, 12–13 May 1864 |work=CricketArchive |access-date=17 September 2022 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920170944/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/1/1313.html |url-status=live }}</ref>