Cricket, spectators and one of England's oldest sporting rivalries come together in Henry Jamyn Brooks' Cricket Match: Eton & Winchester. Painted in the late nineteenth century, the work captures a fixture that had already been played for generations and which, in 2026, celebrated its 200th anniversary.
More than simply recording a match, Brooks turns his attention to the occasion as a whole, from the players on the pitch to the crowd gathered around it. The result is as much a picture of Victorian society as it is a sporting scene.
The Eton and Winchester Cricket Match
Henry Jamyn Brooks depicts one of the most celebrated fixtures in the Victorian public-school calendar. The annual cricket match between Winchester College and Eton College was far more than a sporting contest; it brought together two of England's oldest public schools in a display of tradition, sportsmanship and institutional identity.
First played in 1826, the same year Lyon & Turnbull was founded, the fixture quickly became one of the most prestigious events in the Victorian sporting calendar. Cricket was regarded as an essential part of a young gentleman's education, cultivating leadership, discipline and fair play. Between 1832 and 1854, the matches formed part of a celebrated series at Lord's Cricket Ground before returning to the two schools, where the fixture remained one of the defining traditions of Victorian school life.
Fittingly, 2026 marked the bicentenary of the first match, with Winchester and Eton commemorating the anniversary with a return to the traditional two-day format.
