The county club did not play matches outside
East Anglia until 1857 when it played
Surrey. It is classified as
historically important from 1857 to 1863, and as
first-class from 1864 to 1871. The club itself was dissolved in 1869 (according to ''
James Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion
of that year) but two matches arranged in 1869 and 1871 involved playing members of the former club and the team in both these games was called Cambridgeshire by Wisden'' and other sources. The club played 39 matches in all, winning thirteen, losing 21 and drawing five. The most successful season was 1864, when all three matches played were won. The regular home ground was
Fenner's.
Thomas Hayward made the most appearances, playing in 35 of the matches. He also made most runs, with 1,934 at 33.34, and scored two of the four centuries made for the county, both in 1861. He and
Robert Carpenter put on 212 for the 3rd wicket against Surrey at
The Oval in 1861, both scoring centuries. This was the highest partnership for the county.
George Tarrant took the most wickets: 197 at 12.25, plus a further 22 wickets for which the runs conceded are not known. He had match figures of 15–56 against
Kent at
Chatham in 1862, including 8–16 in an innings. He also took 8–45 in an innings against
Surrey at Fenner's the same year. According to Simon Wilde, in the early 1860s Carpenter and Hayward were rated as two of the three finest batsmen in England along with
Richard Daft. Daft himself ranked Carpenter and Hayward as being equal, but
George Parr reckoned Carpenter to be the better. Wilde's own estimation was that Carpenter was the best batsman in England from 1860 to 1866. The present club was founded on 6 June 1891. War veteran Tebbutt had debuted in 1901, but this was his final season. He later became notorious for murdering his partner and three children before killing himself. It has won the Minor Counties Championship once, in 1963. As Eastern Division champions in both 1987 and 1988, Cambridgeshire became the first minor county to compete in four consecutive cup finals, albeit without success. Cambridgeshire have, however, won the
MCCA Knockout Trophy twice since its inception, in 1995 and 2003. It also won the Eastern Division of the Minor Counties Championship again in 1994, 2011 and 2013, losing the subsequent finals. Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club also played 28 List A matches between 1964 and 2004 (the great majority against first-class counties and occasionally on Test grounds) with 103 players making one or more appearances. ==Notable players==