This is the first volume of a major study of the social history of cricket in Guyana from 1865 to 1966, when the country became independent. It is a legacy project to mark the 150th anniversary of one of the great institutions in the region, the Hand-in-Hand Fire Insurance Company. The year 2015 is also the 150th anniversary of first-class cricket in the West Indies: Barbados v British Guiana in February 1865.