1746 English cricket season

1746 English cricket season

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The Jacobite Rebellion was effectively over by the time the 1746 English cricket season got under way, the Battle of Culloden having been fought on 16 April. Details of 15 matches are known. ^{[note 1]}

Eleven-a-side matches

Known results

Bromley played Addington, 12 May on Bromley Common, and Addington won "with great difficulty". A return match was arranged: "On Monday next (19th) they play their second match at Mr Smith's Pyd-Horse" (a reference to the pub adjacent to the Artillery Ground). There is no report of the return. ^[5]

Addington & Lingfield played London & Surrey, 9 June on the Artillery Ground. ^[6] A report says: "A Kent man (unidentified) assisted London and Surrey as a given man". The match was reported in the General London Evening Mercury as "Middlesex v Surrey" but the combined teams title seems to be more accurate. Addington & Lingfield (aka Middlesex) won "by a considerable number of notches". ^{[5] [7]}

Another combined teams match was played 7 July at Duppas Hill, Croydon, between Kent & Surrey and Addington & Bromley. ^[6] The crowd was reported as "nearly ten thousand". Kipps of Eltham, the well-known wicket-keeper, played as a given man for Addington & Bromley. The title of the fixture indicates the strength of the Addington and Bromley clubs at this time. The London Evening Post on Thursday, 3 July announced: "No person allowed to bring any liquour that don't (sic) live in the parish". Kent & Surrey won by 4 runs. ^{[5] [8]}

On 4 August, England defeated Kent on the Artillery Ground. Nothing else is known about the match. ^{[6] [5] [9] [8]}

Unknown results

A combined Bromley & Chislehurst team was to play Addington 26 May on Bromley Common. ^[10] On 23 June,Kent and Surrey were scheduled to play on the Artillery Ground, the Kent team to consist entirely of players from Bromley, Bexley and Eltham. ^{[5] [11]}

In July, London v Westminster, ^[8] Addington & Bromley v Kent & Surrey, and London v Edmonton were all pre-announced to be played on the Artillery Ground. ^{[6] [5]}

In August, Kent were to play England on Bromley Common. It is known that this one was postponed, but not if it was played later. ^{[6] [5] [8]} Also in August, there was to be a return match between London and Edmonton. ^{[5] [6] [8]} Finally, on 1 September a combined Chislehurst & London team were to play Addington on the Artillery Ground for a stake of £50. ^{[6] [5] [8]}

Single wicket

Monday, 21 July. There was a four-a-side match at the Artillery Ground between Four Millers of Bray Mills in Berkshire and Four Best Players of Addington. It was played for fifty pounds but the result is unknown. Thomas Waymark was by this time employed at Bray Mills and so he was probably involved. ^[5]

Wednesday, 6 August. A three-a-side game in the Artillery Ground involving "six players esteemed the best in England". The teams were Robert Colchin, John Bryant (both Bromley) and Joe Harris (Addington) versus Stephen Dingate (Surrey), Val Romney (Sevenoaks) and Richard Newland (Slindon). Stephen Dingate's team won the match. Hundreds of pounds were lost and won over the game. ^{[5] [9]} Newspapers pre-announcing the event named John Harris in Long Robin's team but it was his brother Joe who actually played. ^[12]

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 top-class or, at least, historically significant. ^[4] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

1. "First-Class 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. Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (29 March 1900). "At the Sign of the Wicket". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. XIX (532). Cricket Magazine: 37 – via ACS.
6. ACS 1981, p. 22.
7. Buckley 1935, p. 20.
8. Waghorn 2005, p. 17.
9. Waghorn 1899, p. 38.
10. Maun 2009, p. 165.
11. Waghorn 2005, p. 16.
12. McCann 2004, p. 35.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   85045528.
• ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. OCLC   10586869.
• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. OCLC   23450280.
• Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Cambridge: Roger Heavens. ISBN   978-19-00592-52-9.
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century (PDF). Vol. 88. Lewes: West Sussex Record Office. ISBN   978-08-54450-55-8.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. OCLC   1086375331.
• Waghorn, H. T. (2005) [1906]. The Dawn of Cricket. London: J. W. McKenzie. ISBN   978-09-47821-17-3.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S.; Swanton, E. W. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) (5th ed.). London: George Allen & Unwin. OCLC   894274808.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. London: Aurum Press. ISBN   978-18-54107-10-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   978-04-13278-60-9.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN   978-00-07183-64-7 – via Internet Archive.
• Marshall, John (1961). The Duke Who Was Cricket. London: Frederick Muller Ltd. OCLC   11214571.
• Wilson, Martin (2005). An Index to Waghorn. London: Bodyline Books (limited edition, by subscription only).