"First-class cricket" was officially defined in May 1894 by a meeting at Lord's of نادي مارليبون للكريكت[لغات أخرى] (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season. Pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective and the "unofficial first-class" designation, as applied to a given match, is based on the views of one or more substantial historical sources. For further information, see الكريكيت الدرجة الاولى, Forms of cricket and History of cricket.
