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Gentlemen v Players was a first-class cricket match between teams consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and professionals (the Players). The difference between the two was defined by English class structure in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Players were deemed to be working-class wage-earners and the Gentlemen were members of the middle and upper classes, usually products of the English public school system. Whereas the Players were paid wages by their county clubs or fees by match organisers, the Gentlemen nominally claimed expenses. The whole subject of expenses was controversial and it was held that some leading amateurs were paid more for playing cricket than any professional. The inaugural fixture took place in 1806, with a return match the same year, but it was not continued in 1807 and, with cricket in decline during the Napoleonic Wars, it was not revived until 1819. Thereafter, it was played on a generally annual basis until 1962, with usually two or more games each season. It lacked repute in the middle years of the 19th century because the Gentlemen were often outclassed but then gained in prestige during the career of W. G. Grace as the matches became highly competitive. The advent of Test cricket coupled with social change in the 20th century saw its importance decline, especially in the aftermath of the Second World War. On 31 January 1963, the committee of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) agreed unanimously to abolish the concept of amateurism and all first-class cricketers became professional. The Gentlemen v Players fixture was by then viewed as an anachronism and was discontinued. A substitute fixture was sought but never instituted as the limited overs Gillette Cup competition began in 1963. A total of 274 Gentlemen v Players matches were played from 1806 to 1962. The Players won 125 and the Gentlemen 68. There were 80 draws and one tie. ==History== At its height from the 1860s until 1914, the fixture was a prestigious one, though in terms of quality it fell far short of Test matches and even of the rival North v. South fixture. Until the 1860s, the Gentlemen teams were often very weak compared with the professionals, and on occasion the fixture had to be arranged on an odds basis, so that the Players eleven took on a greater number of Gentlemen. The Gentlemen famously became competitive during the career of W. G. Grace, whose performances were so outstanding that the Gentlemen could enjoy some long-awaited success. The fixture often confirmed the commonly held view of an imbalance between amateur and professional in that amateurs tended to be batsmen first and foremost, hence there were few good amateur bowlers. The Players could nearly always field a strong bowling side. The game was played over three days on all but a handful of occasions throughout its history. The most frequent venue for the match was Lord's, but a number of other grounds were used, notably The Oval and Scarborough, and it was at Scarborough that the last Gentlemen v Players game was played, in September 1962. The same format of amateurs playing professionals was used in a number of other fixtures, some of which were given first-class status (for example, "Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire v Players of Nottinghamshire"), but these matches became less common after the beginning of the 20th century, and the last such game was "Gentlemen of the South v Players of the South" in 1920, after which all first-class Gentlemen v Players matches were between teams known simply by those names. The Gentlemen v Players series ended after the 1962 season, when the distinction between amateur and professional players was abolished. Charles Williams has described several reports on the subject which were submitted to MCC by its Amateur Status Standing Committee (ASSC) and, on 31 January 1963, the MCC committee unanimously agreed to abolish amateurism. Williams says a substitute fixture was sought but it was decided not to pursue this as the new Gillette Cup limited overs competition was beginning in 1963. There were contrasting views about the end of amateurism and the passing of Gentlemen v Players. Some traditionalists like E. W. Swanton and the editor of ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' "lamented the passing of an era" but social change had rendered the whole concept an anachronism and Fred Trueman spoke for many when he summarised amateurism as a "ludicrous business" that was "thankfully abolished" after the 1962 season.〔Trueman, ''Ball of Fire'', p.57.〕 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「Gentlemen v Players」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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