numbers of sporting gentry and it dominated the sport, both on and off the field, for about thirty years until the formation of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787. Hambledon produced some legendary Hampshire players including master batsman John Small and the two great fast bowlers Thomas Brett and David Harris. Following the demise of the Hambledon Club towards the end of the 18th century, Hampshire continued to be recognised as a first-class team into the nineteenth century but, after the 1828 season, they had long spells without any first-class matches until the county club was founded in 1864. The county played some first-class fixtures during 1842 to 1845 and one match versus MCC in 1861 but was otherwise outside cricket's mainstream through 1829 to 1863. Origin of club Hampshire County Cricket Club was founded on 12 August 1863 and played its first first-class match against Sussex at the Antelope Ground, Southampton on 7 and 8 July 1864. Sussex won by 10 wickets with James Lillywhite claiming ten wickets in the match for 80 runs, including his 100th career wicket. Hampshire was recognised as a first-class team from 1864 to 1885. In 1886, Hampshire lost its status after years of difficult circumstances and poor results. The team did play against Surrey and Sussex in 1886 but the matches were considered minor standard. Hampshire recovered first-class status from the beginning of the 1895 County Championship season when the team was invited to join the now official County Championship. They finished the season in tenth place, sixteen points behind winners Surrey. 20th century Between 1900 and 1905, Hampshire were almost continuously struggling as their key officer-batsmen, Major Poore and Captain Wynyard were faced with either moving to South Africa or increased military duties at home from the Boer War. The club finished last or equal last in 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1905, failing to win a single game in the first of those seasons; however in 1901, with the temporary acquisition of Captain Greig from India and the qualification of Charlie Llewellyn, Hampshire won as many games as it lost. From 1906 onwards, with the qualification of Phil Mead, Jack Newman and later George Brown, Hampshire became a much more competitive side, though not until 1910 did they win as many games as they lost in a season. The period from 1912 to 1926, though they never got near County Championship honours,