1747 English cricket season

1747 English cricket season
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Information has been found about 21 matches (14 eleven-a-side and seven single wicket) played in the 1747 English cricket season, but only three have known results.[note 1]

It is evident that the single wicket form of the game was very popular among the gamblers who thronged the Artillery Ground. Some matches were disrupted because of that year's parliamentary election, which resulted in a win for the Whigs under Henry Pelham.

Addington & Croydon v London

A combined Addington & Croydon team played three matches against London.[5] The first, played at Duppas Hill, Croydon, on 29 May was unfinished when scheduled time expired. The players agreed to play it out more than a week later. That happened a week after the return match on 1 June at the Artillery Ground. The match recommenced on 9 June, and was won by Addington & Croydon.[6]

The scheduled return took place 1 and 2 June on the Artillery Ground, where London won.[6] The third match, also on the Artillery Ground, was arranged for 15 June, but the result is unknown. A newspaper announcement stated: "They have played two matches this season, and each won one with great difficulty, being two days playing each match".[6]

Single wicket matches by date

Monday, 6 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Dartford on the Artillery Ground. This was the result of a challenge by Slindon, published in the Daily Advertiser on Monday, 29 June to play "five of any parish in England, for their own Sum". The announcement advised interested parties: "If it is accepted of by any, they are desir'd to go to Mr Smith, who has Orders to make Stakes for them". The three Newland brothers all played. On Saturday, 4 July, George Smith announced in the same paper that "five of Dartford in Kent, have made Stakes with him, and will play with the above Gentlemen at the Time and Place above mentioned for twenty Pounds".[7][8]

Wednesday, 8 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Bromley at the Artillery Ground. Another game resulting from Slindon's challenge. At least one of the Newland brothers played for Slindon.[9][10]

Friday, 10 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground. Another game resulting from Slindon's five-a-side challenge. Details unknown.[7][10]

Wednesday, 15 July. Five of Slindon versus Five of Hadlow at the Artillery Ground. A return game which suggests Hadlow might have won the first as Slindon, having issued the initial challenge, might wish to try for honours even. Details unknown.[11]

In early August, there were two single wicket matches at the Artillery Ground which were organised by the 2nd Duke of Richmond. In the first, three of his employees Stephen Dingate, Joseph Rudd, and Pye defeated Little and Tall Bennett, and William Anderson. In the second, the same threes were to play again but in a "fives" match with the two Bryant brothers added to the Duke's team and with Tom Faulkner and one of the Harris brothers to their opponents. The result of the second game is unknown.[11]

Saturday, 5 September. Three-a-side game at the Artillery Ground: Long Robin's Three versus Stephen Dingate's Three. The teams were Robert Colchin (alias Long Robin), John Harris, and Val Romney against Stephen Dingate, Richard Newland, and Thomas Jure. It was played for sixty guineas per side and the players were specially chosen from those who had played in the Kent v England games above, so possibly they were the best performers in those matches. It was ruled that "all Strokes behind as well as before Wickets" counted and in this respect the contest "differs from any Three Match ever play'd".[7][12]

Kent v England

Two games between Kent and England were due to be played at Bromley Common on Monday, 29 June, and at the Artillery Ground on Wednesday, 1 July, but both matches were "deferred on account of the gentlemen subscribers being engaged at several Elections".[7][12] The parliamentary election of 1747 resulted in a Whig government under Henry Pelham (1694–1754). In those days, voting was limited to male landed gentry.

The match on the Artillery Ground was re-arranged for 31 August, and the Bromley Common one for 2 September.[5] The Daily Advertiser announced the teams on 31 August:

The source also carried a statement by George Smith, the Artillery Ground keeper: "The Town may be certain that the taking Six-pence Admittance is out of no avaricious Temper. Two-pence being greatly insufficient to the Charge that attends the Matches, which Mr Smith is ready and willing to make appear to any Gentleman".[7][12]

Both matches are "result unknown".[5][7][12]

Matches with unknown results

Addington & Croydon v Deptford & Greenwich, to be played 13 May at Duppas Hill was pre-announced in the London Evening Post on Saturday, 9 May. No post-match report has been found.[13]

Two Dartford v London matches were scheduled for 12 and 29 June, on Dartford Brent and the Artillery Ground respectively.[6] Dartford had another match 2 July, against Hadlow on Dartford Brent. This was pre-announced in the Penny London Post of Wednesday, 1 July as "the deciding match" but there is no report of the game, and no references to the earlier fixture(s).[13]

If it was played, one of the biggest matches of the season would have been Long Robin's XI v William Hodsoll's XI on the Artillery Ground. Planned for 9 July, it was a "scratch match" arranged by members of the London club. The players were mostly from London, Bromley, Dartford, Hadlow, and Slindon.[7]

A similar match was planned for 28 July on Kennington Common between Tom Faulkner's XI v John Bowra's XI. This was billed as "Long Tom of Surrey against the Kentish Shepherd", those being the nicknames of Faulkner, who was also a prizefighter, and Bowra. The other players would be "ten other persons on each team, picked out of different parts". An additional comment said: "Long Tom is well known for his excellent play and therefore needs no puffs; he backs himself 5 to 4 against the Kentish shepherd".[9]

Three matches in August were London v Bromley & Ripley (twice), and London v Hadlow. Before the first game on the Artillery Ground, George Smith published a statement: "These matches being attended with great Charge the Door, for the Future, will be Six-pence; Two-pence not being sufficient to defray the Expense".[7] Hadlow, near Tonbridge in Kent, was stated to be "a famous parish for cricket".[7]

Other events

According to Rowland Bowen, cricket was first played in New York this year.[14] This is, however, doubted by Ian Maun, who states that "no contemporary record of cricket in New York is known before 1751".[15]

First mentions

Clubs and teams

Players

Venues

Notes

  1. ^ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.[1] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.[2] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.[3] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

  1. ^ "FC Matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  2. ^ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC 851705816.
  3. ^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
  4. ^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
  5. ^ a b c ACS 1981, p. 22.
  6. ^ a b c d Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (29 March 1900). "At the Sign of the Wicket". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. XIX (532). London: Merritt & Hatcher Ltd: 37 – via ACS.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (12 April 1900). "At the Sign of the Wicket". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. XIX (532). London: Merritt & Hatcher Ltd: 51 – via ACS.
  8. ^ McCann 2004, p. 37.
  9. ^ a b c d Buckley 1935, p. 21.
  10. ^ a b McCann 2004, p. 38.
  11. ^ a b McCann 2004, p. 41.
  12. ^ a b c d McCann 2004, p. 42.
  13. ^ a b c d Buckley 1937, p. 2.
  14. ^ Bowen 1970, p. 264.
  15. ^ Maun 2009, p. 180.

Bibliography

Further reading

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1747_English_cricket_season