1747 English cricket season

1747 English cricket season

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The 1747 English cricket season was the fourth season following the earliest known codification of the Laws of Cricket.

Matches

Details of 14 matches between significant teams have survived. ^{[1] [2]}

• 13 May – Addington & Croydon v Deptford & Greenwich – Duppas Hill, Croydon
• 29 May and 9 June – Addington & Croydon v London – Duppas Hill, Croydon
• 1–2 June – London v Addington & Croydon – Artillery Ground
• 12 June – Dartford v London – Dartford Brent
• 15 June – London v Addington & Croydon – Artillery Ground
• 29 June – London v Dartford – Artillery Ground
• 2 July – Dartford v Hadlow – Dartford Brent
• 9 July – Long Robin's XI v William Hodsoll's XI – Artillery Ground
• 28 July – Tom Faulkner's XI v John Bowra's XI – Kennington Common
• 17 August – London v Bromley & Ripley – Artillery Ground
• 20 August – Bromley & Ripley v London – Ripley Green
• 24 August – London v Hadlow – Artillery Ground
• 31 August – England XI v Kent – Artillery Ground
• 2 September – Kent v England XI – Bromley Common

The two games between Kent and England were due to be played at Bromley Common on 29 June and at the Artillery Ground on 1 July, but the source reports that both matches "are deferred on account of the gentlemen subscribers being engaged at several Elections", referring to the Parliamentary Election of 1747.

Single wicket matches

A single wicket cricket match between five players of Slindon against five of Dartford at the Artillery Ground on 6 July was the result of a challenge by Slindon, published in the Daily Advertiser on 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". ^{[3] [4]} Matches followed against Bromley on 8 July and Hadlow on 10 and 15 July at the same ground. Another game resulting from Slindon's five-a-side challenge. Details unknown. ^[5]

In early August, two single wicket matches at the Artillery Ground which were organised by the 2nd Duke of Richmond ^[5] and on 5 September a three-a-side game took place, again at the Artillery Ground, between teams led by Robert Colchin and Stephen Dingate. ^{[3] [6]}

Other events

According to Rowland Bowen, cricket was first played in New York this year. ^[7] This is, however, doubted by Ian Maun, who states that "no contemporary record of cricket in New York is known before 1751". ^[8]

First mentions

Clubs and teams

• Hadlow ^[9]

Players

• John Bell (Dartford/Kent) ^[3]
• Thomas Bell (Dartford/Kent) ^[3]
• John Larkin (Hadlow/Kent) ^[3]
• Robert Eures (Bexley/Kent) ^[3]

Venues

• Ripley Green ^[3]

References

1. ACS, p.21.
2. Other matches in England 1747, CricketArchive. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
3. Ashley-Cooper, p.51.
4. McCann, p.37.
5. McCann, pp.38–41.
6. McCann, p.42.
7. Bowen, p.264.
8. Maun, p.180.
9. Buckley, p.2.

Bibliography

• ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS.
• Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1900). "At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. London: Cricket Magazine. OCLC   28863559.
• Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN   0-413-27860-3.
• Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Cotterell.
• McCann, Tim (2004). Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Sussex Record Society.
• Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN   978-1-900592-52-9.

Further reading

• Altham, H. S. (1962). A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914). George Allen & Unwin.
• Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum.
• Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. HarperCollins.
• Underdown, David (2000). Start of Play. Allen Lane.