Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Kent teams have played top-class cricket since the early 18th century, and the club has always held first-class status. The current Kent County Cricket Club was formed on 6 December 1870 following the merger of two representative teams. Kent have competed in the County Championship since the official start of the competition in 1890 and have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club's limited overs team is called the Kent Spitfires after the Supermarine Spitfire.
Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into the County Championship in 1895, since then the team has played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. Essex currently play all their home games at the County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford. The club has formerly used other venues throughout the county including Lower Castle Park in Colchester, Valentines Park in Ilford, Leyton Cricket Ground, the Gidea Park Sports Ground in Romford, and Garon Park and Southchurch Park, both in Southend. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles.
Trevor Edward Bailey was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster.
The years from 1726 to 1771 saw cricket establish itself as a leading sport in London and the south-eastern counties of England. In 1726, it was already a thriving sport in the south east and, though limited by the constraints of travel at the time, it was slowly gaining adherents in other parts of England, its growth accelerating with references being found in many counties to 1771. Having been essentially a rural pastime for well over a century, cricket became a focus for wealthy patrons and gamblers whose interests funded its growth throughout the 18th century.
The 1744 cricket season in England is remembered for the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket. This was drafted by members of several cricket clubs, though the code was not published until 1755. The season is also notable for the two earliest known surviving match scorecards. The second of those matches, played on Monday, 18 June, was a celebrated event in which a Kent county team challenged a team representing the rest of England at the Artillery Ground, Kent winning by one wicket. In September, Slindon Cricket Club defeated London Cricket Club and then issued a challenge to play "any parish in England". The challenge was accepted by the Addington and Bromley clubs, but there is no record of either challenge match having been completed.
Hertfordshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hertfordshire.
The 1733 English cricket season was the 37th cricket season after the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of 12 matches. Two local matches played in Hampshire are the earliest known to have been played in the county.
The 1734 English cricket season was the 38th cricket season after the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of seven matches.
The 1735 English cricket season was the 39th cricket season after the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of 10 top-class matches, nine played eleven-a-side and one single wicket match.
The 1736 English cricket season was the 40th cricket season after the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of 17 top-class matches and two notable single wicket matches.
The 1737 English cricket season was the 41st cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of seven significant matches. Frederick, Prince of Wales had become one of the sport's main patrons by this year.
The 1738 English cricket season was the 42nd cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of five top-level matches.
The 1740 English cricket season was the 44th cricket season since the earliest recorded eleven-aside match was played. Details have survived of eight matches. Each of the surviving match records features London Cricket Club with half the known matches played at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury.
The 1747 English cricket season was the fourth season following the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket.
The 1789 English cricket season was the 18th in which matches have been awarded retrospective first-class status and the third after the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club. It featured 14 top-class matches.
Charles Augustus Ollivierre was a Vincentian cricketer who represented the West Indies in matches before they attained Test match status. Born in St Vincent, Ollivierre initially played first-class cricket for Trinidad; he was selected to tour England with the West Indies team in 1900. He later qualified to play first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1901 and 1907, becoming the first black West Indian to play for an English county. Ollivierre was reasonably successful in county cricket and had a reputation as a stylish batsman. However, he dropped out of first-class cricket after 1907 owing to eye trouble.
The Hertfordshire Women's cricket team is the women's representative cricket team for the English historic county of Hertfordshire. They play their home games at various grounds across the county, including Knebworth Park, Knebworth and London Road, Tring. They are captained by Kezia Hassall. In 2019, they played in Division Three of the final season of the Women's County Championship, and in 2021 won the East Group of the Women's Twenty20 Cup. They are partnered with the regional side Sunrisers.
Representing Brentford, now in Greater London and then in Middlesex, the original Brentford Cricket Club was prominent in the 18th century, taking part in matches from 1730 to 1799. According to surviving records, it had no specific venue and is known to have played at Brentford Court Green, Kew Green, Richmond Green and Walworth Common. Brentford teams are recorded, either individually or jointly with other clubs, in at least twelve matches.
Cricket must have reached Hertfordshire by the end of the 17th century. The earliest reference to cricket in the county is dated 1732 and is also the earliest reference to Essex as a county team. On Thursday, 6 July 1732, a team called Essex & Hertfordshire played London Cricket Club in a first-class match at Epping Forest "for £50 a side". The result is unknown.
The period from 1772 to 1815 saw significant growth and development in English cricket to the point that it became a popular sport nationwide, having outgrown its origin in the southeastern counties. Prominent northern clubs were founded at Nottingham and Sheffield. The earliest known references have been found for cricket in Australia (1804), Canada (1785), South Africa (1808) and the West Indies. In India, British clubs were founded at Calcutta (1792) and, following the siege there, Seringapatam (1799). In America, the game was popular among soldiers in the revolution and George Washington is known to have played in at least one game.
