matches involving MCC but 13 of them were for the opposition. The club was still fairly new when Beldham made his earliest known appearance for them in August 1790, and he made at least 29 to his last in August 1818 when he was 52 years old. His first two matches were against Middlesex between 16 and 20 August 1790. The first was at Lord's Old Ground and the return on Uxbridge New Ground. In both, Beldham and Robert Clifford were named as given men for MCC and they shared most of the workload by opening the batting and doing most if not all of the bowling. MCC won the Lord's match by 2 wickets. Beldham scored 24 and 16 in totals of 145 and 142/8. He made a significant contribution in the field as he was involved in at least nine dismissals: five bowled and four caught. At Uxbridge, MCC batted first and were in difficulty against William Fennex and Thomas Lord. Beldham scored only 3 and was bowled by Fennex. MCC's total was 110 but Beldham and Clifford had the Middlesex batsmen in trouble too and dismissed them for 89, of which Fennex scored 41 and was out hit wicket. In MCC's second innings, Beldham played well to score 46 out of 101 before he was again bowled by Fennex. Middlesex needed 123 to win but were all out for 66, Beldham bowling three and holding one catch, so MCC won by 56 runs. Beldham was often on the winning side but, even when his team lost, he tended to play well in adversity. There was an example of that in May 1791 when he and Richard Purchase were MCC's given men for two matches against Middlesex, both at Lord's Old Ground. The first match was on 16–18 May and Beldham bowled five Middlesex batsmen in their first innings of 110. As bowlers were only credited with a wicket when the batsman was bowled out, there are few recorded instances of five wickets in an innings. It happened twice in this match as Fennex emulated Beldham with five MCC men bowled. Beldham made the top score of 44 not out in a total of 145, a first innings lead of 35. Middlesex scored 166 in the second innings to set a target of 132. This time, Beldham could not deliver and he was bowled by Fennex for 1.