In 1728, it is possible to discern the existence of an inter-county rivalry between cricket teams representative of Kent and Sussex. A Swiss traveller in southern England recorded county cricket as "a commonplace" and wrote that it unites "the common people and men of rank". Teams of county strength were being formed as the patrons sought stronger combinations to help them in the serious, for them, business of winning wagers. Easily the most successful in 1728 was Edwin Stead whose Kent teams were "too expert" for the Sussex teams led by the 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage.
There are surviving reports of four eleven-a-side matches.[1][note 1] Reports of the third one, played at Penshurst Park in either late July or early August,[4] state that it was "the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex".[5][6] The first match was on Coxheath Common, then called Cock's Heath, on 25 June, pre-announced in the Kentish Weekly Post on 19 June.[4] The teams were from Kent, led by their patron Edwin Stead, and Sussex, led by the 2nd Duke of Richmond.[5][7] They played a return match at Penshurst Park sometime in July; this one was the subject of a brief notice in the Whitehall Evening Post dated 6 August 1728.[5][7]
The 6 August editions of both the London Evening Post and the Daily Journal include the "Kent too expert for Sussex" comment, and so modern sources agree that Stead's XI won both of the matches against Richmond's XI.[5][6] The third match was between Stead's XI and a different Sussex team formed by Sir William Gage, for a stake of 50 guineas. It was hosted by John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, at Penshurst Park. Stead's XI won by 7 runs – the newspaper report says "the former [Gage's XI] wanted 7 to be even with (them)".[5][6]
There was a match in August between Richmond's XI and Gage's XI. The sources say the teams "met again" but it is not clear if they had already played each other in 1728; they had met in earlier seasons. The match was at an unspecified venue in Lewes and the result is unknown.[5][6]
County cricket
The proclamation of Kent's superiority in 1728 is the first time that the concept of a "champion county" can be seen in the sources and it is augmented by a "turned the scales" comment made by a reporter after Sussex defeated Kent in 1729.[8][9] The 1729 report added that the "scale of victory had been on the Kentish side for some years past".[8] In 1730, a newspaper referred to the "Kentish champions".[10][7]
Swiss traveller César-François de Saussure noted in his journal the frequency with which he saw cricket being played while he was making his journeys across southern England in June.[11] He referred to county matches as "a commonplace" and wrote that "everyone plays it, the common people and also men of rank".[12] Saussure's comment was:[13]
The English are very fond of a game they call cricket. For this purpose they go into a large open field, and knock a small ball about with a piece of wood. I will not attempt to describe this game to you, as it is too complicated, but it requires agility and skill, and everyone plays it, the common people and also the men of rank. Sometimes one county plays against another county. The papers give notice of these meetings beforehand, and, later, tell you which side has come off victorious. Spectators crowd to see the games when they are important.
In several sources, a Gentlemen of Middlesex v Gentlemen of London match is listed as due to take place in Islington on Tuesday (sic), 5 August.[8][9][1][6] In fact, 5 August 1728 was a Monday, and recent research has confirmed that the match in question was due to be held on Tuesday, 5 August 1729.[14]
The archives at Goodwood House, Richmond's seat, include numerous receipts for purchases made by the Duke in 1728 which relate to his cricketing interests. Three are from a tradesman called Walter Seagar for "binding bats at Lyndhurst", the amounts ranging from 2 to 4 shillings. Another, dated 21 June, is for "11 pairs of men's thread hose for ye gentlemen Crickett players" amounting to £2 9s 6d.[15] Also, in an undated accounting entry, the Duke paid 12 shillings each for "twelve yellow velvet caps with silver tassells", which is understood to have been his team colours.[13]
Notes
↑Some eleven-a-side matches played before 1864 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources, but there was no such standard at the time. The term came into common use from around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised, and 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. However, matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.[2] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as top-class or, at least, historically significant.[3] For further information, see First-class cricket.
↑César de Saussure, A Foreign View of England in the Reigns of George I and George II. The Letters of Monsieur César de Saussure to his Family, General Books LLC, 2010.
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