All England Eleven

The All England Eleven, widely known as the AEE, was an itinerant all-professional cricket team created in 1846 by Nottinghamshire bowler William Clarke. Widely known by its acronym AEE, it took advantage of opportunities offered by the newly developed railway network to play against local teams throughout Great Britain. It made its profit by receiving payments from the home clubs. The AEE teams were exceptionally strong, and so the local teams would play them in "odds" matches, usually 22 against the AEE's eleven—as such, the vast majority of AEE games do not have important match status.

In 1852, some players broke away from the AEE to form the United All England Eleven (UEE). Similar enterprises were launched in the following years, including the United North of England Eleven (UNEE), and Ned Willsher's United South of England Eleven (USEE), which became a showcase for W. G. Grace.

Clarke, as well as being the manager, was the captain of the AEE team until his death in 1856. He was succeeded by his Nottinghamshire colleague George Parr who agreed that the AEE and UEE should regularly play against each other, something that Clarke would not allow. Those matches were eleven-a-side and so were important from 1857 to 1863, and first-class from 1864 to the last in 1869. In 1859, the first England cricket team was formed as a composite of the AEE and the UEE to tour North America.

With the rise of county cricket and the introduction of international cricket, the travelling elevens lost influence and popularity. The AEE gradually faded from the scene, and played its last match 29–30 May 1891 against a local team in Middlesbrough.